Enjoy An Evening of Bel Canto with Arthur Espiritu on October 26

Press Release:

A rare treat awaits music lovers as the Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation presents a special concert, "An Evening of Bel Canto" on October 26, 2013 at 7:00 p.m., at the Ayala Museum, Makati Ave. cor. de la Rosa St., Makati City. 

Bel Canto which literally means "The Art of Beautiful Singing" is a vocal fad made popular during the late 17th century that requires singers to possess incredible virtuosic vocal technique and impeccable musicality. Composers such as Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti wrote music with limpid melodic lines that would encompass a singer's whole vocal range with a lot of ornate embellishments. Operas like I Puritani, La Sonnambula, Norma, Lucia di Lammermoor are some of the well-known bel canto opera.

Promising a spectacular vocal evening, "An Evening of Bel Canto" will feature some of the country's finest young singers today headed by the internationally-acclaimed Filipino tenor - Arthur Espiritu, considered as the country's premiere tenor today, the sole and first Filipino to win the Belvedere Vocal Competition in Vienna, and the only Filipino to have sung in many major opera houses in the world including the prestigious Teatro alla Scala, St. Gallen Opera in Switzerland, Paris Opera, Pittsburgh Opera to name a few. Performing with him are soprano Elainne Vibal, a Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition winner; soprano Myramae Meneses, the 2012 Aliw Awardee for Best Actress in a Musical and the top winner of the National Competition for Young Artists; and soprano Stephanie Aguilar, last year's third prize winner of the Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition. Performing with them will be most a sought-after collaborating artist -- pianist Najib Ismail. The concert will also have Supertitles, an English translation projected on the sides of the concert venue for the audience's better appreciation of the words and music.

Highlight of the program includes some of the most challenging arias and rarely performed scenes from great operas including the duet from Bellini's "I Puritani" with its three high D's (high notes), the exquisite duet from Rossini's "Semiramide", and the fiendish Donizetti's "La Fille du Regiment".

This concert is for the benefit of foundations that support medical treatment for children afflicted with Cancer. For tickets, please call TICKETWORLD at (891-9999), COEA at (782-7164 or 0918-3473027) and MCO Secretariat at 750-0768 or 0920-9540053.  This concert is made possible in partnership with Ayala Museum, BusinessWorld, HighLife, DZFE.FM The Master’s Touch and Lyric Piano.

Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu opens MCO Chamber Music Series 2013

Press Announcement:

Considered the finest Filipino tenors in the world today, Arthur Espiritu returns to Manila after his successful series of highly acclaimed performances as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Theatre St. Gallen in Switzerland. He opens MCO Foundation's Chamber Music Series 2013 in a special concert entitled "The Poet Speaks" with collaborating pianist Najib Ismail on February 6, 2013 at 7:00 in the evening at the Ayala Museum, Makati Ave. cor. de la Rosa St., Makati City.

Opera critics described Arthur as "a singer who possesses an exceptionally beautiful lyric voice, capable of conveying a broad range of characters and emotions, and perform them with great ease.  His sings superbly with beautiful legato. A regal tenor."  A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music,  Arthur Espiritu is the Grand Prize winner of the of distinguished 2009 George London Award, the La Scala award in the Belvedere Vocal Competition (Vienna), 2nd price in the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition to name a few. Today, he regularly performs with Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Opera Fuoco, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Theatre St. Gallen in Switzerland, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv and major opera companies in the United States including Pittsburg, Connecticut, Opera North, Austin and Santa Fe. In Manila, he recently essayed the role of Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata and the magnificent Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Seviglia.

Assisting him at the piano is one of the country's most sought after chamber music musicians and leading vocal repetiteur, pianist Najib Ismail.  Winner of numerous music competitions, Mr. Ismail has collaborated with most of the major Filipino and guest foreign artists in the country.  A graduate of UST Conservatory of Music and Hongkong Academy for the Performing Arts, he is currently a faculty of the UST Conservatory of Music.

The “Poet Speaks” will showcase the versatile artistry of Arthur Espiritu as he performs one of the most beautiful and profound songs cycle -- Schumann's Liederkreis, the heartwarming songs by Franz Liszt based on Petrarch love sonnets, and opera arias that portray the different aspects of love.

This concert is presented by Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation in partnership with Ayala Museum, BusinessWorld and Lyric Piano.  The MCO Foundation, hailed as “Makati’s Cultural Oasis”, is currently on its 28^th year of promoting classical music.  Part of the proceeds from the ticket sales will also benefit the Unang Hakbang foundation, a caring organization engaged in helping children on the streets and in urban poor communities by creating sanctuaries for children, designing and promoting programs to help them tap their potentials to become productive and responsible members of their communities.

For tickets, please call TICKETWORLD at 891-9999, MCOF Secretariat at (750-0768 or 0920-954-0053) and COEA (782-7164 or 0918-347-3027).