PPO performs in Beijing for the first time

MANILA, Philippines - As a prelude to President Aquino’s state visit to China this month, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) performed in goodwill concerts during its first ever journey to Beijing.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing said in a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the PPO successfully performed before capacity crowds at China’s premier performing arts venue last Aug. 13.

The embassy said the warmly received performances at the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA), aptly titled “An Ode to Friendship,” marked the culmination of a year-long celebration in China of the 35th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China last year.

The concerts paid homage to Filipino folk and contemporary compositions, arrangements of Chinese folk music, and Western classics by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Holst.

The PPO, widely regarded as one of Asia Pacific’s premier musical ensembles, played under the baton of musical director and principal conductor Olivier Ochanine and associate conductor Herminigildo Ranera. 

Soprano soloist Annie Luis performed in the concert. She is a voice soloist of the Bayanihan National Dance Company and is currently training in Peking opera at the National Academy for Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing.

Raul Sunico, president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the PPO’s home, led the 74-member group in this goodwill tour.

Sunico said the performances in Beijing were “a dream come true” for the PPO.  “It was the first time for many of the Chinese and foreign audiences in Beijing who watched the concerts to appreciate the timeless melodies of the Philippines played by a philharmonic orchestra in such a distinguished setting. That the Philippines has an innately musical way of life is a fact not lost on the Chinese people because of the ubiquitous presence of Filipino musicians in cosmopolitan venues in China,” he said.

Sunico said records attest that even back in the heyday of Shanghai as the Paris of the East, Filipino bands and jazz musicians were already spicing up the entertainment scene in hotels along the Bund.

The PPO last performed in China during the Philippine National Day Gala in June 2010 at the Shanghai Expo.