THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES COLLEGE OF MUSIC
Volume 1, Number 2 Highlights of Academic, Pedagogical and Performance Work
10-Nation International Conference and
Symposium
On February 27-28, 2007 "Theories of Performance in the Musics of Asia:
A Symposium" was held at the Abelardo Hall. It was a corollary undertaking
of the Cuerdas sa Pinaghiusa Music for Strings Festival in Dumaguete City. The
event featured some 35 international musicologists, artists and pedagogues from
Burma, China, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Israel, Russia and
the Philippines in a two-day program of academic and performance offerings towards
the crafting of a "New Theory of Music for Asia" spearheaded by National
Artist and former Professor Emeritus of Theory Dr. Jose Maceda and the UP Center
for Ethnomusicology under Executive Director and University Professor Emeritus
Dr. Ramon Santos.
UP Madrigal Singers Cop "Grand Prix" in France
The UP Madrigal Singers have proven again their supremacy on the international
choral music scene by garnering yet another "Grand Prix", this time
at the 2006 International Choral Competition in Tours, France. This award makes
them again eligible to compete in the 2007 "Grand Prix Europeen" (which
the group won in 1997): the "Olympics" of world choral performance
wherein the grand prize winners of the world's major competitions meet on a
single stage. The group is to date the first and only Philippine Choir to have
garnered this distinction. The choir is helmed by College of Music Conducting
Faculty Mark Anthony Carpio and was founded by National Artist and former Voice
Department Chair Prof. Andrea Ofilada-Veneracion.
UP Concert Chorus Victory in Italy
The UP Concert Chorus male ensemble conducted by Prof. Janet Aracama was named winner of the “Premio Eccelenza (First Prize)” at the “Concorso Internationale di Canto Corale Seghizzi” in Gorizia, Italy in 2006. They recently returned from a seven-month concert tour of the United States, Europe and Oceania.
Second University Opera Season Unveiled
The College of Music unveiled the Gala Performance of its Second University Opera Season in February 2007 with a twinbill of Baroque offerings: Purcell’s great tragedy from the Aenid “Dido and Aeneas” and Pergolesi’s two intermezzi comprising “La Serva Padrona” at the Philamlife Theater on a Philamlife Insurance Company Theater Grant. This venture follows hot on the heels of a successful First Opera Season (made possible by the Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts) which culminated in a five-performance Mall Tour to bring this “Queen of Theater Forms” to larger audiences,
The season, the only one of its kind in the country today, featured in its first outing in 2006 year a thematic programming of four operas from the four major musical periods: the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary. The 2007 bill incorporates Opera Graduation Recitals as well as mountings of the Opera Workshop Class under Ms. Vina Gonzales and Voice Dept. Chairperson Prof. Katherine Molina. It features as well Ravel’s “L’enfant et les Sortileges”, Puccini’s “La Boheme”, Wolf-Ferrari’s “Il Segreto di Susana” and Adamo’s “Little Women”.
UP Orchestra Celebrates the Works of Abelardo and Mozart’s 250th Birth Anniversary
The UP Orchestra under Musical Directors Prof. Edna Martinez, Prof. Rodney Ambat and Mr. Agripino Diestro, celebrated Mozart’s 250th Birthyear (2006) with five performances of the opera “Der Schauspieldirektor” on a Christmas Season Mall Tour. In 2007, together with a program of symphonic music by Haydn and Grieg they assisted Professor Emeritus Regalado Jose in two landmark performances (marking the venerable pedagogue’s return to the concert stage) of former UP Conducting Faculty Prof. Nicanor Abelardo’s only Piano Concerto. The first was at the Equitable-PCI Bank Francisco Santiago Hall (named after the first Filipino Director of the UP Conservatory of Music) on February 23 under an Equitable-PCI Bank Theater Grant and the second at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium on March 20.
College of Music 90th Anniversary Celebrations and Christmas Lighting Concert Broadcast on National Television
In February 2006 some 150 artists of the UP College of Music converged on the stage of the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo to open the celebrations of the College’s (formerly a “Conservatory”) 90 years of great music-making in a Gala Concert entitled “A College for the World”. It is a history that has made the presence of the institution felt in some 55 countries on six continents. The magical evening featured the resident vocal and instrumental artists from the college including the Madrigal Singers, Concert Chorus, Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra, Dance Company, Symphonic Band, String Chamber Orchestra, and the Cherubim and Seraphim.
To close the Anniversary year and with sponsorship from the Office of Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, a Holiday Season Gala was then held in December to mark the UP Diliman Christmas Lighting Ceremony with some 180 resident artists. Directed by Chancellor Gigi Alfonso, the extravaganza was broadcast live on primetime national television and provided a meaningful and fitting ender-upper to a year of musical accomplishment.
