MSO season concert no. 4: Verdi's Opera Extravaganza on September 14

On September 14, 2013, the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) performs “Verdi’s Opera Extravaganza,” Concert No. 4 of the “Color Your World” 2013–2014 Concert Season. The concert will be at 8 p.m. at the Francisco Santiago Hall, BDO Corporate Center, Makati.

 

The MSO joins the world in celebration of operatic idol Giuseppe Verdi’s bicentennial with a performance of his popular works. This September 14, several formidable talents in the Philippine opera scene will take center stage in a splendid musical affair.

 

Performing with the MSO is Vienna-trained soprano and three-time Aliw awardee Camille Lopez Molina and internationally renowned baritone Noel Azcona. Also featured are several rising stars--soprano Myramae Meneses, 2010 Grand Prize winner of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA); soprano Tanya Corcuera, active participant in productions of Dulaang UP, Ateneo Blue Repertory, and Lyric Opera; and tenor Nomher Nival, 2007 Grand Prize winner of the NAMCYA.

 

The concert will also feature Viva Voce, a group of young and talented classical singers trained by voice teachers Camille Lopez Molina, Randy Gilongo, Pablo Molina, John Glenn Gaerlan and Rica Nepomuceno, and pianists Peter Porticos, Myrna Lopez, and Najib Ismail.

 

Famous selections from several of Verdi's most loved works, such as La Traviata, Rigoletto, Aida, Don Carlo, and Otello, will be performed.

 

About our featured soloists

 

Camille Lopez Molina, soprano

 

Camille studied voice at the University of the Philippines College of Music. She obtained her Professional Diploma in Music, majoring in Opera Studies, from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1996 under Prof. Kevin Miller. She then proceeded to Vienna, Austria where she studied until 2001 at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien under Prof. Marija Sklad-Sauer and Prof. Julia Conwell. She is a frequent guest artist of the major orchestras in the Philippines—the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra. At the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, she was soloist of the Academy orchestra under the baton of Maestros Georg Tinter, John Curro, and Alain Paris. At the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien, she won the auditions and sang as soloist of Szymanowsky's Stabat Mater at the Musikverein.

 

Camille is a three-time Aliw Awardee for Best Female Classical Performer. She has also served as Chairman of the Voice Competitions of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA). She is one of the founders and is the artistic director of Viva Voce Voice Workshop, an intensive summer voice camp, the first of its kind in the Philippines. Most recently, she was music director and vocal coach of the following: Dulaang UP's production of Padilla de Leon's opera, Noli Me Tangere, St. Scholastica's College Manila and Manila Symphony Orchestra's production of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, and FilFest Music Festival's production of Donizetti's L'elisir D'amore featuring the young singers of Viva Voce Voice Workshop. 

 

Myramae Meneses, soprano

 

Myramae is a champion of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA), having been awarded the grand prize in 2010. She also won 2nd place in the 2012 Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition last June 2012. Myramae has performed as a soprano in concerts with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, and the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Ma. Tanya Vanessa K. Corcuera, soprano

 

Soprano Tanya Corcuera, from the University of the Philippines' College of Music, is under the tutelage of Austrian-trained soprano Camille Lopez Molina. Tanya has worked with directors Dr. Anton Juan, Soxie Topacio, Alexander Cortez and Laurice Guillen. In addition to the Camille-Pablo Molina tandem and the Viva Voce Facilitators, she has worked with New York-based soprano Evelyn Mandac and has taken a Masterclass under renowned tenor Arthur Espiritu.

 

Nomher Narito Nival, tenor

 

Nomher Nival’s prizes and awards include Grand Prize winner of the 2007 National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Category C (Voice) and 3rd prize winner at the 2007 UST Conservatory of Music Voice Competition. He received the Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Steyer Encouragement Award at the prestigious Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition in Vero Beach, Florida. 

 

Noel Azcona, baritone

 

Azcona is a recipient of the Santo Domingo scholarship grant of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music, Philippines and is currently assistant music director of the internationally acclaimed University of Santo Tomas Singers. Noel Azcona proved his credentials as a soloist when he opened the Best of the Philippines National Concert Series which debuted in 2005 with performances of Verdi, Handel, Beethoven, Rossini and Mozart. Between 2003 and 2010, Azcona was a featured soloist in the 28th, 31st, 33rd and 35th Las Pinas International Bamboo Organ Festivals under notable Philippine conductors Eugene Castillo, Chino Toledo, Jonathan Velasco and Eudenice Palaruan, singing works by Mozart, Brahms, Bach, Rossini, Dubois and Haydn. 

 

In August 2003, he was invited to perform the Oratorio by Richard Einhorn titled “Voices of Light” under Maestro Lim Yau in the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore. As a seasoned featured soloist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's concert series, he has appeared in Carmina Burana (2003), a Christmas concert of Bach's Magnificat (2004), Dvo?ák's Ten Biblical Songs under Maestro Eugene Castillo (2007), and in the PPO’s 2009 and 2010 concert series with Maestro Jae-Joon Lee. Azcona has also collaborated with Filipino and international artists and conductors such as Gilopez Kabayao, Corazon Pineda Kabayao, Otoniel Gonzaga, Maestro Oscar Yatco, Julian Quirit, Sir Robert Ryker and Eleanor Calbes and has attended master classes by Eddye Pierce-Young and Brady Allred. He has taken part in ten world concert tours as assistant conductor and soloist covering major cities of Europe, USA, Mexico, Canada and Asia.

 

About our conductor

 

Arturo Molina’s conducting can be described as instinctive, natural and intuitive, yet precise, clear and authoritative. This combination of natural musical instinct and precise baton technique allows the orchestra to perform with a unified sense of phrasing, textural clarity and rhythmic control. Under Prof. Molina’s guidance, the orchestra is able to develop a distinctive sound, a wide dynamic range characterized by purity of tone from the faintest pianissimo to the more robust and energetic flourishes of orchestra tutti and bravura passages. Being himself a first-rate concert violinist and a teacher of several of the country’s emerging virtuosi, Prof. Molina is also known as an excellent conductor when accompanying soloists, always striking collaborative support with the soloist.

 

For ticket reservations and inquiries, call the MSO office at (02) 5235712 / 0916-4087549 or email sales@manilasymphony.com.

Press release and photo from Manila Symphony Orchestra