The Pundaquit Festival / Two visiting artists

With unswerving dedication to his self-imposed mission of providing impetus and inspiration to aspiring artists, the brilliant violinist Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata, who could by now be enjoying an international concert career, has chosen to stay in his country to organize the yearly Pundaquit Festival, holding this in the most unexpected place, near the "sandy ashes of Mt. Pinatubo".

The Festival’s 11th season will feature over a hundred artists in music, theater and the visual arts. With ages ranging from three to 40, the participants are from the urban community, thus giving credence to Bolipata’s claim that through the last ten years, the festival has been bringing culture to the countryside.

His unceasing labors have led to the first Community Orchestra in Central Luzon – "the crowning achievement" of a decade of workshops at Casa San Miguel in Zambales, as well as to the Marching Band, both of which have acquired the needed technique for the music of Beethoven, Prokofiev, San Pedro, Cayabyab, et al. In fact, on Dec. 21, at the inaugural concert, the first Community Orchestra in Central Luzon, the Symphony by the Bay Community Orchestra and Coro Tomasino will interpret Handel’s Messiah under conductor Lorenzo Raval and choir director Ricardo Mazo.

With the Filipino’s inherent talent in the arts, plus the given opportunity to learn to play an instrument, wield a brush or act onstage, the youngsters will be offering symphonic and chamber music, theater plays, puppet shows, art exhibits – all these for free.

Season eleven of the Pundaquit Festival, which will again enrich the lives in rural Zambales, opens Nov. 15 at Casa San Miguel with violinist Bolipata, the Ramon Corpus Quartet, pianist Jordan Petalver and the Pundaquit Virtuosi. On Nov. 24, the Pundaquit Chamber Players will interpret Beethoven, Barber and Bartok. Schedules for April, 2004, the Pundaquit Kuaresma will consist of presentations for Palm Sunday (the Pundaquit Virtuosi), Good Friday (Haydn’s Sevent Last Words), Black Saturday (Handel’s Messiah) and Easter Sunday (Mozart’s Requiem).

Workshops in May will have Enrico Labayen and Myra Beltran as guest choreographers.

The Festival, which refutes the general impression that artists are poor administrators, proves that Coke Bolipata combines his genius as violinist with his genius as organizer.

Edwin Nadason Thumboo, professor emeritus and director of the Centre for the Arts at the National University of Singapore, is in Manila to dialogue with his peers, among them Nick Joaquin and Frankie Sionil Jose, towering literary figures, and the incredibly multi-talented Alejandro R. Roces, newly named National Artist for Literature. Thumboo, son of an Indian father and a Chinese mother, represents the best of both races.

Here is a brief introduction to this humanist whose background and interests are of the broadest: One of Singapore’s most distinguished poets, Thumboo has published four collections of poems: Rib of Earth (1956), God Can Die (1977), Ulysses by the Merlion (1979) and A Third Map (1993), and two collections of nursery rhymes. He is currently working on his next volume. As academician, he headed the Department of English Language and Literature and was the first dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and professional fellow. He has taught Elizabethan/Jacobean drama, the Romantic poets, Singaporean and Malaysian literature, and creative writing courses, as well as major areas of English studies. His research interests included The Modern Novel (Lawrence, Conrad), the Novels of Empire (Kipling) and Commonwealth Literature. As head of the English Department, he introduced the study of Commonwealth/New Literatures in English. He also introduced the English language as a major to enable graduates to undertake its teaching in schools and junior colleges.

Israeli Chargé d’Affairs Roi Dvir is currently playing host to Rami Levi, the eminent dancer-choreographer who last year received the "Best Young Choreographer Award" from the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Education. Trained in both classical ballet and modern dance at Tel-Aviv’s Bast-Dor Studios of Dance, Levi gained considerable experience as member of Israeli’s Bat Sheva Dance Co., and of dance companies in Sweden (with Mats Ek as artistic director) and Tours, France (with Jean Christoph Maillot as artistic director). He has taught ballet and contemporary dance in various schools and companies in Israel, Jerusalem and abroad (Sao Paolo, Brazil). Levi’s works have been performed in Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, and he interpreted, with great success, his own choreography titled "Solo" for the Israeli Festival. Levi will make his presence felt here when he choreographs for Ballet Philippines.