Music Lovers–All

Italian Ambassador Umberto Colesanti and his vivacious wife Clara being avid music lovers–both are passionate about opera (what Italian isn’t?), and Clara in fact is a singer by avocation–they heartily agreed to having their residence (read mansion) serve as venue for the invitational soiree hosted by the Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines.

Prominent among the guests were members of the diplomatic corps. Occupying front row seats in the spacious, verdant garden were Mexican Ambassador Enrique Hubbard, Peruvian Ambassador Jorge Chavez Soto who was seen keeping time to the music with his head, and Israeli Ambassador Irit Ben-Abba who, not too long ago, presented the sensational Percaduo.

The consistently warm applause for the three UST music scholars turned thunderous for the winsome, lovely Korean flutist Hae Won Shin after she rendered Beethoven’s "Romance in F Major" and the hauntingly exquisite Matudnila by Wenceslao Zubiri (as arranged by R. Romero). What a marvelous inspiration she was to the aspiring soloists!

Led by fccp president Chloe Romulo Periquet, special events director and past president Thelma Gana and chairperson Myrna Borromeo, the following committee members likewise deserved lusty applause for the soiree’s resounding success: Mellie Ablaza, Annabelle Adriano, Nenuca Blardony, Grace Brunner, Lulu Castañeda, Tessie Castro, Nene Leonor, Karen Macasaet, Cez Manalo, Nori Ongsiako, Millie Reyes, Boysie Villavicencio, Sol Tan-Gatue and Pitang Tiongson. Encore!