Internationally acclaimed Filipino American tenor Arthur Espiritu takes center stage in his first-ever concert of “kundiman,” or Filipino love songs, on May 14 at Gallery MiraNila in Quezon City. Award-winning soprano Stefanie Quintin‑Avila and celebrated pianist Najib Ismail are also featured in the one-night-only “Mga Awit ng Pag-ibig at Kundiman,” which honors the legacy of...
Tag: music
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FEU presents the Pundaquit Virtuosi of Zambales in Haydn’s ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ’
Far Eastern University, through its FEU Center for the Arts, continues its Tutti Concert Series with Tutti Strings, featuring the Pundaquit Virtuosi of Zambales in a special Holy Week performance of Joseph Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Christ.” Admission is free at the concert to be presented in partnership with the FEU Campus Ministry...
From left, pianists Raffi Kasparian, Carmencita Sipin-Aspiras, Inna Montesclaros —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
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Music to soothe from FEU Center for the Arts and Manila Symphony Orchestra
There’s much to look forward to in the musical scene as the month winds down: the Far Eastern University (FEU) Center for the Arts’ piano concert featuring Raffi Kasparian, DMA, on Jan. 21 and the Manila Symphony Orchestra’s (MSO) “Legacy” featuring the pianists Carmencita Sipin-Aspiras and Inna Montesclaros on Jan. 25. Kasparian’s concert to be held at...
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Portraits in Jazz: Michael Mark Guevarra keeps it real
(Twenty-first of a series) If the end of the pandemic lockdown had a face, it was—at least for me—that of Michael Mark “Pikong” Guevarra. It was April 2022, the first night Tago Jazz Café opened its doors after nearly two years of silence. Setting up on stage that night were guitarist Riki Gonzales and Balooze,...
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The Manila Symphony Orchestra marks 100 years with a concert in January
On Jan. 22, 1926, the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) conducted by founder Alexander Lippay performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 in its inaugural concert at the Manila Grand Opera House. Exactly 100 years later, on Jan. 22, 2026, as a reminder of its enduring legacy, the MSO will perform Leonore Overture No. 3...
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The timeless ‘La Boheme’ goes to Baguio on Nov. 26
La Boheme, the beloved, timeless though tragic opera by Giacomo Puccini, will be performed on Nov. 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Baguio (UB) Gymnasium on Assumption Road, Baguio City. The performance is free and open to the public. An outreach project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in collaboration with the...
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Argerich, Arendt, Akiko-san: Reflections on Hiroshima and Gaza
HIROSHIMA, Japan — It was a great joy to finally witness a performance by the legendary pianist Martha Argerich. My brother and I grew up listening to her renditions of the masters — Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin most especially — and I tried, but failed, to watch her in Berlin back in 2023, when she...
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K-drama’s greatest hits come alive with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra
The magic of Korean drama returns to the concert stage on Oct. 25 at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura in Taguig City. Presented by the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC), the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, “OST Symphony II: K-Drama in Concert” will...
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Pablo Tariman kept the music playing
At Gallery MiraNila in Quezon City on Oct. 1, the hardbound volume “Encounters in the Arts” was available for sale at the registration corner for “Cecile Licad Up Close.” But the man behind both the book of reportage and the piano concert was elsewhere—quite out of character, being hands-on if not OC at each endeavor...
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Portraits in Jazz: Color her Skarlet
(Nineteenth of a series) I’ve known Skarlet Brown longer than almost any other jazz artist featured in this section. That’s probably why it took me so long to tell her story: I was too close, knew too much, and wasn’t quite sure how to frame her wild and magnificent mess. In fact, my first piece...