NAMCYA’s 40th year concert / UST Orchestra plays tonite

Prize winning singers and instrumentalists of NAMCYA competitions through 40 years were featured in a grand over-long concert at the CCP main theater. CCP president Raul Sunico, in his opening remarks, stressed that a NAMCYA prize gives each recipient the impetus and initiative to embark on a career, but future success will depend entirely on his/her persistence and determination.

The concert hewed to the highest standards, the participants having gone through rigid training that enabled them to pass the NAMCYA’s most challenging requirements.

The program opened with the younger artists. Elaine Espejo Cajucom played Monti’s Czardas on the banduria, strictly keeping the alternately slow and rapid rhythms of the engaging dance, with the guitarist giving unfailingly precise accompaniment.

In the very brief Valseanna by Assad, guitarist Raymundo Cajucom seemed somewhat uninspired. Soprano Gereberne Lozada exquisitely sang San Pedro’s Diwata ng Pag-ibig, her ringing voice luminous as it firmly sustained the top notes. Soprano Myramae Meneses in San Pedro’s Hayun ang Bituin likewise conveyed fine musicianship, the vocal acrobatics executed with technical skill. The two young, pretty sopranos interpreted a song from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, with Mauricia Borromeo as piano accompanist. The voices complemented and inter-acted with each other while blending in close harmony.

I reviewed a recent recital of the outstanding 20-year-old pianist Regina Montesclaros who again played Chopin’s Scherzo No. 4 in E-Flat Major at the CCP concert.

Followed two groups of brilliant instrumentalists. The eight wind players were Franz Miguel Ramirez and Marvin Galang on the oboe, clarinetists Jayson Rivers and Hernan Manalastas, bassoon players Joseph Panganiban and Frenvee Andra, French horn players Linwell Lalic and Mahler Villanueva; string instrumentalists were Paulo Jaime Alcantara on contrabass and Arnold Josue on cello. Their collective performance of Dvorak’s Menuetto and Finale from Serenade in D Minor conveyed the closest rapport and cohesiveness, with the tonal hues of the winds contrasting vividly with those of the strings. The ensemble expressively focused on the work's melodic content, although owing to the eight-to-two ratio, the winds inevitably dominated.

Mendelssohn’s Scherzo and Presto from Octet in E Flat Major was performed by violinists Denise Huang who deserves special mention, Jimmy Tagala Jr. who has given solo recitals, Christian Tan, Sara Maria Gonzales, violists Rey Casey Concepcion, Karlos Guillermo David, and cellists Anton Josef Inacay who has also appeared in recitals, and Gerry Graham Gonzales.

Their fluidity underscoring the lyricism of the romantic composer, was a delight to hear, each participant displaying acute musicianship and remarkable dexterity.

The second part of the program, with the PPO assisting under Olivier Ochanine, featured older, more seasoned and experienced instrumentalists. In Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, internationally acclaimed Alfonso “Coke” Bolipata immediately demonstrated exciting mastery, indeed, virtuosity. The other violinists were highly proficient Dino Akira Decena, Divina Juanita Francisco Salonga and Maria Jeline Oliva. Mozart’s Andante con variazione from Sinfonia Concertante was intensely and passionately interpreted by wind players Renato M. Resureccion Jr. on oboe, Ariel Sta. Ana on clarinet, Adolf Mendoza on bassoon and Rodel Colmenar (founder-conductor of the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra) on French horn.

Bach’s contra-puntal, formally structured Concerto for Four Pianos had interpreters who distinctly conveyed Bach’s classic style: Gabriel Alian Paguirigan, Pian Margarita Dino Balasico, Nita Quinto and Victor Asuncion who has concertized abroad.

Unavoidably, I could not stay for the finale, San Pedro’s Sa Mahal kong Bayan for Vocal Quartet and Orchestra featuring sopranos Rachel Gerodias and Karina Kay Bajaladia Ligaya, tenor Randy Gilongo and baritone Andrew Fernando. Both Fernando and Gerodias have gained international stature. Gilongo has concertized abroad. I also missed the closing remarks of NAMCYA secretary general Renato Lucas. Incidentally, had he stayed abroad he would have continued garnering international acclaim as cellist, and eventually, as conductor. An SF Conservatory graduate, he became principal cellist of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra, later playing with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in South Carolina, and in the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy. He was our representative to the first World Cello Congress in Washington, DC. Dr. Orlando Cole of the prestigious Curtis Institute singled out Lucas, then only 21, as “the most promising cellist.”

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The UST Symphony Orchestra under conductor Herminigildo G. Rañera will perform tonight at 7 in the CCP main theater.

The program as announced by UST Conservatory dean Raul Sunico follows: Offenbach’s Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld, the Phl premiere of Hummel’s Grand Concerto with soloist Adolfo Mendoza on the bassoon, and the Coro Tomasino singing Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor.