27 October 2015, 1:59 pm – STUDENTS from the Conservatory of Music figured
in various international events in August and September, including a student
who placed second in a guitar competition in Malaysia.
Senior Classical Guitar Performance student
Aemilio Cecilio Enginco bested 30 other contestants to place second in the
prestigious Tarrega Malaysia International Guitar Festival 2015 last Aug. 13 to
16.
Enginco will next compete in the Hong Kong
International Guitar Festival on Dec. 1.
Music Professor Herminigildo
Ranera and students Gabriel Art Mendoza and Andrew Constantino showcased
Thomasian talent as they performed in an international symposium titled
“Classical Music of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on the
World Stage 2015” in Thailand last Sept. 8 to 12.
The symposium tackled research on traditional
and classical music by international music experts including Ranera. Ranera,
the conductor and musical director of the UST Symphony Orchestra, was chosen
for the second time by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), to present a paper at the symposium.
He presented his composition “Philippine Symphonic Folk Songs,” which, according to him, was like
traveling the Philippines through music.
“[Attending the symposium] widens your horizon.
You will get to see the latest happenings around the world,” Ranera said in an
interview.
Constantino and Mendoza joined the Asean Youth
Ensemble that brought together young musicians from all over Southeast Asia.
“The symposium gave me a broad concept of music diversity and significant
understanding of different musical cultures,” said Mendoza, a member of the UST
Symphony Orchestra.
Founded in 1927, the UST Symphony Orchestra, is
composed of 70 students and 15 faculty and staff. It regularly holds concerts
at the CCP.
First
Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra
Alumnus Rafael Rubio and sophomore Music student
Peter Ocampo were among the five Filipinos in the 28-person Asian Youth Jazz
Orchestra formed last July.
Rubio and Ocampo, who played the trumpet and
clarinet, respectively, were joined by other three Filipino participants,
namely Patrick Aguilar of Bulacan Agricultural State College and Melvin Perido
and Jacques Dufourt of University of the Philippines.
Ocampo said joining the orchestra did not only
teach him classical music, but also introduced him to the cultures of
Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
After its Southeast Asian tour, which included a
stopover in the Philippines last Sept. 26, the group is set to perform in Japan
this December.
The Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra was organized by
the Japan Foundation Asia Center, the sole Japanese institution involved in
cultural exchange programs to help young musicians hone their craft by
performing in various countries. Kathryn Jedi V. Baylon
