MANILA, Philippines - Italian conductor Ruggero Barbieri leads the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) in the fourth concert of its 27th season on Dec. 10, 8 p.m. at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). Filipino trumpet player Fredeline Parin is guest soloist.
Program includes Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6 No. 8 (Christmas Concerto), Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E flat Major, H. VIIe: 1, Handel’s Selections from “Messiah,” and traditional Christmas Carols.
Ruggero Barbieri’s international career embraces both the symphonic and operatic repertoires. Currently the artistic director and Founder of the Intramuros International Music Festival in Manila, he was formerly the music director and principal conductor of the PPO. He continues his association with the orchestra as a regular guest conductor. He and the PPO toured Europe in 2001, performing with Filipino artists and presenting works of Philippine music that were much appreciated by the audiences. He conducted the PPO in “Asia Orchestras Festival Week 2002” in Tokyo (City Opera Hall) as one of the five invited foreign orchestras. He has conducted orchestras from the Czech Republic, Austria, France, Argentina, Mexico, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and several symphony orchestras in Italy — including the prestigious Pomeriggi Musicali Symphony Orchestra of Milan. He has held positions as both assistant conductor and principal conductor with various European orchestras.
Fredeline “Poppee” Rezare Parin is an alumnus of the UP College of Music, major in trumpet under the tutelage of Prof. Raymundo Maigue and in band conducting under the late maestro Lucio San Pedro. A first and second place winner of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA), several wind instrument competitions from 1979-1983, Parin made history when he passed the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan in 1990. To date, he remains the only Filipino brass player who made it to the Pacific Music Festival since it was founded by the late maestro Leonard Bernstein. In Japan, he studied under the tutelage of the members of the London Symphony Orchestra and under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas and Leonard Bernstein, and in 1991 anew under the tutelage of the members of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Christoph Eschenbach, and Eiji Oue. He was featured as soloist in the regular musical TV programs, and invited as guest soloist in the Bamboo Organ International Music Festival and in the fifth San Agustin International Music Festival 2003 with the renowned Spanish organist Señor Josep Ma. Mas i Bonet. His profound musicality and artistry earned Parin the principal trumpet position in all the performing groups he has joined in the Philippines and abroad. At present, he is a member of the International Trumpet Guild; a faculty member of the University of the Philippines College of Music, Saint Stephen High School and Centro Escolar University; the resident conductor of the historic Banda Kabataan of Gen. Trias, Cavite; and the principal trumpet player of the PPO.