The amazing Ibay, Caña perform jointly Jan. 26 / The impressive Oliver

On Jan. 26 at the CCP Little Theater, blind tenor-pianist Carlos "Chuckie" Ibay, who gave a resoundingly successful debut at Carnegie Hall last October, and Toronto-based soprano Lilac Caña will perform jointly.

The extraordinarily talented and versatile young pianist-singer Ibay, blind since birth, will be playing the Tchaikovsky B-flat Piano Concerto, improvising on Tatum’s Humoresque, singing a Caruso aria or a Latin love song.

After Ibay’s memorable performance at the 80th birthday of columnist Liz Smith, she wrote: "Carlos Ibay . . . blew us away!" With his unique talent, Ibay interprets various genres exceedingly well, moving effortlessly from pop to classic.

Ibay has been enthusiastically received world-wide.

With a rich tenor voice and fluency in seven languages, Ibay possesses a wide repertoire that ranges from American standard to international art songs in Spanish, French, Italian and Filipino. Although he has a predilection for aria including Caruso’s, he also enjoys the Gershwins.

Carlos began playing the piano at age two. His unusual inherent talent, absolute pitch and love for sharing his gift took him to the stage at age nine. For 15 years, he has built his piano repertoire of large-scale works which he learns by listening repeatedly to them. Once he has memorized a piece, he performs it with amazing skill despite his inability to see the keyboard or the score.

The year 2000 marked the start of his international career, with a performance at the opening of the Rachmaninoff Center Hall in Novgorod, Russia, birthplace of the composer. Invited twice to Brazil, he played with eminent Brazilian pianist Virginia Hogan and the Bessler Quartet.

In 2004, Carlos was the only Fil-American who competed with nine others in Madrid’s Joaquin Rodrigo International Piano Competition after which the judges gave him a special award and invited him to the composer’s home to perform for the Rodrigo family.

This was preceded by his highly successful debut at the CCP and at the Quirino grandstand with President Arroyo in attendance.

On Aug. 12, 2004, Carlos was guest in EWTN’s "Life on the Rock", this leading to engagements around the US and Australia. In May of 2005, he made a guest appearance with his local community orchestra outside Washington, DC, interpreting Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 to rave reviews.

Carlos will appear in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, Australia; a concert on May 28 is scheduled in Puerto Rico.

Despite the challenges caused by his blindness, Carlos wins more and more followers for his exceptional talent, wit and charisma. The infectious joy he imparts through his music makes him a most sought-after performer.

Soprano Lilac Caña, who trained in opera has taken the vocal art form to the limit. Whether in theater, on the concert stage, TV or radio, her style is unique. Her innate musicality embraces art songs in several languages, arias, jazz, cabaret, gospel, Broadway and pop.

Caña began classical training in Austria with the American Institute of Musical Studies graduating with honors from the U. of Toronto, later studying in the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory. Top coaches were Jean MacPhail and conductor Richard Bradshaw in Toronto, Warren Jones and Evelyn Mandac in NY.

With her own recording company, LilacSounds, Caña has released three albums of songs and arias: Encantada, Labing Dalwa featuring concert pianist Raul Sunico, and Exultate.

Caña’s recent engagements include a guest appearance in concert with Pilita Corrales, a concert and teaching tour throughout the country (in cooperation with SinagTala) which culminated in "The Sopranos" (Aug. 2003); a new recording of original songs by Canadian composer Brenda Muller titled Wolf at My Door, two music videos directed by film maker Romeo Candido and Jeffrey Round, a singing tour of cathedrals in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy where Lilac sang in a special cabaret concert with Austrian piano duo Kutrowatz.

In February, 2004, Caña created the role of "Spirit of Love" in the premiere of Harvest Sky, a new opera-ballet by Douglas J. Rice. Last year, she sang at Ontario’s Queen’s Park for members of the parliament and Toronto’s cultural leaders in opening ceremonies for Asian Heritage Month.

* * *

The tremendously gifted young pianist Oliver Salonga gave a piano recital at the Pasig Museum that impressed more than ever, with him playing Beethoven’s Sonata in A-flat Major, Prokofieff’s in B-flat Major and Chopin’s in B-flat Minor.

For me, the high point was Prokofieff’s Sonata: Oliver’s steely sound and unerring rhythmic sense seemed just right for the atonal, highly percussive and strongly rhythmical piece which alternated form martial to playful. In mid-section and towards the end, the work became almost lyrical. The climax had a rush of percussive notes ferociously rendered which nearly overwhelmed the listener.

Although Oliver engaged in a bit of showmanship, looking at the heavens in Beethoven or Chopin, his eyes hardly strayed from the keyboard in the Prokofieff Sonata with its disjointed harmonies, leaps in melody as it fluctuated from simple to complex. The innovative alternated with the trite, while the work’s biting irony and sarcasm surprised or "shocked".

In Beethoven, the exquisite proportions of the adagio and the robust fugue were neatly and clearly delineated as were the middle sections, with Oliver’s phrasing strikingly original.

The Funeral March in Chopin’s Sonata, out of kilter with the rest, was interpreted with solemnity and soulfulness; the other movements bristled with Chopinesque brio and brilliance.

Summing up, there was always a sense of drama in everything Oliver played, rendering the pieces fresh and different. Long pianissimo passages would be abruptly followed by thundering fortissimos. Indeed, he was even more uniquely dramatic than at his earlier recital, although I believe he should infuse more lyricism into his style to balance the dramatic. Also, he should guard against an excess of showmanship that could detract from his intrinsic merit. But even now, he should be rated as one of our most brilliant pianists who could look forward to an outstanding career.