blue sound 2015

Blue Sound2015

BASIC MUSIC RESEARCH AND CRITICISM CLASS 2015

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the Professor’s Note

It is difficult to write about Classical Music if you do not have the passion to watch Or-chestra, Opera or Chamber Music concerts. Even listening to it for free on 98.7 DZFE FM is not part of a college student’s daily routine.

Why then should we promote this “dying” art?

Most Ateneans are fortunate because at a young age, we studied piano, guitar, violin or voice alongside swimming, soccer or any kind of sports any private school children would take for leisure or most of the time to compete with the hobbies of other stu-dents. Some even join choirs and others enroll in Musical Theater during the sum-mer or perhaps watch a show on West End or Broadway.

These activities normally stop in college. You only see “old people” or the elite when you go to the Cultural Center of the Phil-ippines. Schools such as St. Scholastica’s College and Miriam College have terminat-ed their support to the Manila Symphony Orchestra and Metro Manila Concert Or-chestra. Music Writers such as National Artist Leonor Orosa Goquinco of Manila Bulletin and Juan Antonio Lanuza of Busi-nessworld have passed away. Rosalinda Orosa of Philippine Star has retired from covering musical events.

This is precisely the reason we need Blue Sound. We need our Music Literature Mi-nors to take over. In a year or so, Quezon City will no longer be a “cultural waste-land.” We will have a Performing Arts Center. We don’t need to dread the traffic just to go to Manila. Perhaps, Blue Sym-phony will have the same standard as the Glee Club or we could have another Zarzu-ela production (the first and last one was in 2009).

Will we make money? No and Yes. The Phil-ippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippine Opera Company and Ballet Philippines are supported by the Tantocos, Yucheng-cos and Cojuangcos. Starbucks was even a major donor of Chamber Music presented by the Center for the Arts in San Antonio, Zambales. GMA7 supports the Calbayog Orchestra in Samar and just last summer, I was part of an Orchestra Camp in Mindan-ao who performed for Manny Pacquiao at his second mansion in General Santos City.

This is the real challenge to the Basic Mu-sic Research and Criticism Class. Don’t just make a difference by presenting your assigned article. Use your talent to in-fluence change. But first, go back to your roots and examine the real reason why this “Old Masters” have made you not only in-telligent but smart enough to create a new breed of “third world” concert goers.

CulturalCoups

Jonathan Coo

Congratulations, Blue Sound 2015.Green environment, Blue Earth. Green listeners, Blue performers.

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Blue Sound Magazine 2015

Regarding music writing, or writing about music.

A!er having written a few music-related ar-ticles here and there in the past four years – whether about musicians, their personalities, collectives, or the music industry as a whole- I’ve stumbled upon a lot of roadblocks, the largest of which is "nding the relevance of what I do.

Who reads my work, and "nds it important? #e artist usually "nds personal ful"llment in their art, and receiving praise (or con-structive criticism) for it only comes as a convenience. You’re appreciated, of course, and if you’re lucky, you’re seen as a huge help in promoting the artist’s cra!. #e fans, on the other hand, almost always prefer materi-al that comes from the artists themselves, the people they adore- whether it’s the music, or a written piece, an autobiography, a tweet or a Facebook status.

In a world where artists can connect to lis-teners and vice versa, what is the role of the music writer? Are we now supposed to act as connoisseurs for good music? (Who gets to say which music is good, anyway?) Are we supposed to make it as personal as possible and harbor the “if they like it, they’ll read it; if they don’t they won’t, and I don’t care” atti-tude? Is there a middle ground?

In the end, of course it all boils down to the writer’s personal style and motivations, but I

believe this is something that’s worth asking, and at the very least talked about.

Blue Sound 2015 aims to present the local music industry in a light you probably haven’t seen before, or more appropriately, against the light of a “dying” art form brought from the West to our Eastern shores. Is Philippine Classical Music dead? I’ll spoil you and al-ready say that we never answer this question. It is, however, our goal to present the current state of the industry in the best way we know how – through music writing. #rough this, we hope that beyond giving information, our pieces can strike a chord in heartstrings and help you become curious, or start asking questions about the scene, or actually live the scene, for those who are called toward it.

We’ve already heard that Filipinos are a very talented bunch- whether in music, "lm, visu-al art, etc. etc. (possibly with the exception of governance, just possibly). Here we present how this over$ow of talent, among other fac-tors, is actually a reason why classical music in the Philippines may dwindle, but never truly die.

Besides, just as the cliché goes, when we’re down, there’s no way to go but up. Happy reading!

Jennicka Rhea N. LeoragBS Management EngineeringMinor in Music Literature2015

Of Telling Stories,“Death,”and Flight

the Editor’s Note

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Table of

01 Cultural Coups: theProfessor’s Note

02 Of Telling Stories, “Death,” and Flight: the Editor’s Note

03 Table of Contents

04 A Moment of Crescendo

07 Notes and Stories

10 Two Sides of the Microphone

12 Unspoken Hacks of Classical Music in Coping with College Life

14The Now of Philippine Opera

ContentsThe Philippine Classical Music 16Scene

Unsung Heroes 20

Chamber Music in thePhilippines 23

Points and Perspectives 25

Magis 29

Music is Good Medicine! 31

Cecile Licad’s Ravel: Miscast? 33

Free-Spirited 34

Staff Box 35

Jennicka Rhea N. LeoragBS Management EngineeringMinor in Music Literature2015

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Some say a sense of wonder is essential to explore one’s pas-sions and begin pursuing them. Do you remember that moment when you saw that beautiful art work in a museum, the serenity of the mountains, the picturesque sunrise? Do you remember how it felt?

Or that moment when you just ate glorious food that you forgot the name of your crush, or when you heard such beautiful music and you get stunned---and for a few minutes, you realize you are not the captain of your own ship? These moments make us fall on our knees in awe; transcendent,

inexplicable moments where you see yourself captive of wonder, may it be nature or art.

The Classical Orchestra In the annals of the music his-tory lies the phenomenon of the orchestra. Having been fortunate enough to witness an orchestral performance by Christ The King Youth Symphony Orchestra, the wonder of hearing 60 instruments play as one rocked me to the core. It was indeed a joyous experi-ence, watching a classical perfor-mance by an orchestra composed of young people- young Filipinos from Calbayog city. They proved to me that contrary to popular be-lief, classical music does not just belong to the rich, nor does it only cater to those who have access to extravagant halls or costly con-certs.

CrescendoA Moment of

Argyll Bongosia

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It is often obligatory to brief the reader with essential jargon for one to understand articles such as this one, especially for the non-enthusiast. Thus, I believe you should know that an orches-tra refers to an instrumental en-semble composed of four or more groups of instruments: woodwind, brass, percussion, and strings. Al-though there are numerous kinds of orchestras, we will focus on the symphony orchestra, an orchestra composed of 60 or more musicians ordered in such a way that would bring out the best music one can produce. In the world of classical music, orchestras are regarded as the major ensemble, with nu-merous famous compositions at-tributed to it. Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Berlioz, Mahler… the list of composers goes on.

Although we cannot deny that or-chestra is not a very big thing in the Philippines, it is important to name people such as Abelardo, Abejo, Kasilag, Maceda, and San Pedro. Today, the biggest names in orchestral music in the Philip-pines are the Philippine Philhar-monic Orchestra (PPO), ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ma-nila Symphony Orchestra (MSO), and the Visayas Symphony Or-

chestra. Each of these groups are guided under the baton of their re-spective conductors. Conductors, whose role lies on maintaining the forces in an orchestra---dy-namics, tempo, mood, color, and many more, are sometimes per-ceived as the boss of the orches-tra. Yet it is important to under-stand that just like any team, the value of playing together to make one bigger sound is most essential to being a great orchestra.

