The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country’s leading orchestra and one of the top musical ensembles in the Asia-Pacific region, will hold a fundraising concert this November 2024.
Presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Society, Inc. (PPOSI), the benefit concert Music, Movies, Magic aims to support PPO projects such as training and development, scholarships, and retirement benefits for its members.
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“All proceeds will go to the PPOSI fund. And that fund is solely for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. PPO is the sole beneficiary of this concert in terms of our programs for them. One is the retirement benefits. The PPO provides gratuity to retiring Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra members,” PPSOI Vice President Nes Jardin explained during the media conference held on October 1 in Makati City.
“We also purchase musical instruments for PPO depending on their need. We also provide PPO members uniforms, attire for the concert. And another program that we do is we provide scholarships to PPO members who want to pursue further training in their respective fields, both here and abroad,” he added.
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Newly appointed CCP President Kaye Tinga then shared that the other purpose of the fundraising concert is also to help expand the PPO.
“PPO is actually a resident orchestra of the Cultural Center of the Philippines… We would like to grow our orchestra. Presently, we have 40 regular members. We would like to grow it to 70,” she announced.
“This production will go a long way in helping us raise funds, provide instruments, to make sure that we have the PPO that the Philippines deserve,” the businesswoman and philanthropist emphasized.
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Aside from the concert being a fundraising event, PPOSI President Margie Moran-Florendo said that it is also a venue to educate the audience on how talented Filipino musicians and stage performers are.
“One part of it is audience education. We have a lot of talented people. If you watch the PPO, there are about a hundred musicians on stage and it’s really a delight to watch these top performers,” she stated.
Under the leadership of musical director and conductor Gerard Salonga, the concert will showcase classical pieces from iconic movies such as Die Fledermaus Overture of Johann Strauss II from the 1938 film The Great Waltz, Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations: IX. Nimrod from the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire, Ennio Morricone’s Se from the 1988 film Cinema Paradiso, as well as the Swan Lake of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The concert will also feature theater and musical luminaries such as opera singer Camille Lopez-Molina, concert violinist Diomedes Saraza, Jr., soprano Lara Maigue, choral conductor Jonathan Velasco, and stage and music artists Cris Villonco and Arman Ferrer.
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Molina will perform La Mamma Morta of Umberto Giordano from the 1993 movie Philadelphia, while Saraza will play Jules Massenet’s Thaïs: Meditation from the 1997 film Titanic.
Moreover, Maigue will enchant the audience with Queen of the Night from Mozart’s The Magic Flute and the 1991 movie Impromptu, and Cris Villonco will sing a medley of Michel Legrand’s classics from the movies The Thomas Crown Affair, The Happy Ending, and Yentl.
Ferrer will serenade the crowd with Pinoy classic songs of George Canseco such as Paano Bang Mangarap and Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan.
Also included in the list of performers are the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, and the Philippine Madrigal Singers (Madz), who will present on stage National Artist Ryan Cayabyab’s Iduyan Mo from the 1980 Filipino film Aguila. Together with PPO, Madz will also perform pieces by John Williams from the 1990 movie Home Alone.
“The prime consideration is to be able to transport the audience to a kind of world which is magical, using iconic pieces that never seem to die since they are classically popular and still exist in modern times,” the orchestra’s creative director Alexander Cortez explained on how they have come up with their song choices.
The Music, Movies, Magic concert will take place on November 22, 7:30 p.m., at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati. Tickets are available via TicketWorld at ticketworld.com.ph or 0917-550-69967, the CCP Box Office (0931-033-0880), or through Lulu Casas (0917-570-8301).
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