Girl power in Triple Fret

MANILA, Philippines - They say, good things come in threes. The same thing can be said of the all-female guitar trio Triple Fret made up of Jenny de Vera, Iqui Vinculado and Marga Abejo, whose combined talents and shared passion are bringing them around the world to champion Filipino-imprinted classical/contemporary guitar music. And did we mention they’re an all-girl guitar group and the only one of its kind in the country?

Triple Fret was formed in 2011 when Jenny, Iqui and Marga were music students. According to Jenny, she has always wanted to play with an all-girl ensemble being the president and only female member then of the UP Guitar Orchestra. In 2010, when they opened their membership to other students at the UP College of Music, Jenny met Marga, a music education major.

Iqui, on the other hand, was schooled at the UST Conservatory of Music. “I’ve known Iqui ever since as the president of the UST Guitar Ensemble,” Jenny said. “It’s great that they agreed when I invited them to create this unique group, which aims to spread our love for the classical guitar, to create more audiences for the classical guitar and to inspire younger generations to study this beautiful instrument. Marga thought of the name Triple Fret, which sounds like Triple Threat.”

Triple Fret has since chalked up many memorable performances here and overseas, inside and beyond “prestigious” halls, including: Kilis, Turkey, where they played in a Syrian refugee camp;?Brunei, where they headlined a benefit concert for Yolanda victims and raised 20,000 Brunei dollars; as well as in Palacio de la Guitarra in Ibaraki, Japan and the history-laden La Beneficiencia in Valencia, Spain.

Performing for fellow Pinoys remains to be Triple Fret’s favorite, like playing before thousands of kids in GenSan, before OFWs in Yokohama, Japan and before a jampacked audience when they launched their debut record #GitaraFilipina last year.

Up next is a sophomore album to be released under Polyeast Records within the year. Meantime, Triple Fret is holding a concert tomorrow, Sept. 19, 5:30 p.m. at UP Manila’s Museum of a History of Ideas as a thanksgiving for topping this year’s 27th Japan Guitar Ensemble Festival.

Let’s get to know the awesome ladies of Triple Fret:

Triple Fret has chalked up many memorable performances here and overseas

On how Triple Fret members got involved in music:

Marga: “I first got involved in music when I was five years old. I was enrolled in the Greenhills Music center under the suzuki method for piano. I liked it a lot... but the practice for me as a child was quite tiring so I decided to stop. Fast forward, I was 15 and I learned how to play in school with the help of some high school classmates. I loved guitar so much that I decided to take up lessons in the UP extension program for classical guitar.”

Iqui: “Basically, I got my musical start from my parents because my dad collected CDs and we always listened to them at home, in the car. And my mom and uncles -— they play the guitar, so I think that was my earliest musical memory.”

Jenny: “I studied ballet when I was young. I thought that dancing was going to be my life. Haha! But then it helped that I was dancing to all these wonderful classical music. My parents can play decent guitar and sing as well. At 12 years old, I was the lead guitarist of my ate’s college band. After some time, I shifted to classical guitar. I haven’t looked back since.”

On the challenges and rewards of being part of Triple Fret:

Marga: “The most challenging aspect of Triple Fret is probably the fact that classical music is not exactly a hot mainstream commodity. Also the fact that in the classical scene, you need to earn a lot of respect and prestige through academic institutions, prizes and good reviews from noted people in the scene. We worked very hard on our musicality and technique as a group to be recognized. It is still a challenge.

“The most rewarding aspect of being in Triple Fret is to be able to have a voice. We would really love to educate everyone about classical guitar and of course, about Filipino culture. Also, we get to help out in our own way through playing the guitar. And for me, that is the most rewarding. I feel like there is more purpose in what we are doing.”

Iqui: “I think the traveling is the challenging part because there’s just the three of us. We carry our own luggage, our guitars, then we also get lost… But then the rewarding aspect is we get to travel, share our music and learn together.”

Jenny: “The rewards outweigh the challenges definitely. As you said, we are a unique group so we have something different to offer. The challenge is we don’t have any groups to pattern ourselves after. It’s always like ‘What do we do next? Has this been done before?’ and so on... When we present Triple Fret to people, they ask how does that work? May kakanta ba? The idea of a guitar trio is alien to most and we are glad that slowly, people are starting to recognize what we are and what kind of music we do.”

On their musical heroes:

Marga: “I have numerous idols in music. In classical guitar, I admire the strong women like Kaori Muraji, Fei Yang, Berta Rojas… I, of course, also admire the masters of classical guitar such as David Russell, John Williams, Pavel Steidl, Marcin Dylla, the ensembles LAGQ, Nibori Guitar Orchestra, and the European Guitar quartet.”

Iqui: “When I started learning the classical music, I was inspired by Kaori Muraji. I grew up with her music and also David Russell, he’s one of the greatest classical guitarists ever.”

Jenny: “David Russell, Alvaro Pierri and Carlos Bonell.”

On their ultimate dreams for the group:

Marga: “My ultimate dream is that we become popular enough to inspire more young people to play classical guitar. We want to educate young people to remember their heritage and traditional music. And we want to help make the Philippines a guitar-playing country. Not just singing... I don’t mind winning a Grammy either, hahaha!”

Iqui: “The ultimate dream is really to share what we are passionate about. To be able to share classical guitar music, and also share Filipino music here and to the world, as well as to preserve the Filipino culture since that’s our treasure.”

Jenny: “For Triple Fret? I haven’t really thought about it. I am just happy to be doing this and I look forward to the opportunities that come our way. If we have inspired more people to play the guitar and paved the way for other groups to do what we do, then I guess we are doing our job. I love the guitar, it has been my life now and I would like to share it. Whether this group becomes successful or not, I believe I will still play on.”