Christ the King Youth Symphony Orchestra and their Music As I watched Christ the King Youth Symphony Orchestra in their con-cert for a Church fundraiser last January 12, 2015, at St. Archangel Church, Bonifacio Global City; I reserved judgment, despite being a fan of orchestral music myself. However, when the event’s rep-ertoire was posted online, I found out that the concert included nu-merous difficult works, selected movements, overtures, and other classical works. Quality may be difficult to control for such a line-up, but it was indeed a good per-formance, especially given that these musicians are still young and are yet to reach their prime for the craft. Classical concert goers would al-ways look forward to the sound of the 440 Hz frequency, or the con-cert pitch, as musicians would call it. This would symbolize the at-tempt of the orchestra to unite for

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a last time before the members engage in battle. And as these kids go for the bat-tlefield in full armor to the downbeat of Beethoven’s Fifth, I was charmed by the clash of swords and axes. The instru-ments were conversing with each other, all roles in the orchestra I can think of working together in concert. Sentiments aside, I would love to think that the level of practice they underwent was equaled to that of the standard orchestra rehearsal. Just as I was telling myself that the per-formance was getting a bit monotonous, their numbers of Mozart’s Figaro Over-ture and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (Lar-go) were followed by contemporary mu-sic, such as film soundtracks and popular songs. These were not part of the reper-toire posted. Although the flow of events was not silk smooth, I really appreciat-ed how the orchestra managed to per-form contemporary songs in a classical approach. This means that the popular songs were arranged in a way that maxi-mizes the roles of the instruments in the repertoire.

The festive nature of the latter part of the concert was a different take on the or-chestra. During this part, they asked peo-ple from the audience to dance with them to one of their songs, sing along, and

even stand up and clap. These moments are rather far from a traditional orches-tra, but it is important to understand that diversity in music is a way of promoting a culture of more music. The concert I watched was generally great, something that exceeded my ex-pectations. Although this personal expe-rience of watching the conductor spread his arms to the downbeat of Beethoven’s Fifth is similar to that of me as captain losing my own ship in great wonder, I felt that the concert flow needed to be more organized in such a way that the arrange-ment would have a great impact on con-servative concert-goers.

In music terms, crescendo refers to that gradual increase in volume, where ev-eryone is subjected to the conductor’s cue, a time when the members become united into one bigger sound. What the group was able to show is exactly that- a moment of crescendo. Apart from show-casing numerous songs from the classical era until the songs of today, Christ the King Youth Symphony Orchestra was able to prove that age or social status is not a barrier to learning various pieces, or types of music- misconceptions that should be discouraged as we appreciate and live classical music today. In the Philippines, although art diversity is prevalent, classical music and orches-tral music are not invested in by most people. In the wide scope of art forms, I honestly believe that there is a certain level of rigor that one needs to commit to when he or she gets involved in an or-chestra. The Christ the King Youth Sym-phony Orchestra, as well as the organizers of these events, should remain to shine in the limelight of the music industry. With enough will and the right action, I believe they can create a new kind of craze--- the orchestral craze. One way to promote this is through support of local schools to guide such organizations and ensure that they can sustain the intricacies of the industry. It is by showing wonder when people begin to pursue passion for art forms. Well, orchestras will need to have crescendo moments; one just needs to lis-ten follow where the music comes from.

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Music, apart from evoking emotions, tells stories. These stories may be tales about the composer and his experiences, or something that he observes from the world he’s part of; stories that he likes to share to the world in the best way that he can- through rhythm, rhyme, or both. Meet Joshua Cerdenia Pangilinan, known as Joshua Cerdenia in the music industry, a Contemporary Classical Musician set to begin graduate studies in Julliard come fall 2014.

This piece is divided into two parts- two stories. The first is Joshua’s story, his music and his goals for his art. The second is my own story of how meeting Joshua Pangilinan has inspired the music advocate in me to further believe in my cause, and to continue to believe in the future of the (local) music industry.

I. Standing in the shoes of aContemporary Classical MusicianA closer look on Joshua Cerdenia’s artistry and his on-going road to be the next Filipino musician the world will look up to

“I think I am someone that makes music to create positive energy.”

Pangilinan believes that as an artist, his craft aims to bring something simple to the table- joy and positivity. Whether the audience feels it or not, this is the main artistic goal brought to life by the “dense textures and ambiguous harmonies” that make up his works, significantly coloured by his “particular attention to form and narrative.”

A Musician by HeartIn the modern musical landscape dominat-ed by pop and dancey tunes if not colorful lyrics strummed to four basic chords, Pangilinan sought to take the road less-travelled. Though it has its own niche of supporters, Contemporary Classical Music still may not be the best genre to love, espe-cially for someone who is determined to stay in the industry for the long-term. This, however, didn’t stop Pangilinan from following his dreams.

Pangilinan now holds a First-Class Honours Bach-elor of Music jointly awarded by the the National

University of Singapore and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins as well as a Bachelor of Arts diploma from the Ateneo de Manila University. In the fall of 2014, he will begin graduate study with Christopher Rouse at The Juilliard School in New York.

Pangilinan admits that music was not part of his initial long-term plans, “I don’t think I ever made a conscious decision about it; I always just acted on it unconsciously. I even made an effort to avoid music after high school, because I was interested in other things and I didn’t want to be typecast — but I ended up being very active in Blue Reperto-ry (Ateneo de Manila University’s musical theater group) anyway. From there I just learned to roll with it, and then getting into a music school sort of sealed the deal for me.” Pangilinan played the piano for Blue Repertory’s first staging of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a show that has just recently been re-staged by the said music group.

On Musical In!uences andOriginalityPangilinan’s music is mainly influenced by mod-ern chamber and orchestral music. Some com-posers he looks up to are Christopher Rouse, John Corigliano, Kevin Puts, Thomas Ades, and Toru Takemitsu.

“Write as much as you can and listen to a lot of things,” Pangilinan shares, when asked for some tips for aspiring composers. For him, writing mu-sic is a matter of “trying to be original without be-ing too abstract,” finding your own voice and style while still bringing homage to your influences as well as reaching out to your audience.

“There’s always going to be influences. It’s up to you [which of those] you

really want to emulate.”Atenean RootsPangilinan graduated AB Communication in the Ateneo de Manila University, with a completed minor in Music Literature. Regarding his organiza-tions, “I was involved with BlueRep all four years. I was also in ACOMM, Loyola Film Circle, and Blue

StoriesNotes andRhea Leorag

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Symphony for a short time,” he shares.

His undergraduate thesis in the Ateneo had inspired one of his most-performed pieces: Dumagat Fantasy. In fact, this piece helped him achieve his first suc-cess as a composer, when he wrote it for a performance at the National University of Singapore Arts Festival, an event that brought together Asian music and story-telling. “It’s about how a certain group of Dumagat people in Antipolo articulate their identities through media, which got me thinking about my own cultural iden-tity and things of that sort,” he relates.

Pangilinan sees his Atenean roots in the way he puts a lot of personal meaning in his music.

“I’m not sure if that’s a specifically Atenean influence — but I think

it’s very Atenean to indulge in cre-ating meaning for everything!”

A Filipino on the RiseAs a Filipino creating a name for himself in the international contemporary classi-cal music scene, Pangilinan believes that while he carries his Filipino values and

upbringing wherever he goes, his music doesn’t have to sound ‘distinctly Filipino.’ “Filipinos are emotional and expressive people — I try to go for these qualities in my music,” he shares. “But I don’t make an effort to sound Filipino to other people; I’m not even sure what Filipino means. In my experience, most non-Filipinos who’ve heard my music don’t really know enough about the Philippines to hear any Filipi-no qualities in it; it doesn’t matter to me whether they do.”

On the Local Music Industry and Contem-porary Classical Music

When asked about the state of the local music industry in relation to his music, Pangilinan had strong feelings about the subject.

