Blind tenor, Sunico-Coyuito duo, Subic Bay Orchestra to perform

On Feb. 27, 2004, Carlos Alberto Ibay will hold his Philippine debut concert entitled Hope – The Message of the Third Millennium at the CCP main theater at 8 p.m.

Carlos started playing the organ at two. At nine, he studied piano with Thomas Schumacher of the Levine School of Music. At 12, Carlos won first place at the Peabody Conservatory Spring Festival and second place in the Steinway Piano Scholarship Competition of the Mid-Atlantic as well as in the Merlin-Engle Piano Competition at the Levine School of Music.

More recently, he performed at the opening of the Rachmaninoff Center of Musical Culture in Novgorod, Russia, and played with the Bessler Quartet and Brazilian pianist Virginia Hogan in Rio de Janeiro. He is currently a student at the Mannes College of Music in NY city.

Carlos is not only a talented pianist but also a talented singer with the voice of a ‘bel canto‘ tenor. His repertoire includes sacred songs, operatic arias, Broadway hit tunes, classical jazz, Italian favorites, and Filipino love songs.

This is a very impressive and unique record because Carlos is blind.

He will be presented by the young, enterprising music entrepreneur Martin Lopez who has announced that Carlos’s debut concert, which in and of itself is a message of hope, will be for the benefit of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, the Millennium Saint Foundation and the Springs of Carmel Foundation.

This Sunday, Dec. 14 at 1:30 p.m. the Sinag Tala Performing Arts Series, of which Martin Lopez is likewise the moving spirit, will give a free Christmas concert Come to the Stable at the F. Santiago Hall. It will feature The Mandaluyong Children’s Chorus with Nelson Caruncho, tenor, Lea Capulong, pianist, Fr. Erio Torres, scriptwriter, and Manolet Garcia, director.

Material or financial donations will be gratefully accepted for Ang Arko, home for physically and mentally challenged children.

The Sinag Tala has a number of highly successful concerts behind it, among them the debut of Juilliard-trained pianist Aileen Chanco with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra early this year. In August, it presented Filipino sopranos Lilac Caña of Toronto, Thea Tadiar of London, Rachelle Gerodias of Manila and Eileen Fernandez.

On Jan. 9, 2004, the newest piano duo consisting of Raul Sunico and Cristine Coyuito will perform Poulenc’s Piano Concerto for Two Pianos with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under French conductor Dominique Fanal. The piano duo will be an interesting combination of power (Sunico’s) and grace (Coyuito’s).

To celebrate the 30th year of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), some of the best of the young talented Filipino musicians performed in the recent music festival Kung Maari Sana .... Pangarap, Adhikain at Musika ng Kabataan at the provincial capitol of Malolos, Bulacan, and at the CCP.

The NAMCY is engaged in a continuous search, discovery and development of new and young talents in music. Pianist Rowena Arrieta, the brothers Bolipata – violinist Alfonso, cellist Ramon and pianist Jaime – soprano Andion Fernandez, flutist Antonio Maigue, violinist Regina Buenaventura, and the violin prodigy Diomedes Sazara are all winners of NAMCYA competitions.

A letter from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Felicito C. Payumo is an invitation to the inaugural concert of the Symphony by the Bay Community Orchestra for a performance of Handel’s Messiah on Dec. 20, 7 p.m. at the Subic Bay Arts Center.

Mr. Payumo writes: "The Symphony by the Bay is the first ever community orchestra north of Manila. Last year, Alfonso ‘Coke’ Bolipata and I joined forces and embarked on this ambitious plan, a concept that has never been done. The band had to be taught how to read notes, blend their sound with the strings, while the strings too had to learn to blend with the winds. After two years of workshops, the results are astounding. Now, the orchestra plays Beethoven, Prokofiev, Handel, Vivaldi, Bach as well as Filipino works. Today, they feel proud and consider themselves true musicians worthy of a discerning audience.

"The orchestra will be joined by the Coro Tomasino under the baton of Lorenzo Raval and the choral direction of Ricardo Mazo in this delightful musical narrative of the birth of Jesus – a perfect way to celebrate the Yuletide season."

Mr. Payumo and Alfonso Bolipata deserve our hearty congratulations for their determined effort in establishing the first orchestra in Subic and in bringing classic music to the community.

A letter from Manuel Manio of Australia (through the Internet) reads: "I was excited to read your review today, ‘Choir of the World’. Is it possible to get a video orDVD of this performance?" I would advise Mr. Manio to write Conductor Fidel Calalang, Jr., University of Sto Tomas Conservatory of Music, España St., Manila.