Regina Buenaventura is no second fiddle

Violin prodigy Regina Buenaventura made it last December to the pages of The Citizen, the Sunday magazine of The Ottawa Citizen, because of her association with Dr. Joseph Nagyvary and his controversial Nagyvarius violins. When Buenaventura played June last year in recitals in Austin, Texas, Nagyvary was so impressed by her performance that he consented to sell two of his custom-made violins to the Buenaventura family.

Nagyvary has created much ruckus among antique violin dealers and restorers, violin makers and musicians worldwide because of his claim that he has unravelled the secret to the Stradivarius violin. For 30 years, he has been studying the composition of antique violins, particularly Strads and Guarneris, and replicating them in his workshop in Houston, Texas. He has created fiddles that sound like real Strads, as well as a lot more clinkers.

The young Bue-naventura managed to play a 1991 Nagyvarius during one of her Austin, Texas concerts and in an interview with The Citizen compared it to fine chocolates.

Just how important is a good instrument to any violinist, I ask her.

She is forthright with her response: "You can play well with any violin. This violin is like a bonus. It really depends more on the player."

Now 15, Buenaventura has been playing the violin since she was seven. She started her music studies with the piano at three, but switched to the violin after she discovered that she was good at it.

"I wish I could play any musical instrument," she admits. "If I was given a piano, then I would play the piano, and a cello if I was given a cello."

The violin is a difficult taskmaster, she agrees. She practices on her instrument eight hours a day, a schedule she follows rigidly and has accepted without any qualms. This means giving up television.

"That’s what you need," she says. "You can go on a break or a vacation, but you need to maintain that discipline."

She works on pieces her teacher gives her, as well as works that her teacher thinks will interest her or challenge her. She tries to squeeze in at least three hours of school work a day on top of her violin practice.

She has already been working on the violin for eight years, and still it is not enough. "There's a lot more to do," she stresses. "You can’t finish the violin in like seven years. It would take a lifetime just to master it."

The young girl comes from the illustrious Buenaventura family. Her grandfather was National Artist Col. Antonino Buenaventura, composer and conductor of the Manila Symphony Orchestra, while her grandmother Prof. Rizalina E. Buenaventura was the orchestra choirmaster and a noted violinist, too. Her brother is also an accomplished cellist.

Her father Arturo Buenaventura says it would be a tragedy to waste the talent his daughter possesses if he did not support her.

"The thing she does is not ordinary. It is very unique. You cannot compare the joy one gets in listening to good music," says the elder Buenaventura. "It is spiritually uplifting."

And her father isn’t bragging when he declares his daughter to be a good violinist. In 1999, Buenaventura won first prize in the NAMCYA violin competition category A, the first time she ever joined in a music competition. Since then, she has been invited to perform in a number of solo concerts in a number of venues around the country.

Despite her achievements, Buenaventura considers herself a simple girl. When she has free time, she hangs out with her brothers and her cousins. She takes time to read, write and watch movies. She also likes teaching her dogs tricks.

"You can’t play the violin the whole day," she declares. "You’ll go crazy."

On Jan. 29 and 30, Buenaventura will perform in her biggest recital ever in two concerts at the CCP Little Theater. She performs with pianist Najib Ismail in a program of short violin pieces and with conductor Arturo Molina and the Manila Symphony Orchestra II in a Saint-Säens violin concerto. The concerts are presented by Standard Insurance Co., Inc. in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Kamayan.