A Tribute to Lucio San Pedro, National Artist for Music

The President's Committee on Culture of the Far Eastern University is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. And in line with this milestone, they present their 2010-2011 Film and Performing Arts Series which has the theme: Focusing on the Youth. And they did focus on the youth with a performance entitled a Tribute to Lucio San Pedro, National Artist for Music which featured the Angono Chamber Orchestra conducted by Agripino Diestro. The orchestra which was actually a string orchestra is made up of kids with ages ranging from 11-21 years old and they prepared an all Filipino programme for their performance at the FEU Auditorium.

Before the performance started, there was a memorandum of agreement signed by FEU President Lydia Echauz with the Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines (FCCP) through President Beth Cristobal for the financial support of the top full scholar from each of FEU's 5 cultural groups for SY 2010-2011.

The performance was billed as a tribute to San Pedro but there were other Filipino composers whose works were played by the young orchestra like Francisco Buencamino, Ernani Cuenco, Constancio de Guzman, George Canseco. The pieces played were mostly short, folk tunes that aren't that challenging to play. But I really appreciated them since Diestro took to the microphone and gave not just a brief background on the pieces but also gave bits of information about the orchestra, the instruments, orchestration, concert decorum, and music in general. The audience were mostly composed of students and a few guests from outside the university and from the looks of it, they weren't regular concert goers so the brief spiels were of great help for them to understand how classical music concerts work.

Things got interesting when principal cellist Giuseppe Andre V. Diestro became the featured soloist for the orchestra's performance of San Pedro's Romance for Cello and Piano. Since the orchestra was only composed of strings, this piece was transcribed which was also the case for almost all of the pieces that were played. The numbers featuring soprano Ma. Cristina Pia M. Orca proved to be one of the highlights of the show. She sung two popular San Pedro works: Ave Maria and Sa Ugoy ng Duyan from Suite Pastorale.

And for their last piece, they played the Jubilate March and they struggled a bit in the middle but come on, they're just kids! After, Diestro then told the audience about the nature of encores in a concert. The audience picked it up quickly and applauded loudly demanding that the orchestra play some more. And they did play a portion of the Brandenburg Concerto by Bach and the famous paso doble España Cañí by Narro.

Overall, the performance was simple and sweet, just appropriate for the kids that played them. It was nice hearing those folk tunes that I've learned back then when I was still a kid.

The Angono Chamber Orchestra

PPO Signature Series Concert VI

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert for February usually features the works of Filipino composers. But for this season, the concert narrowed things down further by featuring the works of a single Filipino composer: National Artist Lucio San Pedro. Coincidentally, the concert was held at the 97th anniversary of his birthday while he died back in March 31, 2002.

Conductor Agripino Diestro led the orchestra and started the concert with a regal performance of the Jubilate March which wasn’t initially included in the programme when this concert was first announced. Normally, this kind of change/addition would leave me a bit thrown off but there was one added piece that night that I welcomed wholeheartedly. And I guess that I wasn't alone since it's one of San Pedro's most well loved works.

But before we go to that part of the concert, featured soloist, soprano Ferleoni Medina had to perform her opening piece which was Diwata ng Pag-ibig (Goddess of Love). Right from the start, she invited, enchanted and embraced the audience with her voice. Despite her tiny frame, she was able to project her voice well. But what I liked about her performance was the way she sustained the notes with a very pleasant vibrato.

And so the time came for my most eagerly awaited piece of the night which was Sa Ugoy ng Duyan (Lullabye). Medina’s performance gave me goosebumps as it had a profound effect on me since I’ve been dealing with difficult family issues as of that moment. Her voice was again soothing and never imposing which suited this song very well. By the end of the song, my eyes were welling up in tears and I silently thanked whoever it was who decided to add this piece at the concert.

She then performed her last piece, Lupang Mahal ng Araw (Land Loved by the Sun) which is a much longer work so it showed more of her range. And in this piece, there was a lovely melody that was repeated over and over again usually by a pair from the winds and the brass section. And I also realized that I liked the horns this night a lot better than the previous concert.

Soprano Ferleoni Medina

After the interval, the concert resumed with the orchestra playing Ang Buwan Sa Kabundukan (Moon Over the Hills). This was the first time I’ve ever heard this piece played and it was an eerie and melancholy piece. The orchestra then played the finale piece which was Lahing Kayumanggi (Brown Race). This was a very interesting piece since it contained a bit of the opening of the very popular folk song Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut). But the orchestration and the texture and the harmony made it sound majestic and noble which is very much unlike the humble tune sung by kids. By the end of the piece with the orchestra playing triumphantly, I was absolutely entranced.

So the concert ended and I noticed that it was a bit too early for the night to end. And the rest of the audience somehow agreed with me and eagerly applauded for an encore. Diestro then lead the orchestra to a medley of San Pedro’s famous works which really pleased the audience. After that, he acknowledged the presence of San Pedro’s family in the audience and even asked everyone to join him and the orchestra in singing Happy Birthday since the concert was held on San Pedro’s birthday.

Attendance in this concert was good and I was very surprised to see a lot of kids present despite being a weekday. It was difficult for me at first deciding if I should still attend this concert but I'm glad that I did.