Camille Lopez-Molina and Margarita Gomez-Giannelli: The Real Sopranos

MANILA, Philippines - With their fame soaring as high as their voices – which are quite high, indeed – Camille Lopez-Molina and Margarita Gomez-Giannelli are two of the most sought-after sopranos today, gaining recognition both in the Philippines and abroad. The critically-acclaimed sopranos have graced audiences with their talent, singing key roles in operas, operettas, zarzuelas, Broadway and off-Broadway musicals around the world.

“I grew up exposed to opera because my parents were both members of the Opera Chorus of the Philippines,” Camille shares. Her mother, a pianist, used to be repetiteur for such voice teachers as Jovita Fuentes and Isang Tapales; the latter became Camille’s first voice teacher. Tapales, Camille remembers, “was a feisty, opinionated and proud woman whose personality was ten times larger than her petite frame.”

“My dad was an operaphile and had a great collection of records which I discovered when I was in 3rd grade,” she adds. “It sounds geeky now, but I thought it was cool to listen to foreign languages being sung by fabulous voices while following the libretto.” Soon, Camille went from singing-along with records to taking center stage herself.

Camille entered the University of the Philippines College of Music, studying with Prof. Fides Cuyugan Asensio until 1994. “What I learned most from her is commitment to my craft,” she says. The year after, she was awarded a scholarship to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, earning a Professional Diploma in Music, majoring in Opera.

She then traveled to Europe and was accepted at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien in Vienna, Austria. “In Vienna, I was assigned to Prof. Marija Sklad Sauer, a Croation contralto who taught me how to free my voice and made me realize that having a big voice isn’t something to be scared of.”

Camille has sung in concerts and recitals in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Spain, and the Czech Republic.

Among her many performances, there are a few that she considers most memorable: “In Hong Kong, our school’s production of La Vie Parisienne was so beautifully done that the reviews said it was better than the Cameron McIntosh Phantom of the Opera running at the Hong Kong Cultural Center at the same time,” she recalls.

Another memorable performance was in 2005 when Camille was six months pregnant. “I sang the aria ‘Ritorna vincitor’ from Verdi’s Aida in Opera Now,” she says. “Then at eight months I sang with the PPO in their annual Christmas concert. In those two concerts, I felt I did some of my best singing.”

One of today’s most visible sopranos in the Philippine music scene, she is a frequent soloist of the premiere orchestras of the country, including the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra, often performing with her husband, tenor Pablo Molina.

Pablo, she shares, is also a great cook and the musical couple enjoys eating out or inviting friends over during their free time. They have two daughters, Beatriz and Sofia.

Camille also mentors many young talents as a faculty member at St. Scholastica’s College Manila, Centro Escolar University, and the University of the Philippines.

Also starting young, Margarita’s musical journey began when she was in elementary. “My music teacher, Sr. Cynthia Calabig, thought that I could join the NAMCYA (National Music Competition for Young Artists) that year… I actually won the regionals that year for Region 4. No finals that year but I got to sing at the CCP Main Theater for the first time. That was my first taste of classical singing,” she shares.

After this initial brush with classical music, Margarita stopped singing for a few years, only to come back to it when she was 14 years old.

Taking lessons at the Cayabyab Music Studio, she recalls, “Ryan gave me a talk that year because he thought I should sing classically and not pop. Nolyn Cabahug was one of my teachers there and he introduced me to Fides Asensio.” From then on, there was no stopping the young soprano.

While studying at the UP College of Music, Margarita won the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition, and was awarded one year of private study in the United States as the first Filipina laureate of the Rosa Ponselle Foundation, after which she was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Margarita lists Asensio and the late Rey Paguio of the UP College of Music as some of the greatest influences on her music. “Mikael Eliasen, the head of the Opera and Voice Department at the Curtis Institute of Music, is a force of nature and I owe him for some invaluable lessons in music and life in general,” she adds. “I also learned to really trust in my own musicality because of him.”

Now based in the US and married to husband Charles, who is also a musician, Margarita is busy taking care of their baby girl, Milena Chiara.

With an impressive list of solo performances to her name, Margarita counts her concerts with Nena Villanueva in Madrid and Paris and with the PPO and Maestro Ruggero Barbieri as some of her most memorable. “The first time I sang the Verdi ‘Requiem’ with the PPO and Maestro Barbieri was memorable to me because I live for this music and it was an out-of-body experience for me.”

“I have been singing with Camille for almost 20 years. Whenever we get together and sing duets, it’s like coming home,” says Margarita.

The two sopranos will grace the stage together once more on Nov. 7 with the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in Opera Extravaganza, the MSO’s final concert in its 2009 season.

“I am so excited about this coming performance,”says Camille. “The last time I sang with my best friend Margarita was 1999. And of course it is always a real pleasure to sing with the MSO.”

Opera Extravaganza stays true to its name, featuring arias and overtures from some of the pivotal works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppi Verdi, and Pietro Mascagni, among others. The two sopranos, under the baton of MSO music director and principal conductor Arturo Molina, are joined by tycoon/tenor George Yang, who will make a special appearance.

“In this concert, we are performing music that we love and that we literally grew up with as young singers in UP,” says Camille. 

Both of them starting at an early age and growing up committed to their craft, Camille and Margarita have many words of advice and encouragement to the young classical singers that they inspire.

Margarita says, “First and foremost, stick to your guns. This isn’t the easiest career choice so be prepared for a lot of work.”

“Know your strengths because that will give you courage tackling your weaknesses,” says Camille. “Don’t make yourself a slave to beautiful sound because if the sound is free, then it is beautiful. It’s more important to make a meaningful sound.”

“There still are a lot of great singers out there,” Margarita adds. “Listen, listen, listen. And learn.”

Opera Extravaganza! is on Nov. 7 at 7:30 pm at the Philamlife Auditorium, U.N. Avenue, Manila. For tickets, call 985-6114 or 0917-3662651.