International concert pianist, Dr. Ingrid Sala Santamaria met with all Lifestyle writers over a delightful lunch hosted by dear friend Tina Ebrada at the Cebu Country Club.
Sweet and always smiling, Ingrid arrived at the conference room with a friend from BBC bringing with her a TV camera. As soon as they were settled, Ingrid introduced her friend to us as Hazel Stuart. So easy to remember her names she said if “Nut†is added to Hazel!
Anyway, the topic during the luncheon meeting was about Ingrid’s coming launching of her coffee table book. “Santamaria! My Four Seasons†contains a Foreword and an Epilogue by Ingrid herself.
The Foreword contains an elucidation of Santamaria’s self-assigned life’s seasons: Spring (1940-1961), Summer (1962-March 1991), Autum (April 1991 to September 7, 2012) and Winter (September 8, 2012 onward).
The book is unique, in that its contests comprise a hundred special feature articles written by different authors both in Cebu and Manila throughout the decades starting in 1950, when Ingrid was 10 years old. It is spiked and peppered with over 500 photographs. Whereas care has been taken to retrieve the original photos for each article, some pictures have been changed due to the inability to find the former; additionally, other vintage pictures pertinent to the articles’ eras have been used to enrich this compendium of an artist’s life and career.
The Epilogue contains a picture of Santamaria and Madame Imelda Romualdez Marco with a succinct tribute by the former acknowledging Madame Marcos as her lifetime inspiration.
The book’s cover is graced by photographic artistry of Joanne Zapanta-Andrada who is one of the featured authors in the collection. To Joanna also goes grateful credit for the title “Santamaria†which she used in a recent article this year.
The book’s articles have been assiduously collated and edited by Dr. Amor S. Hernando who has been a faithful Sala Foundation volunteer throughout the years in all of its endeavors.
Only a few copies have been printed and Ingrid brought four copies for us to peruse. Plans are in the offing to make the book generally available. In the meantime, Ingrid Santamaria wishes to share this extraordinary collection through her website, ingridsalasantamaria.com. As for us, we will wait until the day when Ingrid announces the formal launching her most-awaited coffee table book. Congratulations!