PRESERVING Filipino culture and music was the objective of “Alab ng Musika: Wagi,” this year’s edition of the concert of winners of the National Artist Competition for Young Artists’ (NAMCYA), held last Aug. 23 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Assoc. Prof. Renato Lucas, UST Symphony Orchestra conductor and NAMCYA president, highlighted the role of teachers in discovering new talent.
“The teachers [are important] because [the value of music] is difficult to understand. To
entertain is just one [part] of it,” he told the Varsitarian.
The concert opened with an enthralling performance of “Segalariak” by multi-awarded Dr. Yanga’s Colleges Inc. (DYCI) Dagalak, conducted by Nelson de la Cruz.
DYCI Dagalak also captured the audience with their performances of “Ikapat-Non- ot Kamo Kanako,” “Baleling,” “Ang Alibangbang,” “True Colors” and “Carpe Somnium.”
Under the baton of music prodigy Alfonso Bolipata, world-renowned orchestra Pundaquit Virtuosi gave a dynamic performance of pieces like “Finale from the Serenade for Strings in C Maj, Op. 48,” “Philippine Folk Tunes” and “Kalesa.”
The UST Symphony Orchestra, together with renowned cellist Giancarlo Castrillo, amazed the audience with a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikowsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 for cello.”
“This concert of winners not only featured the winners themselves but it is also a celebration of Filipino music and its culture,” UST Symphony Orchestra President Ram Sajota said.
A grand orchestral rendition of Arnel De Pano’s “Tumataginting,” arranged by Naldi Rodriguez, was performed by all artists to end the concert.
Founded in 1973 by the CCP, the Department of Education and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, NAMCYA has become the country’s major avenue in discovering new musical talents.
