On 1 March at 8 p.m., a new orchestral worked by Filipino composer Jeffrey Ching will be given its world premiere in the Berlin Philharmonie. It is Ching’s Fifth Symphony, entitled Kunstkammer (German for "cabinet of curiosities"), commissioned by the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin (DKO) at the behest of the renowned Russian conductor Michail Jurowski, who will conduct the performance. The unusual instrumentation includes 20 strings, harp, 21 kinds of percussion, and solo parts for soprano, clarinet, ‘cello and concert accordion.
The vocal solos were created expressly for the composer’s wife, Filipino soprano Andion Fernandez-Ching, winner of the Operalia/Placido Domingo World Opera Contest and soloist of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. The avant-garde Berlin-based ensemble Trio NeuKlang, first-prize winners of two chamber music competitions, will execute the virtuoso clarinet, ‘cello and accordion parts.
The concert which promises to dazzle, also includes works by Schoenberg, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky – all equally demanding. Composer Ching and soprano Andion are already familiar to audience here. The DKO consists of outstanding soloists from various Berlin orchestras who devise their own innovative programs with a series of star guest conductors. Besides playing in European festivals, it has toured Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Indonesia, China, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The phenomenal Ching owes his prestigious commission to the advocacy of Michail Jurowski, who played piano duets with the great Shostakovich while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. Later he became Roshdestvensky’s assistant at the Great Moscow Radio Orchestra and conducted at the Bolshoi. He moved to Germany in 1990 and since then has conducted regularly at the opera houses of Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Leipzig and given concerts with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and Leipziger Gewandhausorchester.
Jurowski was General Music Director at the Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie Herford, the Norddeutschen Philharmonie Rostock, Principal Conductor of the Leipziger Oper, and is invited all over the world from South America (Teatro Colon Buenos Aires) to Scandinavia, where he maintains a constant collaboration with the orchestras in Malmo, Odense and Copenhagen. Recently he conducted the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Last January, he took up his new post as Principal Conductor of the famous WDR Rundfunkorchester of Cologne.
Ching’s new symphony is in two movements and lasts about 35 minutes. In it the composer explores the spiritual affinities between civilizations apparently far apart, even incompatible – Renaissance Rome, Qing China, Ottoman Turkey. The first movement was inspired by Nicholas Egnier’s painting within a painting, Self-Portrait with a Portrait on an Easel of 1623-4, and creates a musical allegory of its split levels of visual reality through four string instruments tuned a quarter-tone higher or lower than the rest.
The second movement is a musical representation of the courtesy call paid by the Chinese ambassador at the Turkish embassy in Paris in 1890. Ching explains, "Early on the two cultures are presented in stark juxtaposition, as a polite diplomatic exchange in which neither side talks over the other. But later they begin to overlap and dovetail in a ‘new world order’ of mutual dependency, while yet retaining their melodic autonomy."
New symphonic works by five young Filipino composers will likewise be premiered in this final concert of "Xtreme Classix" titled "MMCO Before and Beyond – A Musical Soundscape from Bartok to Emerging Filipino Music". Initiated by Conductor Josefino Toledo and supported by the NCCA, the new symphonic works are the outcome of "Music UnderKonstruction", the first orchestral reading project of its kind designed by Toledo to encourage the creation and performance of new works by Filipino composers who very rarely have the chance to be heard.
No neophytes, all five composers have garnered recognition and awards. Nilo Alcala won 2nd prize in the Asian Composers League at the ACL music conference in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Joel Cruz received the Certificate Prizes of the Arelier Ko-Chi Music contest and the Togakushi Oragamura Festival in Nagoya, Japan.
Nelson Polvoriza won the national grand prize in Original Composition for the Himig Kawayan Ensemble, auspices of the Philippine Society for Music Education. Francis de Veyra’s chamber piece Ideolohiya was RP’s contribution to the Asian Composers League "Young Composers Prize" competition in Yokohama, Japan. The works of Gian Gianan, a double degree holder in music and fine arts, have been repeatedly performed here.
Arts of India, Japan, Spain
"A Night of India", an evening of art and music, will be held also on Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m. at the residence of Ambassador Navrekha Sharma. Mme. Sharma is a highly cultured woman with a solid background not only in India’s history but also in its visual arts, music, theater and dance.
On Feb. 18, starting at 10 a.m., J-Pop at the Shang opens at the Shangri-la Plaza Mall Grand Atrium under the auspices of Japan Foundation. To be featured are a photo exhibit, kimono dressing, Japanese dance, calligraphy, origami, Nihongo art and performance, Nihongo thru art and song, a film show. Opening remarks will be given by Ben Suzuki, JF director. Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki will give the closing remarks.
On Feb. 25 "One Love, One Day, One Life: Core of Soul 2006" will feature pop stars Hale, Barbie Almalbis and Kitchie Nadal in "Streetscape".
Call JF, 8116155-58 for details.
On Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. Spanish video artist Sally Gutierrez will present a short film Manola coge el autobus at Instituto Cervantes’ new location, 855 Kalaw St., Ermita. Gutierrez studied fine arts in Madrid, worked in Berlin and NY. She has exhibited in Madrid and abroad and in film festivals. Her film was shown in Villadolid’s Cine Internacional last October.