PROFESSORS and students from the Conservatory of Music dabbled in French culture and arts at “Trajet,” held last Jan. 23 at the Alliance Française de Manille in Makati.
Curated by Sixto Carlo “Butch” Roxas IV, jazz and guitar instructor at the Conservatory, “Trajet” was the opening show of the Alliance Française de Manille’s “Cultural Thursdays.”
Roxas emphasized the importance of building connections, which he said is fostered in performances such as “Trajet.”
“It’s Trajet—it’s like a pathway, in this case, from the students to the teacher, and then teachers still being the student,” Roxas said.
The show opened with piano graduate and soprano Naomi Sison’s performance of “L’Invitation au voyage” by Henri Duparc, with Conservatory secretary Asst. Prof. Peter Porticos on piano.
Sison also performed “Je veux vivre” from the opera “Romeo and Juliet” by Charles Gounod later that evening.
Music alumnus Randy Gilongo, with Porticos on piano, performed “Fleur jetée” and “Chanson d’amour” by Gabriel Fauré.
Voice major Cloi Sugano, together with Sison, performed “Romance” and “Nuit d’étoiles” by Claude Debussy.
Fellow voice major Jomar Arteta sang “Ah! Mes amis” by Gaetano Donizetti and a kundiman by Nicanor Abelardo titled “Magbalik ka Hirang”.
Arias from the renowned opera “Carmen” by Georges Bizet were also performed that evening, including “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” performed by Sugano, and a duet called “Parle-moi de ma mére” performed by Sison and Gilongo, accompanied by Porticos.
The show was capped by a kundiman composed by Francisco Santiago titled “Ano kaya ang kapalaran?” performed by Sison, Gilongo and Sugano, together with Porticos on the piano.
The singers admitted they felt pressure having to sing in French in front of French audiences.
“It’s a nice experience, and there was pressure on my part, because they were knowledgeable about the language,” Sugano told the Varsitarian. “I had to do something on my part, not just to perform, but to analyze thoroughly what happens in every song so I’d be able to convey to the audience what the song means.”
“Cultural Thursdays” or “Les Jeudis Culturels” is a collaboration between Filipino and French artists that was launched in 2018 as a venue to promote French culture.
