Lani Misalucha gives back through benefit concert

MANILA, Philippines — Lani Misalucha is giving back to where she started.

The OPM diva is set to stage a fundraising concert on Dec. 19 to support the scholars and charitable projects of her former school, Saint Anthony School Singalong Manila.

Titled “An Evening with LA Nightingale,” the concert will take place at the Teatro ng GSIS along J.W. Diokno Boulevard in Pasay City.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the scholars of the Saint Anthony School Singalong Alumni Association (SASSAA), as well as the medical and dental missions organized by the school’s Batch ‘86.

The concert marks as a homecoming of sorts for the veteran singer, dubbed as “Asia’s Nightingale” and “New Siren of the Strip” for gigs in Las Vegas. She attended Saint Anthony School Singalong Manila as a preschool and Grade 1 student.

The upcoming show also sees Lani, who has built a career performing across different musical genres, continuing to thrive as an artist despite some lingering effects following her bout with meningitis in 2020. Just this week, she also relesed a brand-new single titled, From The Ashes, from her latest album “Punong Matibay.”

In a previous interview with The Philippine STAR, the singer opened up about living with a vestibular disorder that causes dizziness, as well as hearing impairment and tinnitus, or persistent ringing in the ears.

“Siyempre pinaka-top of the list is hearing impairment. Nandyan pa rin yung partially deaf ako. And then there’s a tinnitus wherein you can actually hear the ringing. It is there in the brain. I do not know which part of my brain that the ringing is coming from. But it is there. I can actually hear it,” she shared with this writer.

Lani then recalled how difficult it was initially to handle it, saying, “You know, you wake up the next morning and find that it’s still there. And alam mo yun, you still have that hope that one day it’s going to be gone. Pero hindi. It is there.”

She also admitted in the same interview that there was a time when her condition made her fear the possibility of not being able to take on the concert stage again. After all, she also had to deal with changes in how she perceived music and how her voice sounded following her medical treatment.

“I thought that I won’t be able to sing anymore. Because No. 1 nga, hindi na ako nakakarinig. No. 2, lahat ng naririnig kong mga music sintonado. No. 3, my voice had gotten thicker and fuller and deeper because of the steroids. It took me really a long time for me to be able to retrain myself again in this present condition,” she recalled.

Fortunately for music fans, that didn’t stop her from singing. Lani said she had to retrain herself by making it a habit to practice singing at home.

“So, the preparation that you were asking is… singing in my house. Whenever I have the chance, I would sing. I would sing just to hear my voice in a level, in a way that… na kakayanin ko. Sa ngayon, with my voice, walang problema,” she said.

To date, Lani has continued performing here and abroad. Asked then about the lessons she had learned from her health experience, she said it’s about accepting circumstances that are no longer within your control.

“You know, life can actually throw you some unexpected events. But you just gotta, like, kung hindi mo gusto yung ibabato sa’yo, umilag ka. Pero kung hindi ka nakailag, e ‘di saluhin mo. Di ba? Yun lang naman yun,” she said.

“Acceptance, yeah! Just accept it. Wholeheartedly. And be grateful.”

According to organizers, joining Lani onstage at her latest show on Dec. 19 as opening acts are Carlo Bautista, Louise Del Mundo and Dom Real.

(Ticket prices to the concert for a cause ranged from P5,500 to P3,000. For details, call 0977-4105007.)