“[The industry is] next to non-existent! I don’t know if it really is an industry. Con-temporary classical music in general, not just Filipino music, is underperformed in this part of the world. It is better in some other Asian countries, but not here. We do have a small pocket of composers educated in UP, but their audience is very small.”

Building a Career from MusicHow Pangilinan sees himself ten years from the present is a response to this lack-ing: “In concrete terms, hopefully someone with an active stream of musical projects as and a stable education job. But more than that, I want to be an advocate for the arts and someone that represents the best of the Philippines in my chosen field.”

An artist’s journey is never easy, especial-ly in a world where a profession in the arts is more often not a very lucrative path to take. However, Pangilinan believes that music can still provide a sustainable career. “It can be. I don’t think anybody goes into music thinking of a sustainable career. But I’m lucky to have met many people who are able to manage successful, meaningful lives in music. Because of them, I know it’s certainly possible.”

II. Bringing it HomeHow meeting Joshua Pangilinan inspired me to continue believing in music and to further make efforts to achieve my goal- to

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make a change (or at least leave a dent) in the local music industry

As someone who knows that no matter which path I choose to take, it will inevitably lead me to music, Pangilinan was a huge inspira-tion and quite an eye-opener to me.

Last July 25, he shared to our Western Mu-sic class his experiences as well as some of his works, namely Heavenward (marimba and string quartet piece), performed by En-semble Gô at the YSTCM Concert Hall in Sin-gapore; and Creed, his first orchestra piece, performed by none other than the Singapore Symphone Orchestra.

Though I’m not a huge classical music fan (since I was brought up listening to pop mu-sic, and now my preferences are leading to-wards indie and alternative), I allowed my-self to simply listen and let the music bring to wherever they were supposed to take me to, and make me feel as they were supposed to make me feel. Hearing Pangilinan’s works actually inspired me to listen to more classi-cal and contemporary classical music, seeing that there can only be so much talent put forth in the making of these works- talent that we rarely see in the music industry today.

Living a Life of MusicSeeing someone live his life with and for mu-sic, actually create masterpieces and share them with the world, helped me believe all the more on the power of passion- and how, once you’ve found that which makes you come alive, you must never let go. I can re-late a lot to the fact that he tried to turn away from music some time in college, but some-thing greater than himself has led him back and towards what he really should be doing.

When college started, I never thought I’d ever be active in the local music industry. I was set on graduating with a BS Management Engineering degree, getting a corporate job, and making money. But as with most bad-ly-cooked plans, this one didn’t work, and that goal wasn’t where my life led me to. I found music (or music found me, whichever

works), and though I tried at first to avoid it, opportunities came in places I least ex-pected to find them.

One of these opportunities was the Minor in Music Literature program (which Pan-gilinan also took and completed). For the longest time, I’ve been pondering on what it really means to me, and why I took it. Deep inside, though, I was aware that I took the leap because I knew that someday, it would help me in my chosen career path. I don’t know yet what that may be, Grabbing the opportunities made available to me took me to where I am now (writing articles about music, organizing gigs and shows, doing marketing for local independent art-ists, actually composing my own songs, etc.)- busy and always tired- but happy and fulfilled, because I’m doing what I love.

Hope for the Local Music In-dustryI know that the journey is far from over, and that it could only grow more difficult from this point. I still have a lot to learn, espe-cially in the very constricting environment which currently permeates our local music industry.

However, I have high hopes that things are bound to get better in the near future. Just like Pangilinan, I dream of being an advo-cate for the arts, and I can only hope that the steps I’m taking now, and the network that I’m building, are helping me towards that dream.

As Pangilinan said in our class, “It’s a mat-ter of getting people to believe in what you do.” Whether it’s writing music or per-forming or actually in anything you’re pas-sionate about, it starts by truly believing in what you do, and then showing others how much you believe in it, and why they should believe in it, too. It most likely will not be easy, but if your heart is true, if you believe enough in yourself and in your cause, and if you undertake the right steps, it can hap-pen.

“When you set yourself on fire, people like to come and see you burn.”- John Wesley

(Note: This quote is actually an allusion to finding your passion, and not to actual burning.)

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From the beginning of its post-war use in the early 20th centu-ry, radio has been an influential mass medium of news, culture, and music. Connecting large cities and making long distances seem short; it is not uncommon prac-tice for broadcasts to be relevant, modern, and popular. Broadcast all over the Philippines via FM radio 98.7; and the world through online streaming; DZFE remains alive playing live rendi-tions and recordings of classical music. In this article, we will de-scribe an experience of an unusual opportunity: participation in the actual live segment of one of DZ-FE’s programs (and listening to it in real time, too!). The 26th of November last year was an unusual class period for the IS121.8 (Basic Music Research and Criticism) students of Mr. Jonathan Coo. It was an out-of-classroom session, with some of the students going to DZFE Radio Room in Pasig City to take part in Bravo Filipino, a radio program showcasing local classical music. Mr.Coo was supposed to be the

sole guest of the show for that day, but he was able to coordinate with Mr. Bert Robledo, the show’s host, if the class could come along as participants. As a result, the latter included a Q&A portion for the students to share their learn-ings about select French compos-ers. Furthermore, Mr. Coo and one of the students, Argyll Bongosia, performed some works of said French composers live during the radio show.

Small Voices: A Partici-pant’s PerspectiveAliza Igualada

When Mr. Coo informed the class about the DZFE Bravo Filipino guesting, I immediately grabbed the opportunity to be a partici-pant. It was a new experience and I was eager to be part of it.

Upon entering the building where the radio station is located, there was excitement in the air. I re-member blurting out in the ele-vator, “This is so legit!” The re-cording studio was everything I thought it would be – the sound-proof walls, the microphones placed all over the room, and the majestic grand piano later used by Mr. Coo and Mr. Robledo himself.

My excitement soon turned into nervousness as the show was about to start. An hour and a half before the show, Mr. Coo and Argyll started practicing Saint-

Saens’ Romance, which they were going to play in the show. I re-member thinking “If I’m nervous and all I’m going to do is answer some questions, how much more them who would perform live on air?” I took some time to relax while we were waiting for our oth-er classmates to arrive. When the “On Air” light in the studio lit up, everyone fell silent and waited for the intro music to play and for Mr. Robledo to start introducing the show. A sense of awkwardness and nervousness can be felt among the class, quite understandable since most of us were on air for the first time. Meanwhile, the host being a vet-eran in speaking to a large number of people and knowing how to seg-ue from the performances to the questions smoothly, was a huge help in keeping the show live-ly and interesting. Mr. Coo’s live performances on the piano uplift-ed the listeners and the class, as it gave us moments to calm down and organize our thoughts for the next set of questions. The show concluded with the class singing the French Christmas hymn, Les Anges Dans Nos Cam-pagne, which we learned a few hours before the show. For this song, Mr.Robledo played the pia-no, and Mr. Coo led the class into

Two Sides of the

MicrophoneTwo Perspectives on DZFE’s Bravo Filipino

Vince Justiniano & Aliza Igualada

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the foreign song. We simply hoped we got the pronunciations right and did not offend any French-speaking listeners. It was a crazy, adrenaline-pumping, and at verious points, awkward hour on air. But overall, the experience of participating in a show like DZFE is memorable and one-of-a-kind. Hopefully, we were able to impart or inspire a bit of appreciation for classical mu-sic even with just a short while of having our voices heard on the airwaves.

The Rhythm of Conversation: A Listener’s PerspectiveVince Justiniano

Fate made it so that I had a chunk of classes exactly at the time allotted for the program, so I could not go. Thankfully, I was able to ask my professor if I could listen in on the pro-gram during class so I could make sure the recording of the program was okay. Armed with a pair of earphones and a radio app, I kept alert as the time for “Bravo Filipino” drew closer. It was a learning experience for everyone in-volved. It was the first time for this type of class-based interactive setup to happen, as mentioned by Mr. Robledo during the seg-ment itself. It’s most probably the first time this class was in anything like it as well. I was able to still get to listen to the radio show live, despite having classes at the time, thanks to the understanding of one of my teachers.