UP Opera Gala at the Cultural
Center of the Philippines
For the first time in some 15 years, the Cultural Center of the Philippines in cooperation with the UP College of Music collaborated in July 2006 on not one — but two – operas in their entirity in the hall’s Main Theater. The evening was further highlighted by the distinctions of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra assisting an all-Filipino cast essaying works in the original languages (non-translations) of the operas.
Presented were Mozart’s
“Der Schauspieldirektor” and Leoncavallo’s immortal “Pagliacci”.
The operas were directed respectively by UP College of Music Dean Tenor Dr.
Ramon Acoymo and Tanghalang Gantimpala Artistic Director Tony Espejo, and conducted
respectively by UP College of Music faculty members Prof. Edna Martinez and
Mr. Agripino Diestro.
College of Music Acquires New Library and Rehearsal Room
Annexes
In 2006,
through the assistance of Senator Ramon Magsaysay and Senator Edgardo Angara,
two much- and long- needed facilities rose on the memorable Abelardo Hall quadrangle.
The first was a Library Annex to house the collections of the Graduate Studies
Program and the College Archives as well as to accommodate private reading and
research space for Graduate Students and Faculty; and the second, sound-proofed
additional rehearsal and teaching spaces for the Strings and Harpsichord programs.
The facilities were designed purposefully to be incorporated into the original
building design and are functional while retaining the architectural symmetry
of the structure and space.
Annual "Messiah"
Tradition
Continues
In December of 2005 and 2006 Handel's "Messiah" an oratorio celebrating
the coming of the Christ child, was staged at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium featuring
College of Music artists and the UP Staff Chorale conducted by Mr. Christopher
Reyes. The usual one-night affair was so successful that two evenings were scheduled
last year to accommodate expanding audiences.
Two Departments Renamed to Reflect Relevance of Evolving
Programs
The Department of Piano and the Department of Music Research have been renamed
the Department of Keyboard and the Department of Musicology respectively. The
former Piano Department will begin to offer studies in two additional keyboard
instruments: the Harpsichord and the Pipe Organ, while the new title of the
former Music Research Department will more accurately reflect its program contents
and thrusts.
The changes
were approved this year by the Board of Regents.
Pipe Organ
Inaugurated at the Abelardo Hall
On February 27 of 2007, the spanking new Pipe Organ of the College of Music was inaugurated with a concert of Baroque Music. The new instrument was acquired through the Academic Enrichment Fund of the University with the invaluable assistance of former Vice-President for Finance and presently Dean Dr. Erlinda Echanis of the College of Business Administration and the Office of Chancellor Dr. Sergio S. Cao.
The instrument will be essential in the authentic performance of period and contemporary music, as well as in providing a critical avenue and tool for both pedagogical and compositional endeavors.
Master’s Programs Revisited and Revised
The major revisions of all the Master’s Programs in Music were completed in 2006 and approved by the University Council. The programs were revised in an effort to address the more recent needs and demands in and of the discipline, as well as to effect changes that would more validly and completely equip graduates with the knowledges and skills critical and necessary for national and international careers in the academic, research and creative arenas.
International Jury Declares “Ultimate Pianist” Competition a Grand Slam for the UP College of Music
An International Jury of acclaimed pianists from China, Israel, Korea, Poland and the United States named College of Music Faculty members Prof. Luci Magalit, Prof. Gemma Gonzales and Ms. Michelle Nicolasora and student Somang Lim the winners in the recently concluded “Ultimate Pianist” Competition held on November 13-18, 2006. The competition was founded by Prof. Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz, Artistic Director of the Camerata dell’Arte Foundation.
Prof. Emeritus Fides Cuyugan-Asensio Spearheads Philippine Music Theater Creative Surge
After a highly successful run of the music-theater piece “Spoliarium” (music by former College of Music faculty member Ryan Cayabyab) librettist Prof. Emeritus Fides Asensio helmed the successful performance and launch of the recording of the same work at The Podium in 2006.
College of Music Faculty Launch Books
In 2006 University Professor Emeritus Dr. Ramon Santos, won the National Book
Award for "Tunugan": a collection of essays on and analyses of Philippine
music, while Prof. Steve Villaruz launched "Treading Through: 45 Years
of Philippine Dance" in San Francisco.
Prof. Josefino Chino Toledo Conducts Own Piano Concerto and U.P Student Compositions Premieres
Prof. Josefino Chino Toledo conducted the premiere of his Piano Concerto "Ekontra:Kongrue:Iunktum"
in 2007 with the Metro-Manila Community Orchestra. The evening also saw the
premiere of orchestral songs by student composer-students Nilo Alcala (2007
Gawad Chanselor Awardee), Nelson Polvoriza, Louise Ybanez and Reginald Ritche
Tan. Music critic describe Toledo's work as "singularly original, the work
was replete with staccato single notes repeatedly covering the entire keyboard
in breath-taking and electrifying pace...Toledo's mastery of composition magnetizing
the audience with its impetus and drive."
