Coke: Wizard of the bow and 5 young composers / Ingrid, Quartet at Park

It was an almost totally atonal program at the CCP main theater last week except for a brief legato in Bartok’s Concerto No. 2 rendered by violinist Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata, and the exquisitely lyrical Cavatina by Abelardo, which piece was Bolipata’s response to the thunderous applause following the Bartok Concerto.

Listeners were still clamoring for more from Bolipata when the Manila Metropolitan Community Orchestra members abruptly stood up to leave the stage, thus concluding the program.

Bartok’s Concerto No. 2 is so diabolically daunting that it took virtuoso Bolipata, the wizard of the bow, to give it its Philippine premiere. Through swift configurations, abrupt and sudden rhythmic changes, complex thematic patterns and mind-boggling cadenzas, Bolipata remained unfazed and supremely confident.

Eyes closed while intensely concentrating, body often swaying to the rhythm(s) and hands unobtrusively beating to the tempo, Bolipata was the picture of a performer enjoying himself immensely. He had the score in front of him but it was a token score because he looked at it only to turn its pages!

Conductor Josefino "Chino" Toledo was alert and acutely responsive to the flow, rhythm, angular direction, and singularly complex structure of the music. On the podium, he conveyed vigor, authority and panache.

Prior to the concert entitled "Xtreme Classix: MMCO Before and Beyond a Musical Soundscape from Bartok to Emerging Filipino Music", Dr. Patricia Licuanan, president of Miriam College whose Institute for Orchestral Development supports the MMCO, delivered a brief speech. She said the MMCO, which Bolipata founded six years ago, consists of members from vastly diversified fields – from the academe to the military – whose sole bond is their passion for music.

Grateful thanks are due Miriam College and its principal sponsors Ayala Westgrove Heights and the NCCA. According to executive director Chinggay Lagdameo, both Bolipata and Toledo rigorously audition the orchestra members who, to my mind, create cohesive music despite their widely varying backgrounds. Doubtless, Bolipata’s administrative talent – rare in artists – is giving tremendous service to community and country.

The young composers, whose works were to be interpreted, were introduced to the audience: Nilo B. Alcala II, Joel F. Cruz, Gian Gianan, Nelson O. Polvoriza and Earl Francis H. De Veyra. They were each called to take a bow onstage after their compositions were played by the MMCO, thus receiving tremendous encouragement.

The composers describe in the printed program, the technical devices they use, but it is the over-all auditory impression that stays with the listener. All compositions received lusty applause.

They were commonly characterized by explosions of youthful energy, vitality and vibrancy often through overwhelming percussive effects. Disjointed chords, dissonances and atonalities abounded. De Veyra points out that his Kapuy 11 — "kapuy" is Visayan for exhausted – is an amalgam of rock, 20th century avant garde and jazz influences.

Cruz’s Mashiach had kettle drums accompanied by eerie strings, flutes and brasses; the mid-section sounded like an electrifying war dance. When Cruz took a bow onstage, he made a sign with his hand which signified, "To God be the glory." Gianan’s Sisid was percussive likewise with the piano coming in, and the strings creating sizzling "noises". Lagalag by Polvoriza had percussions enhanced by clappers, woodwinds and brasses. Alcala’s intriguing and fascinating Diary of a Synaesthete, with a touch of lyricism given by its predominating chimes and bells, is a work in progress and should be developed further.

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Phil-German Music Month closes at Paco Park on Friday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. with a performance by eminent concert pianist Ingrid Sala Santamaria – she was recently conferred the degree of Doctor of Music (Music Education) by DLSU – and the Peace Philharmonic Philippines Quartet composed of violinists Brian Cimafranca and Sara Gonzalez, violinist Jeffrey Solares and cellist Gerry Gonzalez.

Santamaria is founding chair of the Salvador and Pilar Sala Foundation (1989), Cebu Piano Teachers Guild (1990), Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra (1991-2000), and the PPP (2001 to the present).

Violinists Cimafranca and Gonzalez and cellist Gonzalez were trained in Cebu by Solares under full scholarship from the Sala Foundation, and are consistent NAMCYA prize winners. Pursuing Bachelor’s degrees as Battig scholars at St. Scholastica’s College, they are Manila Symphony Orchestra members.

Solares, a graduate of SSC, acts as PPO resident conductor. Through Ingrid’s initiative, he transcribed the orchestral part of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor and Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor for the Paco Park performance.

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Distinguished sculptor Ramon G. Orlina, executive producer of the religious musical Magpahimalang Birhen ng Caysasay, announces its repeat performances Feb. 24 and 25, 6 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, at the Bodjie Laurel Sports Arena, Lyceum of Batangas, and Batangas U.

The play is written and directed by Nestor U. Torre, with music by Ryan Cayabyab, lyrics by Rito Asilo and Noelaani Torre. Musical direction is by Jun Murillo. In the cast are stalwarts Cocoy Laurel, Tommy Abuel, Ivy Violan, Rito Asilo among others.