I could say that the program itself was kind of light, as it was still possible to stay active during class while listening. As said earlier, the program does not consist of purely mu-sic parts--there was talking, too, and a few questions. It was noticeable that, although some informative things were being men-tioned about the French composers and

compositions, the interaction between Mr. Robledo and the class was a bit awkward. Of course, being new to the radio environment and speaking with a wide audience, the stu-dents didn’t quite have the professional speaking flow that seasoned radio personal-ities like Mr. Robledo have. As a listener, it felt kind of tense when it sounded like the speakers were “fighting over the mic” during the program. This said, these differences re-ally weren’t that distracting from the overall program. Another point of interest were the puns! I re-member Mr. Coo saying in his class that radio show hosts such as Mr. Bert Robledo have a duty to keep unwanted silence from happen-ing during the program. So I guess these were preventive measures, and while puns usually elicit either a laugh or a groan, for me they were quite... Memorable. I could remember two right now: the “Chinita” joke and the “Rameu” one. (“A-Rameu ba...?) Anyone rolling their eyes, yet? Puns and wordplay play quite a big part in Philippine culture. I can’t say much about the performances as the radio signal quality wasn’t that good at some parts of the program. I think, howev-er, that they sounded a bit thin through ear-phones, and the sound could’ve been made bigger, like in other radio stations. No big deal; the music and words got to their audi-ence, anyway, and at the end of the day, “get-ting there” is one of the main goals of radio. Overall, once again I think the time spent at the DZFE Radio Room is a valuable learn-ing experience for everybody, and that while some improvements could be made as host and participants learn from each others’ conversational rhythms, as a listener I could say it was pretty decent. I hope DZFE would still be open to similar setups as listening in to the Q&A parts was enjoyably less passive than usual radio.

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For most college students, academic life is tantamount to stress, anxiety and even the bur-densome hassle of having to go through all-nighters. Moreover, the scary risk of acquiring insomnia is more prevalent among adolescents and young adults, both belonging in the col-lege age group. Even more alarming is that this phenomenon goes hand-in-hand and is correlated to waning academic performance. That being said, the value of sleep, socialization, and proper study habits has never been more essential to survival in the university setting. On the bright side, numerous scholarly studies have produced results pointing to an almost surefire way to solve and crack each and every one of these matters, and it comes in the very unlikely form of listening to classical music.

A Possible Aid For Learning Growing up, we were able to familiarize ourselves with the name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Austrian pianist was famous for his operas, con-certos, symphonies and sonatas and amazed au-diences by making these in just half a lifetime. Through the years, he became one of the famous icons of Classical music.

Classical music was said to be used for relaxation and stress reduction. As an application, the au-thors of the journal The “Mozart Effect II” and Other Communication/Learning Links, were able to assess its amazing effect of improving a per-son’s Spatial Temporal abilities. It was said that his music was able to help stimulate the brain accelerate the learning process by increasing the receptivity and retention. This was tested when they applied it to college students from the Uni-versity of California, Irvine as they used his Sona-ta For Two Pianos in D Major. It was said to give a short-term enhancement of the spatial-tempo-ral reasoning in chess, music and mathematics. Apart from that, Mozart’s music was said to have a good healing effect to the body since the mu-sic allows the brain to release more endorphins which provide a quick release from pain and dis-comfort.

On the next all-nighter for a class requirement, be sure to play any Mozart work of art. It’s a sure-fire way of relaxing and focusing on the task at hand.

Classical or Hip-Hop? Which will help you work more productively?

There is this common notion that lis-tening to classical music is conducive to studying and that listening to hip-hop music is distracting. Some would say that classical music’s effect to them while studying is that it makes them drowsy while hip-hop keeps them up. So which type of music is actually more helpful when studying or simply doing tasks?

Back in January 2010, an experiment was conducted with 133 participants in Southern Taiwan to find out if light clas-

Unspoken Hacksthe

of

Classical Musicin Coping with College Life

Isa Varilla & Owie Portillo

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sical music is more distracting than listening to hip-hop music during a reading compre-hension task. The experiment was done to check if music affects the learner’s concentration when doing a task and to check which of the two are actually less helpful. After the study was done, Peter Tze found out that listening to certain types of music is not the case after all. The result showed that music with a higher intensity would be more distracting and that the type of music did not matter. It basically led to the Attention Drainage Effect theory which was based on Kahneman’s capacity model of attention.

It does not matter whether is classical music or hip-hop. It will always depend on the inten-sity of the music and how much it either distracts you or helps you work better.

Boosting One’s Social Life Keeping up with college life does not nec-essarily mean solely doing well academics. Most of the time college life is tantamount to finding the right balance between rest, schoolwork and social life. While listening to classical music may provide great help when it comes to inducing the right amount of sleep and rest, and improving the stu-dents’ capacity to take in information espe-cially when it comes to memorizing, does it really have anything to offer when it comes to socializing? The answer is a definitive yes.

Learning how to play classical music is not only a good way of impressing one’s per-son of desire, but it also improves how one socializes with his or her peers. All objec-tive and scientific facts aside, it serves as a great avenue to meet people with the same passion for music. Getting used to playing in front of a crowd, eliminates what most might call “stage fright”, giving the clas-sical music player an edge with his or her confidence, especially when dealing with a crowd.

An Aid for Slumber and Repose Some of the common remedies college stu-dents do to induce sleep is to take various pills and drugs just so that they could get their well deserved rest. Although this may prove effective for some, there is always that risk of having side effects that may even cause more damage. Luckily, research done by Mr. Peter M. Scheufe, an author known for his work under the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, proves that listening to classical music progressively relaxes the listener’s muscles while also decreasing his or her heart rate. The soothing sound brought about by the music helps divert the listener’s attention, reducing arousal and easing his or her muscular tension. Natu-rally this helps the listener relax with ease and in turn, induces sleep.

Surely, these extra few minutes or hours of relaxation will indeed pay dividends and show favorable results for tired and sleep-deprived college students. So the next time one feels the need to take a break from all those assignments, listening to some Beethoven tunes would be a very good place to start!

With these in mind, the academic life of college students may hopefully be less of a mess and more enjoyable with the help of an exciting angle on how classical music may be an aid for the said problems.

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In Italian, the word Opera means work, and what a work of art it is; op-era joins music, singing, drama, poet-ry, plastic arts and sometimes dance, thus being called a total art form. Mu-sic is continually played during the entire performance. Emerging from Florence, Italy in the 16th century, it now enjoys popularity mostly in western countries. In the Philippines, asking a stranger to define opera would probably entail you to an answer like, “it’s something about music” or one might think that you are talking about soap operas. To put it simply, as musically inclined as Filipinos are, unfortunately, opera isn’t a prominent one in our coun-try. As mentioned, Opera shares a lot of similarities with musicals, (which is garnering a lot of attention in our country the past few years) but its similarities still isn’t enough to at-tract Filipino audiences, let alone produce shows. In general, the Philippines lack op-era shows; in the past years, you can count on one hand how many pro-ductions (for public viewing) have

NowPhilippine Opera

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ofbeen brought out for the Filipino au-dience to see. One of the evidences to the almost non-existent popularity is the now-defunct Manila Grand Op-era House, which has been replaced by a hotel. The Manila Grand Opera House, as the name suggests, used to house Opera performances during the American Colonization period, but due to the downfall of the business, the theatre was eventually closed down and revived in the form of a hotel instead. Another reason that can be attributed to the lack of opera shows in the Philippines is the budget required to produce one. But you may ask, “if budget is the problem, then why are producers able to bring inter-national musicals to perform here in the Philippines”? Questionable right? Maybe we can say that the Filipinos, due to the lack of Opera performances in the country, either just doesn’t re-ally like it or has yet to see and appre-ciate the beauty of Opera.

