San Agustin Music Fest marks 10th year

San Agustin Church, the country’s oldest church and a Unesco World Heritage Site, will once again host the San Agustin International Music Festival, the premiere musical event in Intramuros, Manila from Nov. 18 to 20.

According to San Agustin Museum director Fr. Pedro Galende, this year’s festival is special because it is the 10th edition of the event and the fifth birth centennary of Fray Andrés de Urdaneta.

Urdaneta is a 16th-century scientist, navigator and Agustinian priest who was instrumental in the propagation of the Catholic faith in the country. Galende also heads the Urdaneta 500 Philippine Commission which spearheads the yearlong observance of the Urdaneta Year 2008 as declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Guests will have the rare opportunity to listen to the majestic 18th-century pipe organ, the biggest baroque Spanish organ in the Philippines, which is also marking the 10th anniversary of its restoration.

Music lovers will delight in this unique experience of sacred and classical music with guest organist Joxe Benantzi Bilbao and tenor José María Berenguer, both from Spain, and Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra principal trumpeter Fredeline Parin who will be featured in all three evening concerts.

Featured choir on Nov. 18 is the College of the Immaculate Conception Chorale of Cabanatuan City under choirmaster Alfred Allan Samonte who will render Spanish songs and contemporary Christmas tunes.

The Chiang Kai Shek Youth Choir directed by Irma Tan-Su takes center stage on Nov. 19 with folk songs from around the world.

The Festival draws to a close on Nov. 30 with the Philippine Women’s University Chorale conducted by Elietess Haidee Mayor-Cariño rendering Christmas carols and National Artist Lucrecia Kasilag’s Purihin si Yahweh, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Prof. Josefino Toledo with the works of Kasilag, National Artist Lucio San Pedro, and Spanish composer Enrique Granados.

The Music Festival is supported by the Embassy of Spain, the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarrollo, the Instituto Cervantes, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Culture Committee-UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, the Urdaneta 500 Philippine Commission, the Government of Ordizia, the Department of Tourism, the Intramuros Administration, the DZFE 98.7, Vibal Publishing House, and the friends of San Agustin Museum.

Concerts start at 8 p.m. For information, call the San Agustin Museum at 527-4060 to 61.