The issue now – rice

Christ is risen. He is truly risen!!!

This is the greeting among Christians on Easter Sunday. It actually accents the faith they believe in – that Christ rose from the dead and is now being awaited by the faithful. Well, because of that, I was unable to write yesterday’s column. I just was wilting under the Friday to Sunday morning absolute fasting. And the whole night’s Easter Vigil.

Frankly, I thought I should have written my column. But, despite my failure to sleep the whole Sunday daylight hours, I still could not summon the strength to do it. But fortunately, I was able to attend the blessing of the house of my daughter, Salvacion Espina-Varona, in the afternoon and listen to the concert of Mary Ann and Nenen plus violinist Gina Miranda. Gina, incidentally, had been sort of adopted by the family. That’s why she is often introduced as Gina Medina Espina.

Anyway, that was a concert that was for a select audience. Among the small coterie of guests were businessman R. Florete, the Henares sisters – Cora and Titong, and Fr. Emil Henares. The latter officiated at the blessing of the house in Greensville Subdivision.

The repertoire included Liebeslied and Schon Rosamarine’s Rondino (on a theme of Beethoven) with Mary Ann at the piano and Gina, the violin.

Later, Nenen, a soprano, sang “If I Loved You” from Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein; “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady by F. Leowe, and “This is My Beloved” from Kismet by Borodin. Mary Ann accompanied Nenen on the piano.

Later, Mary Ann played Widmung by Shumann, and Ballade No. 1 in G Minor by F. Chopin.           Later, Gina drew tearful expressions from the audience when she and Mary Ann played Bayan Ko, the activist song of the Martial law years by C. de Guzman. The piece was arranged by R. Romero. This was followed by Lagi Kitang Naalaala by L. Silos and arranged again by R. Romero. Nenen and Mary Ann then rendered Caturog na Nonoy, arranged by Alejandro Consolacion, and Sampung  Mga Darili.

The finale was Kundiman Ng Luha by N. Abelardo and Katakataka by S. Suarez, sung by Nenen  with Gina at the violin and Mary Ann at the piano.

Nenen was a Bachelor of Arts graduate of Music in St. Scholastica’s College, Manila. She was the Conching Rosal Music Foundation Scholar. In 1995, she obtained her professional diploma, opera course, from the Hongkong Academy of Performing Arts under a full scholarship. She has a Master of Arts in Music from the University of Santo Tomas (Magna Cum Laude). She debuted at age 17 as soloist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Francisco Feliciano.

She has a string of accomplishments, including tours of Japanese cities and the Philippines, for which Nenen received rave reviews for both her acting and singing prowess. She again elicited rave reviews for her role in Fillipveyna in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin last October 2006. In November, she did Dorabell in Mozart’s Cosi Tan Tuttte excerpts only with the UST Symphony Orchestra.

Gina, on the other hand, has an equally impressive career. She started formal violin lessons under Luis Valencia at the Philippine Women’s University. She graduated cum laude from the St. Scholastica’s College of Music under Maestro Basilio Manalo. She also won the First Prize in Category B in 1985 and Category C in 1990 in the National Music Competition for Young Artists. She later took social lessons from Filipino violinist Gilopez Kabayao and pedagogue Sergio Esmailla, Jr.

In 1994, as concert master of the Asian Youth Orchestra, she toured Taiwan and the United States. She in the latter she was asked to perform at the White House, and the United Nations as well as at the APEC Conference in Osaka, Japan.

Gina has a string of impressive credentials and achievements in the  field of Music, both as violist and concertmaster. She also earned the distinction of having performed her piano trio for former Hongkong Gov. Christopher Patten. She is a member of the Clarion Ensemble.

Mary Ann, on the other hand, is known for her excellence in both chamber and opera music. She is the most sought after collaborating artist in the country today. She is sought after to team up with outstanding local and international artists in all the major concert and recital venues of the country.

She was also repetituer and keyboard player in the Broadway hit Musical “Miss Saigon” in Manila, Hongkong and Singapore.

Anyway, she earned her masters of arts in Music (summa cum laude) from the UST under the tutelage of Fr. Manuel Maramba, OSB, and Raul Sunico, dean of the Conservatory of Music.

Among her notable collaborations include renowned Filipino pianist Nena del Rosario-Villanueva at the People’s Republic  of China, French violinist Frederic Palleay, Israeli violinist Hagai Shaham, Russian violinist Anastasia Chebotareva, soprano Joan Gibbons, Filipino tenor Otoniel Gonzaga, American cellist Stephen Framil, German violinist Angelo Baro and Romanian violinist Alexander Tomescu. Like Nenen and Gina, she has a long list of achievements in the music world.*

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