Recently however, local opera made an attempt at a regular opera sea-son when three operas, a rarity were staged in 2014.

Pomz Campos & Franklin Ramos

PHOTO: Manila Hub

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The Cultural Center of the Phil-ippines, or CCP staged “Rigo-letto” by Giuseppe Verdi for two days on the day of August, on the 22nd and the 24th in its main theater. In spite of the financial constraints, CCP president Raul Sudico went ahead and re-intro-duced “Rigoletto” to the Filipino audience in its original form, the way Verdi envisioned it to be per-formed. This meant that “Rigo-letto” was a full-length perfor-mance and completely untainted by any Filipino influence. The opera was a collaboration between stage director Floy Quintos and South Korean con-ductor Jae Joon Lee who led the Philippine Philharmonic Opera for the performance. The cast of opera singers were also com-posed of local talents and opera singers from South Korea, with multi-awarded Baritone Daeson No on the title role. “Rigoletto” also had a charitable purpose with its proceeds being poured into the rehabilitation of Bohol’s heritage sites that were damaged by the October 2013 earthquake and Typhoon Yolanda.Later that year, CCP also staged the Czechoslovakian opera “Rusalka” by Antonín Dvo!áka

at its Little Theater for Septem-ber 11 and 12. The opera was then performed two more times later that month on the 23rd and 24th in the Abelardo Music Hall of the UP College of Music. Applauded soprano Alegria Ferrer directed the performance while Maestro Chino Toledo conducted the Gru-po 20/21 orchestra for the Abe-lardo Hall shows. The language of the opera was a hybrid of both English and the play’s origi-nal Czech, while the characters were given Filipino names such as “Serena” in place of “Wa-ter Sprite”. Many reviews of the play however, call it lackluster in juxtaposition to the standards usually placed on performances in Philippine Opera. Lastly, the year was capped off when “Noli Me Tangere: The Opera” came to Manila and ran from September 11 to 28 at the Newport Performing Arts The-ater, Resorts World Manila. The opera comes together under the direction of Freddie Santos and the live music was provided by the Manila Philharmonic Or-chestra under the baton of Rodel Colmenar. The opera was praised for both its authenticity but ef-fective use of technology.

As 2015 opens and the opera season is anew, what is in store for opera in the Philippines this year? Providing a tentative an-swer to this is splint tenor and president of Philippine Organi-zation of Classical Singers Sher-win Sozon has this to say:“…none of the local opera com-panies have announced their lineup (sic) of shows for 2015 yet. The shows are usually in the latter half of the year, if any...For Lyric Opera of the Philippines, we have shows lined up, however it is too early to announce them as of this date.” As of now, all that can be done is to wait. However, after the per-formances of 2014, one cannot help but feel optimistic about 2015.

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Apart from being the breeding ground for hardworking, cheerful people; or hav-ing sports superstars like Manny Pacquiao, another thing that Filipinos are fa-mous for is our ability to sing. Several Filipinos have made their mark both lo-cally and abroad when it comes to singing their hearts out: Lea Salonga, Charice Pempengco, Apl de Ap, Arnel Pineda, among others. Filipinos are making it big as respected artists not just in theater and solo singing competitions though. Unbeknownst to the average Filipino, we have been producing great choral groups as well.

Choral music is, simply put, music sung by a choir. Each musical part consists of at least two voices, with the choir size varying from a dozen to as many as hun-dreds in number. It is to no surprise, then, that with the amount of talent the Philippines has in the arts, getting the best singers to sing together in a chorale results with nothing short of world-class.

UnsungHeroesAlexa Sienes

The Philippines and Choral Music

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Taking the World by StormOnce you delve in to the world of choral music in the Philippines, you will find that there is such richness and diversity in its community, mak-ing it unique and fascinating. Apart from the popular ones that always make news, such as the Philippine Madrigal Singers, there are also lesser known choirs that have been making their mark in the choral scene. The St. Paul College Pasig High School Chorale, Vox Angeli Children’s choir As of November 2014, along with thirty other Philippine choirs from var-ious categories, made it to Interkultur’s top 1,000 choirs of the world list. Interkultur is an international group with representatives from every country, including the Philippines, which aims for collaboration in order

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to promote culture through music.Last year alone, there were a lot of news articles featuring several wins from our choirs. A few of these notable choirs include the Ateneo Chamber Singers, who won Champion at the 8th World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia, and first prize under the Habaneras catego-ry at the 60th Certamen In-ternacional de Habaneras y Polyfonia in Torrevieja, Spain; Davao-based all-girl group the Voices, who bagged the gold for both ensemble and folk songs categories at Orien-tale Concentus competition in the School of the Arts, Singa-pore; all-male group Aleron, who won the grand prize at the 10th Busan International Choral Festival and Compe-tition in Busan, South Korea; and Cebu-based Children’s Paradise Choir, who won gold under the Equal Voices cate-gory and silver medals under the Folklore and Children’s Choir categories at the Asia Cantate International Choral Festival in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, some local groups

have also been touring abroad, such as the Bohol-based Lo-boc Children’s Choir, who had a 10-day concert tour at South Korea. Given that these achievements have been made in the year 2014 alone, it wouldn’t be impossible to think that more and more Fil-ipino choirs will make their mark in the choral scene, both locally and overseas.

Aside from local groups get-ting the recognition they de-serve, another great thing about our prominence in the choral music world is the fact that more and more people get the chance to listen to and appreciate Philippine choral music. The fact that Filipinos have made much impact in choral competitions abroad, coupled with the convenience of being in the Internet Age, has made it easier for other nations to be more aware of Philippine music. A cursory search in YouTube resulted in dozens of videos of chorales all over the world singing Fili-pino standards such as “Dahil Sa Iyo” and “Ikaw,” as well as local folk music such as

“Dandansoy,” “Paru-parong Bukid,” and “Bahay Kubo.”

Keeping the Love AliveNow, it is with no doubt that not only Philippine talent but also Philippine music and the culture reflected in these songs are getting more respect and interest worldwide. What gives our choirs the edge? My theory is that, in addition to our rich culture of music and tradition of exemplary singers, we also have very passionate choristers. Many choirs here don’t get the funds they need for costumes, equipment, and other things needed for a choir to thrive, but they all still push on for the love of music.

For the rest of us Filipinos who aren’t choristers, now is the best time for us to give our full support not only to our winning choirs but also to the choirs in our communities, churches, schools, offices, and others who remain unsung heroes. Hopefully, as a result, more compatriots will be ex-posed to the local choral cul-ture, something we all should be really proud of.

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Chamber music is a dying art form. A quick search on Google for local events and active chamber groups bears little to no fruit. Nowadays, it seems like the only place we find these groups are in the side skirts of wedding pro-cessions and soirees. Quite sad really for an art form that was once enjoyed by Kings and Queens in their own palace chambers. The chamber music scene in the Philippines today is but a far cry from what it once stood for.

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let’s talk more about chamber music. What exactly is it? This form of music goes way back and finds its origin in the European palaces of the classical era. Chamber music, in the tra-ditional sense, is defined as a group of instrumentalists that play classical music. These chamber musicians, un-like the instrumentalists in the orchestra, were grouped small enough to fit in palace chambers. The limited space of these chambers entailed as well a limited audience, giving it a much more intimate and tightly-knit ambi-ance. Although not carrying the full immensity of sound that an orchestra can produce, the chamber musicians produce a more conversational tone amongst themselves and the audience. The most popular kind of chamber mu-sic group is the string quartet; a group most known for wedding marches and background music.

Is that all that’s left of chamber music’s rich tradition though? A practice that has been pushed so much to the outskirts that it has nearly been forgotten. . .

Chamber Music in the

PhilippinesGuardians of TraditionMeet the Pioneers of TodayMiggoy Patajo

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audiences. The Casa enables its students to pur-sue further education from different institutions as they come of age.