Prof. Katherine Molina Brings the International Academe to Popular Music
Chair of the Dept. of Voice, Music Theater and Dance Prof. Katherine Molina
has recently returned from certification studies on the McClosky Voice Method
at the McClosky Institute of Music in Greenville, South Carolina. She continues
to bring the depth and sensibility of an academician to the world of popular
art as adjudicator of the "Pinoy Dream Academy" reality television
talent program.
College of Music Faculty Highlighted in International Festivals
The academic and creative presence of three members of the faculty of the Dept of Theory and Composition was seen and heard yet again at the Asia-Pacific Festival in New Zealand in February 2007.
"Daluy",
a piece for solo Kalinga performer and audience by Chair of the Theory and Composition
Dept. Dr. Jonas Baes; and "Hoy" for Trombone and Percussion by Prof.
Josefino "Chino" Toledo were highlights of the concert "Traditional
and New Music for Asia" at the festival, while Dr. Ramon Santos delivered
the keynote address on "Ethnomusicology and Composition".
AT A GLANCE: More
College of Music Faculty and Students on the International Scene
Prof. Steve Villaruz, Artistic Director of the UP Dance Company
read a paper on sacred and secular festivals at the University of California-Riverside.
Dr. Jonas Baes read a paper at the international colloquium "Island Cultures in Transition" at the University of Hongkong.
Prof. Mauricia Borromeo, Chair of the Music Education Dept. attended as panelist the International Conference of the International Society for Music Education in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
College Secretary Prof. Gemma Malicdem of the Dept. of Keyboard attended the 10th World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Anaheim, California and met with distinguished composers and authors of Piano Method books Jane Bastien, Dennis Alexander and Randall Faber.
Dr. Ramon Acoymo, Dean of the College headed the performance group "University of the Philippines Music Ensemble" (composed of Guitarist and UP Madrigal Singer Warlito Yalung, and Music Extension Program Faculty members Luz Morete-Martinez and Greg de Leon) at the I-Lan International Folk and Children's Music Festival in Taiwan and proceeded to Bangkok to perform for the ASEAN Evening Gala.
Mr. Fredeline Parin concertized at the XL Cicle Concerts d'Orgue
in Reus, Spain and participated in the 2006 International Trumpet Guild Conference
in Glassboro, New Jersey.
Dr.
Ramon Santos undertook research in Thailand and Indonesia on an Asian
Public Intellectuals Program Grant of the Nippon Foundation..
Prof. Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz was a panelist for the HKSMSA
Music Festival in Hongkong.
Prof. Augusto Espino of the Dept. of Keyboard and Music Extension Program faculty members Aileen Cura and Lionel Guico concertized in Madrid, Spain for the Philippine Independence Day celebrations.
"Patangis-Buwaya" for four flutes by Dr. Jonas Baes was performed at the "Homage-a-Bartok" Festival in Budapest, Hungary.
Alumna
Ms. Evelyn Mandac, to date the only Filipino opera singer to have made
the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, returned for a series of Master
Classes in German Vocal Literature.
Senior Composition student Reginald Ritche Tan participated
as a delegate to the "Young Composers Competition" of the Asian Composers
League in Wellington, New Zealand. Student Dominic Quejada leaves for Hongkong
to participate in the same competition.
Prof. Alegria Ferrer, a 2-time ALIW Awardee for Best Female Classical Singer, performed for the 50th anniversary of Philippine-Japan Diplomatic Relations and Philippine Independence Day celebration held in Osaka, Japan last June 12, 2006. Ms. Ferrer is the featured artist in the forthcoming Spring Festival in Boston, Massachusetts in May 2007. With her is Dean Ramon Acoymo, Winner of the 2006 ALIW Award for Best Male Classical Performer.
College of Music Performing Groups Highlighted
in Arts Month at the UP Diliman Arts Hub
In cooperation with the Office of the Chancellor and the Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts the Symphonic Band, Concert Chorus, Madrigal Singers and Jazz Orchestra gave four consecutive Thursday Evening Concerts at the Arts Hub to celebrate the UP Diliman Arts Month.
College of Music graduates Dennis Reyes (BM Composition), Ma. Katrina Saporsantos (BM Voice) and Robin Estrada (BM Composition) are graduates who have most recently successfully hurdled competitive auditions for slots and scholarships to purse graduate Music studies abroad. Mr. Reyes is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Composition at the University of Nevada, Ms. Saporsantos a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and Mr. Estrada a Doctorate of Philosophy in Music at the University of California.
Sophomore Dance Major Mary Beatrice Saludares leaves for New York to commence studies at the School of American Ballet in Manhattan.
Seventeen College of Music student-instrumentalists successfully passed competitive auditions for seats on the Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble in Thailand, while flautist Raymond Sarreal garnered a seat on the prestigious Asian Youth Orchestra which embarked on a concert tour of several countries in Asia.
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