Playing a silver tune

NILO ALCALA II, a junior music composition major at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music, won second place at the Asian Composers League (ACL) Young Composers Competition during the 24th ACL Conference and Festival held in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel last October 18 to 24. Alcala’s victory marks another "second" as this is the second award given to a young Filipino composer since the competition started in 1988.

Alcala’s piece "chuck d’ cheeky chat" for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments ranked next to "Sonata for violin and piano" by Avner Dorman from the host country, Israel. Dorman is currently working on a doctoral dissertation at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

Adjudged third place was "Sweet Nothing" by New Zealand’s Chris Gendall who is currently completing masters level studies at Victoria University in Wellington. A total of nine participants from different ACL-member countries participated.

The ACL (Asian Composers League) was founded in 1973 by leading Asian composers and currently has 12 official member countries/regions including Korea, Japan, China/Hongkong, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, and Israel. Yearly, ACL-member countries nominate chamber musical works of notable composers under the age of 30, to be presented and awarded during the conference/festival, thus intro-ducing these young talented composers to the international scene.

Noted Filipino composers who are member and honorary members of the ACL are UP Professor Emeritus Ramon Santos, internationally-acclaimed composer Prof. Josefino "Chino" Toledo, and National Artists Lucresia Kasilag and the late Dr. Jose Maceda.

Alcala had just won Best Sound Design/Musical Score for the short animated film "Flowertrail" at the 2004 INDEO film festival at the UP Film Center earlier in October, prior to his departure for the ACL Festival. Other accomplishments under his name include nominations for Best Musical Score at the 2003 Star Awards for Movies, Golden Screen Awards, and the 24th Metro Manila Film Festival for the movie "Homecoming" by acclaimed Filipino director Gil Portes.

Alcala of Lucena City was a graduate of BS Development Communication at UP Los Baños prior to his admission to the UP College of Music. He currently performs with the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers who recently won top prizes in Torrevieja, Spain.