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.

Turning Point:: An Evening of MCO Music

Press Release:

After the success of the first concert of the series which featured tenor Arthur Espiritu and pianist Najib Ismail, the MCO Foundation and Ayala Museum invite you again to another enchanting chamber music evening featuring two of the most loved chamber music written - the dramatic  3rd Piano Trio of Dvorak and the exquisite  Four Seasons of Piazzolla  in a concert entitled “Turning Point: A Chamber Music Evening” on March 6, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ayala Museum. Featured artists are some of the country's finest musicians headed by pianist Mary Anne Espina, violinist Gina Medina; and a new sensational, young cellist making waves in the international music scene, -Guo Qiele.

Gina Medina

Repertoire includes Antonín Leopold Dvořák’s “Third Piano Trio”, which is considered his most dramatic and passionate chamber music composition.  This work is a product of a series of disappointments including rejections from fellow composers, the death of his mother, and beginning of Dvorak’s musical friendship with Johannes Brahms. Brahms had a lasting influence on Dvorak. This work placed Dvorak among the league of great composer.  Another featured work is Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons”, which After graduating from the Nadia Boulanger in Paris, Piazzolla returned to Buenos Aires to form a new tango ensemble mixing the traditional instruments with modern electric guitars.. He began composing in a style influenced by jazz and avant garde art music, and was dubbed tango nuevo. “Four Seasons” depicts the cycle of life in each of the four seasons of Buenos Aires but focusing on the urban nightlife throughout the year.

Mary Anne Espina

Leading the group is the two-time Aliw Awardee for the Best Instrumentalist Category, pianist Mary Anne Espina.  Known for her excellence in chamber music, she is one of the most sought after collaborating artists in the country today.  She has teamed up with violinist Frederic Pellassy of France,  Violinist Hagai Shaham of Israel,  Russian violinist Anastacia Chebotareva, the winner of Tchaikovsky and Paganini Competition,  Sopranos Joan Gibbons, Kaori Sato, Leigh Adolph to name but a few.   Likewise, distinguished Gina Medina has gained a vital seat in the Philippines' classical music circle as an admired violinist for both solo and chamber music concerts.  She has performed with distinguished artists including pianist Nena del Rosario, violinist Chino Bolipara, cellist Willie Pasamba, Renato Lucas to name a few.  She is currently the concert master of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.  The sensational 16-year old Chinese cellist Guo Qiele was named one of the "Ten Talented Young Artists of China" when he was only 14.  Two years later, he took part in a national cello competition "Ai qin bei" and won the 2nd prize.  Currently he is the prized student of world reknowned Cellist Qin Li Wei in Singapore. (Cellist Qin Li Wei has given a concert under the aegis of the MCO Foundation where he received numerous standing ovations in fully-attended concert.) Quile regularly participates in masterclasses including the one conducted by pedagogue Frans Helmerson, Louis Claret and Luise Hopkins.  He is a regular member of the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra in Singapore.

For tickets, call Ticketworld at 891-9999,  MCOF at 750-0768 or 0920-954-0053, Allan (782-7164 or 0918-347-3027).