A guardian of tradition, a safe haven for artists, locked away in the heart of Zambales. There we see an age-old tradition, reinforced by those who wish to take up its rigors.

As we move closer to home though, we see that another group has forgone tradition altogeth-er; adapting the more modern style of jazz, rock, and pop. They call themselves the Manila String Machine; a group of classically trained orchestra musicians on a mission to bring chamber music back in style.

The group was formed by Theodore Amper, and boasts of a stellar roster filled with the best clas-sical musicians, found in our country’s leading orchestras today.

The Manila string machine has proven that chamber music is not necessarily always about classical music. The group has brought chamber music down to earth and has made it more acces-sible with their use of jazz, pop, and rock music. The group has performed in various parties and gatherings, and can be contacted through their website at www. manilastringmachine.com

It is precisely in these outskirts though that chamber music flourishes, for beyond the met-ro lies a safe haven for such artists. Chamber musicians have found their guardians of tradi-tion in a place called Casa San Miguel.

Casa San Miguel was founded in 1921 by the Corpus-Bolipata clan. The area, a 15 hectare ancestral land, was originally intended to be cultivated into an agricultural area, but it’s first resident Ramon L. Corpus, a renowned violinist himself, nurtured it into what would become a safe-haven for artists and musicians alike. Now the Casa is run by Coke Bolipata and siblings, and is frequented by students and teachers alike.

The place provides an avenue for artists and musicians to hone their talents as well as take part in the rich tradition of classical chamber music. But more than being a safe haven, Casa San Miguel also acts as a springboard for new talents in the art. The Casa provides lessons to the youth, more specifically the underpriv-ileged youth coming from impoverished areas such as Tondo, and provides them with guid-ance in honing their abilities. With the Casa, very much resembling a palace with its theaters and numerous stages, students and artists are given the chance to share their music with local

Over the course of history, music has taken many forms and many roles. In the grandest sense, it has been a source of entertainment for the royal and noble; yet it is simple and light hearted enough to be enjoyed by the masses as well. It has been used as a means of self-expression, as seen by the solo performer; yet can be shared as a means of mutual expression, like we have seen in or-chestras. There is no denying that music contains within it a very social quality, and this is exactly what the chamber musician brings to us.

PHOTO: Tuazon Photography, 2010

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University culture is not constructed by students alone. Faculty, administration, and various other stake-holders also have their roles. With this premise, I met and talked to four people with different professions in the Ateneo. These four people also differ in their musical backgrounds and knowledge, as well as their perspectives on classical music. By taking a look at their almost contrasting ranges of vision, we can have a clearer image of how classical music is integrated into Ateneo culture.

Perspectives:Points and

Classical Music in the Ateneo CultureKim Pamela Co

Dr. Edward-David RuizDr. Ruiz has been teaching since 1965: he was an English teacher in the states before he started teaching literature courses in the Ateneo in 2008. As a child he was brought up in Bontoc, Mountain Province; educated by Belgian priests and nuns who first exposed him to classical music. Dr. Ruiz has an evident passion for music and various oth-er art forms, which makes a conversation with him very enlightening about many facets of art.

How do you see the music scene in the Ateneo?

From where I am right now, which is [the English depart-ment located in] Dela Costa, I am very impressed that in the sense that I see a group of people here playing the violin, and the cello, and they belong to an organization called blue symphony. I am very happy that they have been exposed to classical music on top of the usual rock and roll. Sometimes I listed to them outside, and I am very happy we have students of that nature. When I walk through the little parks, I see students playing guitar, and singing beautiful love songs.

[However], they should play more compositions by Filipi-no composers. Why not Ryan Cayabyab?

Do you see e"ort by the Ateneo to intergrate classical music into our culture?

As far as cultural life if the Ateneo student, I think there’s a lot, if you only look around.

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Willa Tac-anWilla is a sophomore student taking up AB Economics in the Ateneo de Manila Univer-sity. She is the current principal cellist in the Ateneo’s official orchestra, Blue Sympho-ny. Music has been in integrated in her since childhood, as she has taken up different in-struments like the piano, the violin, and most importantly, the cello, which is undoubtedly her true craft as the instrument has intrigued her since she was a young child.

Do you think we need more e"ort?

Yes, I wish [the administration] could expand [their] offering [of music courses]. I’m sure that in [a music literature course], you have a lot of territory. Not only are you dealing with piano literature, or orchestral literature, or opera.

That’s my hope. Number 1, Ateneo would offer more music courses and to eventually have a conservatory of music, and number 2, a more diversified presentation of the arts on campus.I don’t expect to have something like the Bayanihan, [but] something we can be proud of.

Is it important to integrate classical music into Ateneo culture?

Here in Ateneo, the students are exposed to literary pieces from all corners of the world…Why not the mu-sic? Of course, most of us are exposed to Western music. You know more about Taylor Swift, or Filipino rock musicians then say you would Beethoven, or the native music of India, or musical instruments of Japan. Seems like we have too much of the Western Influence… Have you taken piano lessons? Go back and think about “what piano pieces did I play as a kid?” Most likely, [they’re] Western composers. [There are no] piec-es from Buencamino, [or] Molina. That’s what I want – to see more Filipinos enjoying and admiring their own music.


Well, the most prominent would be Ateneo Musicians’ Pool (the other music organization of the Ateneo that fo-cuses on more contemporary genres of music). A lot of people don’t even know that Blue Symphony exists! And we’ve been around since 2008. I usually go to class and around campus carrying my cello in its case so people would always ask what is it I’m carrying since it’s too big to be a guitar; I tell them it’s a cello and they would ask why is it that I always have it with me. I’ll say “Oh, it’s for Blue Symphony; we have rehearsals MWF.” And then they’ll ask, “what’s that?” I’ll say “…it’s our orchestra.” And then they’ll say, “we have an orchestra?!”

It is very heartbreaking when conversations like these happen, and they’ve happened quite a lot.a lot of people never really do know that we play a lot of contemporary music, only orchestrated. We’ve played Coldplay, Alicia Keys, My Chemical Romance, and other modern artists, but people never really know because they don’t really ask so what’s stuck to their minds is that we only play classical “outdated” music that they would find “bor-ing.”


No… not really. To be quite honest, nobody really notices us.

We have posters around school advertising our concerts, we have promo blasts on Facebook, we have ticket booths in Dela Costa, and we even practise in public. But it seems like people don’t notice. Either they really don’t see us, or they somehow choose to just ignore. People would know and support CADs or AMP more. There would be queues for their tickets, people make a big deal out of their

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events, and people just generally know what they are. I’m sure people would get intimidated about these preconceived no-tions about us. We’re trying to be as ca-sual as possible actually so we wouldn’t come off as too intimidating. But there’s still that discrepancy.


Other orgs like Enta and TA usually get re-quired by profs for class or even just for bonuses. Yeah, we’ve tried doing that for our concerts; we send in letters and notic-es. But only very few the professors ever require or concerts. I suppose they don’t see the relevance to their course or some-thing, but I guess it would have been nice for them to consider that we need support and maybe our concert can even just be for extra credit. In general, we don’t feel much of the support from Ateneo.

Ateneo doesn’t have a music conservato-ry. You know how La Salle, UP, and UST have orchestras right? Well those people are usually music majors. BlueSymph is

KikoBaraquelKiko is a graduating Legal Management senior of the Ateneo. Although he has never taken formal music lessons, he started playing bass guitar for a friend’s band in 2nd year high school. Besides bass guitar, he also plays guitar and a little bit of piano and drums. Kiko has always been a music lover. He is very active in the Ateneo Musicians’ Pool as the current Externals Vice President, and bassist of the band Dogtown.

composed mostly of SOSE majors, actually. So it would be nice if the school recognised how we’re investing so much of our time and effort into making our music even if it has nothing to do with why we’re in the university in the first place. Our organisa-tion is composed of a lot of very passionate and dedicated people and I just really wish this was acknowledged more often. Not just because they deserve it, but also because really, we don’t ask for anything in return for our efforts except for someone to just listen.


