A little night of music for everyone 

In one night and one concert, an orchestra and a jazz group sated the diverse musical inclinations of people who love jazz, theater tunes, TV and movie themes, swing, pop, Latin beat, Manila Sound and The Beatles.

From John Williams to Nicanor Abelardo, from Henry Mancini to VST & Company, from Glenn Miller to The Eraserheads, and closing with The Beatles, the “Fusion” concert by the Metro Manila Community Orchestra and the UP Jazz Ensemble, conducted by maestro Chino Toledo, fittingly concluded Bonifacio Global City’s (BGC) PassionFest ’08, a month-long celebration of play, arts, leisure and musical activities.

You can imagine the various images the music brought: George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany’s typing the beginning of his story, “There was once a very lovely, very frightened girl. She lived alone except for a nameless cat…” and stopping as he hears Audrey Hepburn, sitting on her windowsill a floor down, strumming her guitar and singing Henry Mancini’s Moonriver. Then switch to Bart Simpson writing “I will not sell school property” a hundred times on a blackboard as The Simpsons theme by Danny Elfman plays. Then on to Fantine singing her heartbreaking song I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.

The most applauded suite of the night was Manila Sound, a Pinoy musical genre from the early to the middle 1970s. “It is often looked upon as the ‘bright side’ of the martial law era,” according to the program notes. “Manila Sound also characterized the disco fever in the Philippines by that period.”

Though many members in the audience probably don’t remember the 1970s  (on account that they were not yet born!), they definitely knew the songs: Manila by Hotdog and Rock Baby Rock by VST & Co. 

When vocalist May Bayot — backed by the 57-piece orchestra and the 20-member jazz band — sang, “I walked the streets of San Francisco, I’ve tried the rides in Disneyland, dated a million girls in Sydney, somehow I feel like I don’t belong…Hinahanap-hanap kita Manila, ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga, mga jeepney mong nagliliparan…” you had that familiar feeling of a time when music videos meant a handheld camera panning across Luneta. And when Bayot sang Rock Baby Rock, why, some kids (as in five to eight years old) were dancing!

This is exactly what maestro Chino Toledo had in mind when he chose the repertoire. In an interview with him four weeks before the concert, he told me, “It’s going to be like watching a Pacquiao fight — di mo alam kung saan mangagaling ang suntok.” 

Chino has been teaching composition and theory at the UP College of Music since 1980 and says that what excited him about coming up with the repertoire for the “Fusion” concert was that his three criteria were easily fulfilled: existing materials that can be combined, music of historical significance, and music for different kinds of audience.

Last Saturday night at Bonifacio High Street, the concert started with Fanfare to Bonifacio, a medley of segments from John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare, first played at the 1984 Olympics in LA,  and National Artist for Music Lucio San Pedro’s Lahing Kayumanggi (Brown Race), written in 1973 and which incorporates the childhood ditty Bahay Kubo.

Henry Mancini followed, then Nicanor Abelardo’s Bituing Marikit with May Bayot. And on to the ‘90s’ biggest Pinoy band, The Eraserheads, with their Pare Ko, Magasin and Tindahan ni Aleng Nena.     

After a medley of cartoon themes and Gloria Estefan’s Latin pop tunes, pianist Jesper Mercado took center stage with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin may have conceived of this composition on a train to Boston, thinking of it as a “kaleidoscope of America,” but it certainly worked with the BGC audience. 

To satisfy opera lovers, the repertoire included Georges Bizet’s Carmen, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Les Miserables; and for those who love the jazz swing era, Glenn Miller’s In the Mood and Pennsylvania 6-5000 had the trumpet section on their feet.

What had the audience stomping was the final suite, Beatlesmania, with Come Together, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Let It Be. The Beatles, of course, was the kind of music that crossed generations and got the entire ensemble together  — about 75 or so mostly young musicians with diverse backgrounds.

The “Fusion” concert was indeed a great way to end a month-long celebration of people’s passions. Bonifacio Global City has always prided itself on being “home of passionate minds” and for providing not just homes for people but a place where they can grow their families in a well-balanced environment.

Music, art, leisure, sports, play — you can’t ask for a better place to indulge in these passions.