What a wonderful weekend that was!
Seven years after my last full concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Chinese New Year, 2008), my brother Gerard and I made our return. He has been a regular fixture with the HK Phil for their annual fundraiser and certain pops concerts, but I hadn’t been back, save for one appearance at the HK Phil and Friends fundraiser last year.
Wonderful people
We have made good friends with members of the HK Phil. Two of them (Richard Bamping, cellist, and Andrew Simon, clarinetist) have been to Manila to give concerts, playing with our very own ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra. Individually, they are amazing musicians; more importantly, they are wonderful people, with whom I’ve shared drinks, hot pot dinners and one birth anniversary in Lan Kwai Fong.
Preparations for this latest round of concerts began for me at around Christmas, not long after the program was drawn up. Gerard had added two new songs for me: “Who Are You Now?” from the musical “Funny Girl,” and “Brave” by Sara Bareilles. I had sung “Brave” previously with my team of artists in “The Voice Kids” and in the last “ABS-CBN Christmas Special” as part of a medley, but because I hadn’t sung the entire thing by myself, I considered it new.
Down to the encore
Everything else on my list was familiar—songs from “Miss Saigon” and “Les Misérables,” some Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber, a bit of Disney (“Let It Go” and “Reflection”) and a fun Abba medley for the encore, among others.
Gerard and our rhythm section (Cezar Aguas on guitar; Meong Pacana, bass; Junjun Regalado, drums; Jesper Mercado, piano) left for Hong Kong on Tuesday for a Wednesday rehearsal. I departed a day later with my trusty right-hand woman Sheilla Habab. Once there, our mission was to get dinner and do some errand shopping.
My rehearsal was slated for 2 p.m. on Thursday, a day before the show. We went through the entire program from the top. There were a couple of hiccups for me, as there were brand-new arrangements (“Send in the Clowns” was one, “Brave” was another). Because we had a sound check on the day of the show, we slated those two songs for me to rehearse again, plus whatever else I felt shaky with.
Sad news from home
On Friday, Jan. 30 at about noon, on the concert hall stage, I spoke with Gerard about what was going on at home—the massacre in Maguindanao, this day being proclaimed a National Day of Mourning. I felt anger, frustration and sadness rise as I discussed it with him and with the entire orchestra. Then we settled in to start “Brave.”
I looked out to the empty hall to compose myself and try not to cry while I went through the lyrics… then I glanced back at Gerard. He had taken his glasses off, and his face was buried in a towel that he held in his left hand while he continued to conduct the orchestra with his right. We both lost it, and our tears flowed for every Filipino whose life was lost in Mamasapano. A few of the orchestra members shed a few tears with us.
We did a total of four concerts in Hong Kong (two full ones at the Cultural Centre, and two mini-shows at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall as part of the HK Phil’s outreach) and they were all so much fun to do.
OPM-heavy
The mini-shows at Tsuen Wan were very special because they were for the Filipino community in Hong Kong. Thus, the concert was more OPM-heavy, with compositions by Ryan Cayabyab, George Canseco and Jose Mari Chan making up a bulk of the program. It was incredible, hearing the audience applaud this wonderful music that we call our own, and a riot hearing them sing along to “Let It Go.” There was no way we would skip that song!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Hong Kong Philharmonic for an incredible weekend of music and friendship. Until the next time! I promise not to let another seven years go by.
And now there are 16
More cruel cuts were made last Sunday on “The Voice of the Philippines” … four more amazing artists left the show: Arnee Hidalgo (Team Bamboo), Casper Blancaflor (Team Lea), Douglas Dagal (Team Sarah), and Brad Holmes (Team Apl). The decision to make those cuts is never easy for any of us coaches, and if any of them felt anything like me, they were physically ill, stressed out and tense.
The next round is going to be even more intense, with the coaches’ scores comprising 50 percent of the artists’ fate, while the other 50 percent is taken by the public vote. Oh dear… this should be interesting.
Thank you
My sincerest thanks to Aris Aquino for making the black “44” armbands for our TVOP artists and guests! They looked fantastic, and were a great way for our artists to pay tribute and give respect to our new heroes, the “Fallen 44.”