A passion for symphony
I first met Reginald Espiritu in Boston last year. He was part of a group of Filipinos studying at Berklee College of Music and Harvard who were friends of friends from New York. I was traveling alone on the East Coast and didn’t know anybody in Boston, so my friend called up this posse of Pinoys and asked them to show me around. Anyway, Reggie was one those young, brilliant Filipinos taking up their master’s degree or their second degree.
They took me to Pho Hoa (when in Boston, right?) and we got to talking about music. Reggie is majoring in Film Scoring and Electronic Production Design with a minor in Conducting. His instrument? The oboe, a woodwind instrument with a tubular, slender body played with a double-reed mouthpiece. But his bigger passion is arranging music and conducting. And Reggie came home during his break in Berklee to do just that.
Next Saturday, Sept. 3, Reggie is conducting the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the CYO Unit 26 Chorale and The La Sallian Youth Orchestra in the concert Symphonic Passion, presented by Rajah Travel Corporation, at the Philamlife Auditorium on UN Avenue, Manila, at 8 p.m. The concert features the orchestrated works of Quest, Paulina Siapuatco, the Corps Foundation of PNP, Julianne Tarroja and Rivermaya.
Not like past concerts that merge the classical and contemporary genres, or symphony orchestras performing rock and pop music Reggie and the MSO are using all orchestral instruments to interpret rock songs; no electric or base guitars as is usually the case with such classical-rock concerts.
As musical director, Reggie chose and composed the pieces they will perform: Rhapsody No. 2 The Continued Journey (composed by Reggie); Angel of God (composed by Paulina Siapuatco); Handa Ka Na Ba? and God Bless our Corps from the Corps Foundation PNP; Sugal Kapalaran, Nowhere to Run and Lipad by Rivermaya; Fly, Grateful, and Liwanag by Julianne Tarroja; Party Life, Rise and Shine, and Back to Love by Jose “Quest” Villanueva.
This is by no means his first concert. Reggie has performed twice already at the Philamlife Auditorium when he was with the La Salle Chamber, first as a pianist and the second time as cellist. He has also conducted concerts for his church before he left for the US to study.
Reggie is one of those prodigious kids who were born to play several instruments — and excel in all of them. As a young boy, he was trained in classical piano. Unlike his friends, he never wished to be in a rock band, but rather in a symphony orchestra. Apart from the piano, he plays the cello, contrabass, violin, viola and oboe.
In January last year, he went to Boston to audition at Berklee College of Music with oboe as his principal instrument. He was accepted and felt that finally he was living his dream.
“As far back as when I was a LiaComm student in La Salle, I had always wanted to play the oboe. I was already doing concerts, playing the piano, violin, viola and contrabass, but I had always wanted to concentrate on the oboe.”
The oboe is perhaps not the first instrument that would pop into your head when thinking of an orchestral instrument. “Oboe is part of the woodwind family known for its piercing tone and very expressive quality,” explains Reggie. “I’ve been playing it for two years. Even when I was in college and playing other instruments, I had always wanted to play the oboe but it was very difficult. No. 1, I didn’t have money. It’s an expensive instrument, a second-hand wood oboe can cost as much as $6,000. After I graduated from La Salle, I saved enough money to could buy my own. I got a second-hand one for P60,000. I started with a plastic instrument first and then bought a wood oboe.”
After graduating from Berklee a few years from now and with a degree in film scoring and electronic production design, Reggie hopes to gain experience in Hollywood for a couple of years and eventually come back to Manila to share what he’s learned.
“The film composer I admire most is John Williams. There’s no one like him. People remember his compositions as much as they do the movies — Star Wars, which is my favorite, Jaws, Indiana Jones, ET, Superman, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, etc.”
But in the meantime, Reggie is happy to be home and putting all the people together to make this happen. “It started when I was talking to Jorell Corpus, also a Berklee student and my roommate, about symphonic music. The idea just grew — to merge genres but using all orchestral instruments. And so we began planning in Boston, getting in touch with Rivermaya, my piano teacher and my alma mater. The biggest challenge was to get all the artists together. “
Why does he love conducting and arranging music? “I really love to lead. Arranging and conducting go well together because when you arrange you’re being innovative with a certain piece, and when you conduct your own arrangement, you’re sharing it with a wider audience. You know how you want your piece to be played. It gives me fulfillment to share what I have arranged.”
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Symphonic Passion, presented by Rajah Travel Corporation, will be held on Sept. 3 at the Philamlife Theater on UN Avenue, Manila, at 8 p.m. All proceeds will go to Republikha, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower children through music and education, and to One La Salle Scholarship Endowment Fund.
Tickets are now available at www.symphonicpassion.org. For inquiries, email symphonicpassion@yahoo.com. Ticket prices are P1,000, P500, P300. Students may avail of 50 percent discount.
