Yuletide trends

Certain Yuletide concerts point up the increasing trend – not altogether new – of fusing pop, classic and ethnic.

Both the musical background and the performances of UK cellist Matthew Barley, who has forthcoming engagements with the PPO in Manila, Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata’s Pundaquit Virtuosi in Zambales and the Peace Philharmonic in Cebu stress an eclectism that ranges from Bach to jazz to improvisation.

Lovers of classic music and jazz aficionados will doubtless flock to Barley’s concerts Dec. 11-19 under the auspices of the British Council headed by Gill Westaway. Chamber and orchestral arrangements are by our own Toti Fuentes, Bong Samson, Bob Aves, Nonoy Diestro and Bobby Gomez, as interpreted by young Ria Villena and Joel Cruz under the baton of Josefino "Chino" Toledo.

Barley is not a stranger to such a gathering of musical artists. He has appeared with jazz singer Ian Shaw, with African musician Tunde Jegede, played the solo cello suites of Britten and Bach in England’s cathedrals.

After studies at London’s Guildhall School and the Moscow Conservatory, Barley was guest principal cellist of the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic and Sinfonietta. He has concertized throughout Europe, Israel, Russia and Japan.

In his Dec. 15 concerts in Subic and Casa San Miguel, he will be joined by Joey Ayala, Grace Nono, soprano Karla Gutierrez, child singer Sylvia Gomez, the Anino Shadow Play, and seven top local cellists performing for Myra Beltran’s choreography.

On Dec. 19, with the PPO, Barley will lead a "one world jam" with tribal musicians from Cordillera to Muslim Mindanao in Soundscapes at the Folk Arts Theater. Principals will include violinist Jay Cayuca, percussionist Bo Razon, harpist Holly Angel Paraiso, singers Grace Nono, Butch Montejo and Lisa Cabahug.

The Cordillera Ethnic Music Ensemble will star kulintang virtuoso Amon Sulaiman. Ballet Philippines’ Paul Morales and Dwight Rodrigazo will interpret a Celtic suite combining UK and local elements.

The Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble, under director Cecile Guidote Alvarez, Outstanding Asian Artist RM Awardee, follows only one trend: To rehabilitate the handicapped through the arts. In observance of World Disability Day, President Arroyo’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) cultural group joined by the DREAMS Ensemble, performed yesterday in Surigao City to inspire the disabled to keep honing their talents while attempting to remove the prejudice prevailing against the handicapped.

Highly praised by UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, Alvarez’s ensemble has been adjudged by the UNESCO journal Sources one of the most unique theater groups in the world. Further, it provides free theater arts training services to disabled street-children, out-of-school and tribal youth to help fight poverty. Mrs. Alvarez stressed that the program reaches out to the urban and rural poor as it uses the arts not only as a means of communal expression but also as a potent tool of human resources development and environmental education.

According to Mrs. Alvarez, who serves as Cabinet Spouses coordinator for KALAHI, the project has effectively transformed shy and disinterested youths into active participants who exceed expectations as creative and enterprising citizens. The children are now providing a musical theater front act at the Araneta Elephant World as a livelihood expansion program and information vehicle to promote bio-cultural diversity.

Keeping its objective both educational and musical, the Clarion Chamber Ensemble, under the idealist and perfectionist David Johnson, presented at the F. Santiago Hall last Nov. 28 its first brass concert. Program highlights were contemporary works which, according to Mr. Johnson, have revolutionized modern wind ensemble playing worldwide: Serenade Number One for ten winds by American Composers League Laureate Vincent Persichetti, and Double Wind Quintet by Alfred Reed.

The "potpourri of sounds" might bring to mind, in a manner of speaking, the fusion of assorted musical styles in Soundscapes, the program ranging from 18th century Schubert to pre-jazz rhythmic syncopations of ragtime master Scott Joplin.

The players last Nov. 28 were ten of the 21 making up the entire ensemble. They are all professional orchestral players and soloists committed to promoting chamber music.

Although the dynamic and indefatigable Mr. Johnson and pianist Hyun Joo Lee organized the ensemble relatively recently, it has achieved much. Mr. Johnson observes: "Many composers who write chamber music often consider it to be some of their finest work. Perhaps because it is smaller in scale, more intimate in nature, exposed in texture and more personal. These few factors alone make chamber music so difficult for musicians to play. They need the precision of synchronized swimmers. But this is precisely what makes a live performance of chamber music so compelling for players and listeners alike." The ensemble’s next concert, German Melody Spinners, is on Dec. 15.

For a Yuletide respite, the Home Concert Series of the Friends for Cultural Concerns headed by Chloe Romulo Periquet deviated from its usual presentation of outstanding young talents by featuring internationally acclaimed concertists Raul Sunico, soprano Camille Lopez and the Ateneo Glee Club at the residence of Chito Madrigal, long-time patron of the arts.

Much earlier, FEU Chair Lourdes Montinola sent out invitations to A Night of Dance to mark FEU’s 75th year. On Dec. 5, to inaugurate Lyceum U.’s Jose P. Laurel Freedom Hall, popular and classic entertainment will again be fused with the performance of Raul Sunico and singers Bituin Escalante, Emmy Cayabyab, Audie Gemora, and, of course, Cocoy Laurel, with Ginajane Grey doing a "passionate" nouveau flamenco.

On Dec. 11 at the Philamlife Theater, young impresario Martin E. Lopez will present a free Christmas gift concert starring the UP Med Choir and the Hiraya All Men’s choir.