Bob Dylan did say that “the times they are a-changin’” and so is classical music. It isn’t just limited to Vivaldi, Strauss, or El-gar, but nowadays, even pop music can be arranged into classical orchestrations. So there’s that aspect of witnessing this grad-ual evolution of classical music. The culture and the arts are very important not only because it’s a part of history but these are also sources of catharsis.


I think it’s flourishing… I feel like there are more people becoming active in music or-ganizations. I know that AMP (Ateneo Mu-sicians Pool) has a stable member pool and stable projects. As compared to other uni-versities, we’re not lacking in genres. We can probably find a musician for each kind of genre here.

Do you see e"ort by the Ateneo to inter-grate classical music into our culture?

[I] definitely feel it in Ateneo. It’s [actual-ly] always been a dilemma in AMP – how do we integrate classical musicians into [AMP], because more often than not, we’re pop-centric, rock-centric…But, we have had members who are classically trained. … It’s not a problem, it’s “how do we ac-commodate?” We’re still developing [in this aspect].

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I feel like the administration could do better. …[Ateneo is] a school for humanities, and only recently for business so I feel like there’s room for music. Beyond approving projects that the students pursue, they’re not actively part of the musical environment. We could have a music room [open to all with complete instruments, and] maybe more funding & subsidies. We could do more. I wouldn’t say they’re the only reason why we’ll need to see more effort, but then they’re an integral part – we can’t do any-thing without their approval [among other things].


I think so. People know that it’s important to know the history… Classical music is the root of all genres. AMP though, is not trained to accommodate and fully utilize classical musicians. Know your history.

Yagi OlagueraYagi Olaguera (or “Sir Yagi,” as members from Ateneo Musicians’ Pool usually call him) cur-rently teaches at the Ateneo Language Learning Center, and takes his masters in English Lan-guage and Literature Teaching in Ateneo as well. He is currently the moderator of the Ateneo Mu-sicians Pool. Sir Yagi has been playing in a heavy metal band named Cog for 15 years. In 2002, he used to write for indifilipino.com as a music ed-itor. Alongside this, he writes freelance for mu-sic magazines and websites. His biggest musical influences were the music genres that flourished during his teen years; such as grunge, metal, old punk, and indie rock.


It’s flourishing, I guess. It looks very different from how it was in the past… [because] there are a lot more individual musicians now, as opposed from the past. [Because of that], a lot of [these] musicians are more well-rounded.


Yes, I see an effort, though I think still especial-ly with the [administration], …they don’t have an idea exactly in ways they can [be integrated]. But I feel like they’re a lot more open to [AMP’s activities] as well as more supportive with musi-cians within the campus [however], I don’t feel like they have any particular plan.


I do think so. …Knowing how COA (Council of ) and OSA (Ateneo’s Office of Student Activities) work, I feel like they would be supportive. …I think that I would, if I [knew] of any of [the mu-sic-oriented student organizations’] projects, if they had any concerts, I would be open [to] sup-porting– I just don’t know how much the cam-pus would support it. Coming from AMP, I think there would be people interested [in different

musical events] just because it’s music, and just because musicians generally feel like they would be able to get something out of it even if it’s not their ‘thing,’ or their genre.


I’d like to think so – I think so. There have been attempts before to have musical programs here in Ateneo, but I don’t feel like it’s a priority for people in the campus. [However], it’d be nice for the administration to [have] that. It’s culturally important. Definitely, there should be somebody in Ateneo to try to keep this sort of thing hap-pening.

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The athletically talented and musically gifted fifteen year old Roland Vincent Saavedra has al-ready accomplished a lot not only in music but also in sports at such a young age. Under the tutelage of Ms. Ruth Quinones, he won Honor-able Mention at the “Piano Teacher’s Guild of the Philippines Romantic and Filipino Compe-tition 2008 in his first ever piano competition. He was featured in GMA Kapuso Mo segment in that same year for his promising talent. At age thirteen, he won third place among six finalists in the most prominent piano competition in the country, the National Music Competition for Young Artists.

Magis

Possessing the kind of gift and talent few are blessed with, Hansel Ang is an eleven year old wunderkind who is currently training under Prof. Carmencita Arambulo in Suzuki piano training. At the tender age of eleven, Hansel is still far from his prime. By listening to him and hearing him speak his mind, I immediately knew that people like him are born and not made. From suggesting that all people have great potential to uncover to casually saying that he rarely gets tired of reading, studying, and playing the pia-no, it was obvious that he possesses the kind of mindset few people would have.

Michael Mariano & Karlo Santos

In the photo: Karlo Santos (left) & Hansel Ang (right)

In the photo: Vincent Saavedra (left) & Michael Mariano (right)

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Both Vincent and Hansel are both epitomes the Ateneo saying “mens sana in corpore sano” which means a sound mind in a sound body. This has helped them keep well-rounded and balanced life. A member of Ar-my-Victory Football Club, Vicnent is a competent footballer who has won locally and internationally with his team. Vincent was also featured in prominent television commercials such as Tiger biscuit and Milo.

Meanwhile, Hansel aims to pur-sue swimming to the highest level wherein he wishes to be part of the national team. Also, Hansel has al-ready attained First Dan Black belt in Taekwando.

Essentially, Hansel Ang and Vincent Saavedra have the kind of mindset and gift that are needed to excel in all things. Also, both Vincent and Hansel brought home gold in the most recent “Piano Teachers Guild of the Philippines Etude Competi-tion,” one of the most challenging and heralded piano competitions in the nation. Vincent and Hansel won1st place at A2 and A3 categories respectively.

As athletes, Karlo being a volleyball player and me a Muay Thai Fighter, we have all respect and adoration for Vincent and Hansel. To excel at one field is already hard whether it is in sports, academics or music. But to greatly excel in two fields as kids is even harder. The kind of focus, tal-ent, discipline, and persistence to be able to achieve what they have achieved at such a young age is nothing short of marvelous. When asked about Vincent’s mindset and inspiration, Vincent replied that his ultimate mindset in playing football and piano is to honor and bring glory

to God. He gave him his skills, so he wants to be a good steward of it, by always striving for ex-cellence. “Of course, you need to be disciplined when it comes to practicing. It is perhaps the most fundamental mindset you need to have any endeavor,” he added. For Hansel, it is sim-ply to fully use one potential to become a better person as well as an inspiration for others.

Possessing so much talent and promise at such a young age, expect to hear and see the names Vincent Saavedra and Hansel Ang more in the future. With a good head on their shoulders and a well balanced life to strengthen their endeav-ors, anticipate both Vincent and Hansel to ac-complish more extraordinary things. Better yet, expect them to continue to be “magis”, to do or-dinary things in extraordinary ways. Their will-ingness to give their best in everything they do as well as their unparalleled passion for music will make them nothing but better. Vincent and Hansel’s paradigm of being excellent in all their endeavors is truly exceptional for their age. It almost seems unreal that one can be gifted with so much talent and have the determination and work ethic to use it. To have these young wun-derkinds play for us in class, sharing their gifts in front of us, was nothing but a awe-inspiring experience.

In the photo: Saavedra

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Do you feel good whenever you listen to music? Does music help you go through life’s tough tri-als? Do you remember the last time when music cured your heartaches away? If you answered yes, to even one of these questions, then you probably are very familiar with the potential of music to heal and cure. Music is indeed good medicine, and even the medical-psychological field recognizes that!

