If the Visayan word “duyog” means “to accompany” and is used in the context of collaborative music-making, it is only fitting that an important music event is thus named.  

“Duyog: The 1st International Youth Orchestra Festival 2025 Celebration Concert” is one of the culminating activities of the festival that is ongoing in Bohol until July 10. It will be held in Manila on July 12 at the GSIS Theater, CCP Complex, Pasay City—a collaborative effort of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Foundation Inc. led by violinist and conductor Jeffrey Solares with the Young Symphonic Ensemble of New York’s Children’s Orchestra Society led by Filipino classical guitarist and conductor Michael Dadap.

Members of the Children’s Orchestra Society (COS) New York and the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) are performing with the Plectra Corde Rondalla and the PUP Bagong Himig Serenata Chorale in the concert to be conducted by international faculty members from the United States, Hungary, Italy, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The MSJO, which serves as a string orchestra training program of the MSO Foundation, is composed of the most advanced students of the MSO Music Academy and other qualified students aged 9–25 years old.   

It has reaped global awards, including First Place with Outstanding Success at the 16th Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival and the Gold Prize and Grand Prix award for orchestra at the 13th Bratislava International Youth Music Festival. Under Solares’ baton it also won first prize in the 2018 Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival in Vienna. 

The COS, founded in 1962 by Dr. H.T. Ma, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “teaching the language of music” to children and teens. Its mission is to cultivate and nurture children and teach them teamwork and life skills through music-learning and performing in orchestral and chamber music settings. Its members receive training in classical music and opportunities to perform in concerts with their peers as well as with established musicians.

The repertoire includes Sinulog: Dances of Atonement (A Symphonic Poem Overture) composed by Dadap in 1998 and revised in 2023, and 7 Miniature Scenes (Early Morning: Prayers, Songs, and Chants; Fishermen and the Sea; The Village Dancers; Waltz of the Sanctimonious; Forgiven; Vesper Song: Evening Prayer; and  A New Day).

Included as well are Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (Gloria Shih, piano); Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, also known as the “Italian”; and Dadap’s “Alay Sa Inang Bayan” (with the PUP Bagong Himig Serenata and Plectra Corde Rondalla).

The 12-minute “Alay Sa Inang Bayan,” composed in 1963 and inspired by the life of Andres Bonifacio, is dedicated to the patriotic Filipino, Charito Planas.

For tickets, check via TicketWorld.com.ph.