3 tenors, 3 advocacies

They’ve come a long way since coming together in 2003 for concert that was more of lark than a serious foray into the music scene. But after seven sold-out appearances, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Bayani Fernando and former senator Joey Lina are performing again next month as the Three Tenors. Their show – Three Tenors: The Ultimate Concert – will see Reyes, Fernando and Lina sharing the stage with Verni Varga, Pops Fernandez and Rachelle Ann Go.

And this time, each tenor will perform to raise funds for his favorite advocacy. Reyes has the newly-minted multisectoral environmental group, the Green Army Foundation, as his beneficiary.

Fernando will help the media and its workers, whom he would like to thank for their support in the MMDA’s information drive and Lina will perform for the Rizal Youth Institute of the Order of the Knights of Rizal.

Their songs will also reflect their advocacies. Reyes will sing the Asin folk classic, Masdan ang Kapaligiran. Lina will do Basil Valdez’s Ngayon, which inspires and empowers the youth. With noted tenor Nolyn Cabahug as their coach, the three have expanded their repertoire to include ballads, kundimans, love songs, Christmas carols and even arias. They’ve gotten so good, the three have been invited to perform in the US, Canada and Australia.

And get this: They were even asked to perform on a luxury liner! But their duties to the public come first, so they had to beg off.

The concert, Three Tenors: The Ultimate Concert to be staged Dec. 4 at the Manila Hotel Fiesta Pavilion, is produced by Angie Magbanua, who has been working with the Three Tenors from the start.

With the success their concerts have been reaping, will we see a CD or DVD of the Three Tenors? Not for the moment, says Fernando.

"We do not intend to enter showbiz. We’re here to help causes and inspire people. As they say, music never ceases to inspire nations.

"This is not our profession," adds Lina. "So we don’t know the future. This may be the entry or exit point."

(For concert tickets, visit The Manila Hotel’s Banquet Office or call 527-0011 loc. 1271 or 1275).