Music therapy is a branch of medicine and psychology that uses music as medicine to combat various ailments, such as Autism, Parkinson’s disease, ADHD, Paraplegia and even stroke rehabili-tation! (Black, 2009) Music Therapy, in contrast to Music Educa-tion, just uses music to effect non-musical goals to people with various non-musical problems. The practice uses clinical and sci-entifically-proven musical interventions to achieve goals set by the professional therapist to his/her patients. It is a highly estab-lished health profession, and it is closely related to occupational therapy and physical therapy!

According to the American Music Therapy association, the idea of music being directly correlated to human health and behavior has been around even before the time of Plato and Aristotle But first reference to music therapy could be dated back to 1789, when a New Yorker crafted an experiment to control dreams using music! Whoa!

Good Medicine!Music is

Miko Velasco

PHOTO: Philippine Star

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It was only in the 1940’s-1950’s when music therapy started to become a professional branch of psychology in the United States. Psychologists and physicians started to use music as an alternative form of therapy for their patients, and organizations and schools which focused on the concept soon followed.

Now, music therapy is flourishing around the world! But here in the Philippines, music therapy is an en-tirely new concept. It was introduced in 1988, and it is only starting to gain traction recently. There are a lot of challenges faced by professional mu-sic therapist here in the Philippines. First, there is only one school here in the country that offers bachelors’ and graduate studies on music therapy, and this is Saint Paul College Manila. Since it is absolutely necessary for one to have an academic education on the field to be an accredited therapist, having only one school in the country is a major limitation. Though the ef-

forts of SPC have been successful, the field has been practiced by only a few physical therapists and psychologists here in the Philippines. Second, those who pursue their music therapy degree abroad oftentimes do not go back and practice here in the Philippines, due to limited facilities, resources and cli-ent-base. Third, Filipinos are not quite familiar with music therapy as an al-ternative to regular physical therapy, occupational therapy and psycholog-ical therapy sessions. Because of this, many do not avail the service due to lack of knowledge, or are hesitant to try it out. Nonetheless, music therapy is gaining ground here in the Philip-pines. Fairly recently, there have been are many regular talks and seminars about the practice, and there were a couple of events in the past that pro-moted the field, such as GlaxoSmith-Kline’s “Himig ng Kalinga”, which was held last July 2013. There is indeed a lot more room for Music Therapy to grow here in the Philippines!

Now that you’re familiar with the his-tory of music therapy, you probably are wondering, how do professional thera-pists and psychologists conduct music therapy sessions? Well trained thera-pists use the physical, emotional and mental aspects of music to help pa-tients improve their conditions. This means that a physical music therapist can use dancing to rehabilitate stroke patients and paraplegics, a psycholo-gist could guide an autistic person to play a simple musical instrument in order to improve speech and reduce anxiety, while an occupational thera-pist could use modulated sounds (such as sounds tuned to various frequencies) to help cure ailments such as ringing ears, tinnitus and vertigo. Generally, music therapists recommend using music with 60-80 beats per minute and with volume at around 60 decibels, but various genres of music could also be used for therapy! There are a lot of scientifically-backed methods that are used by music therapists around the world, and the possibilities are many!

PHOTO: Elizabeth Scott

It is apparent that music therapy in the Philippines is still gaining traction. There aren’t a lot of schools yet that teach it, and it is not that well known yet. But nonetheless the field has already helped a lot of Filipinos, and will continue to do so! As long as there is music, there will always be a way to be “man and women for others” through music! Let us turn away from pain and go to music!

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The job of a professional pianist is diffi-cult. She has to cater to the perfectionist who listens to every note, looking for one misstep. She has to cater to the technical director who is so intent on the fluidity of the piece. She has to cater to the general audience who wants the relatability. She also has to cater to her own needs – the need of expression, the need to create her own space.

In her Classic CD Ravel Piano Works, dis-tributed by BMG recordings, Cecile Licad somehow fits herself in the niche of all these categories. She finds the balance between technical ability and free expres-sion. She is able to bring Ravel’s classic pieces down from its lofty regions, mold-ing it into a different form with her poetic interpretation.

Bryce Morrison, a music scholar and critic, however, leads a different vein of thought. He claims that Licad is “sadly miscast” in his article on gramophone.co.uk, com-plaining about Licad’s overemphasis and exaggeration all throughout the album. After listening to the entire CD, I came to

the conclusion that what Morrison took to be overemphasis and exaggeration is the pianist’s own interpretation of the pieces. To quote a fan comment, “This is not for traditionalists who already have a set of rules for how Ravel should be played.”

Indeed, Licad’s interpretation stands apart with its distinctive sound accompa-nied by the emotional and poetic strains. Her original tone is present all through-out the CD, consolidating the entirety of the works as refreshing. Her Le Tombeau de Couperin is warm and impressionistic. Her Gaspard de la Nuit displays her re-markable control and ability to communi-cate through the music. Ondine and Scar-bo in particular are complex yet charged. Le gibet is hauntingly beautiful in its sad-ness.

I’ll admit that Sonatine wasn’t my favor-ite. There was a distracting echo in the background that could have been due to erroneous sound engineering. Although beyond this minor facet, Licad more than proved her technical prowess paired with her inimitable musical expression. Com-paring her to Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Licad’s interpretations, she stands out as being almost nostalgic and highly resonant- something Thibaudet seems to be sorely missing.

While Morrison may cite words like, “strange,” and “different,” what Licad truly is, is bold. She is daring enough to stray from the well-worn paths of the traditionalists and gives us truly unique pieces all her own. Her musical instinct is well and truly superb, and she plays with a character and commitment that makes her stand out. Licad’s Ravel Piano Works isn’t a CD to be shunned or forgotten, as I’m sure the followers of Morrison will be apt to do; rather, it is a stunning addition to the collection of greats from the won-der that is Cecile Licad.

Licad’sRavel:Miscast?

Cecile

Francine Daez

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Many music enthusiasts and crit-ics measure the greatness of a pianist by means of the perfec-tion of the piece: following the notes as accurately as possible, no doubt; and being in touch, or rather affixed to the tradition-al way of playing, which is to showcase the piece as elaborately technical as it is. Virtuoso Cecile Licad’s different and appreciable approach to Schumman’s Carna-val and Papillons, however, seem to have an atypical yet substan-tial spark to the pieces, contrary to negative viewpoints circulating around the musical realm.

Cecile Licad, having played in numerous recitals and several orchestras, one of which is the Wurtenberg Philharmonic, is an amalgam of both musical exper-tise and emotional enthusiasm. Her solo recordings, however, fell relatively short for other music insiders, due to the acknowledged contrast between live sponta-neous performances and closed studio recordings.

Upon listening to the album, I would agree that she reinforc-es her full-bloodedness and strength in her pieces, but they were a new sophisticating expe-rience, rather than an upsetting

one. An imaginative fantasy and im-mediacy was present in her work Car-naval, causing the piece to feel light as a feather. The spell-bounding Pre-ambule catches beautiful octave work and balanced tone; it was stirringly accurate. The musical treats felt natu-ral and well executed at the same time throughout the pieces. Pierrot was played with a balance of varieties of shading from the pianist with accele-randos in the unison fortes sounding eloquent. Chopin was embodied intri-cately and in a mellow fashion, which was significantly a reposing sensation.

Licad’s noteworthiness, however, does not cut short after Carnaval, and even escalates more in Papillons, as she ex-hibited with premium musical finesse and light fingers that lacked any form of constrain and tension. A freedom was present in her that caused the power of the piece in acknowledged indistinct contrasts of tempo and dy-namics. No. 9 Prestissimo was full of assertion that glimmers.

The pianist’s artistry in the album constantly held my recognition, and impressions of the free spirit that she is in her recording required of me a deep sense of regard. Her anima that demonstrates richness and eloquence causes in its listeners an inclination to draw nearer and experience a different encounter with the musician, the piec-es, the composer, and the music itself. Cecile Licad is truly worthy of note and high regard for these pieces.

Free-SpiritedA Review on Cecile Licad’s Schumann Nathania Pineda

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