PPO champions Filipino artistry with heartfelt symphonies in recent UK Tour

 

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the premier orchestra of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), successfully championed the brilliance of Filipino talent to international audiences on its recent concert tour to the United Kingdom (UK).

“It was a hectic schedule for the PPO with nine concerts in 11 days, but the orchestra was up to the challenge. They were inspired, and their performances showed it,” said CCP President Kaye C. Tinga.

The PPO delivered exceptional performances night after night, feeding its audiences with heartfelt symphonies. Music critic Garry Fraser from the Perth Festival of the Arts described the tour as an exhibition of “skill and stamina,” exceptionally guided by its music director and principal conductor, Maestro Grzegorz Nowak.

Fraser continued: “They are as good as any you’ll hear and excellent in every single department, as fresh and engaging in the last bar of the Beethoven as they were in the first bar of the Bizet. The PPO and [its] conductor, Grzegorz Nowak, believe in value for money.”

Maestro Nowak leads the PPO to greater heights with UK Tour

Nearly three years have passed since Maestro Grzegorz Nowak was appointed conductor of the PPO, following an extensive search in 2022. He succeeded the esteemed Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura and has since guided the nation’s premier orchestra to unprecedented artistic heights. With the successful conclusion of the UK Concert Tour, the maestro continues to shape the PPO’s legacy with unwavering vision attuned to musical excellence.

Critics David Gray and Paul Gray wrote in their review: “Conductor Grzegorz Nowak captured the individual flavour of each of the national dances. We were served up a stately Czardas and a friskily cheeky Neapolitan Dance.”

The tender lyricism of PPO’s concertmaster and artist-in-residence

Together with Maestro Nowak, PPO’s very own artist-in-residence and guest concertmaster Diomedes Saraza Jr. and top-tier guest soloists cellist Wen-Sinn Yang and pianist Mark Bebbington displayed profound musicality in the tour.

Saraza Jr. graced the UK Tour with poised clarity and lyricism. At the age of 12, he won first place in the violin category at the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) in 2002. He is the first Filipino violin soloist to perform in Carnegie Hall.

“Diomedes Saraza Jr., with flawless intonation, expressive vibrato, and the sweetest tone, gave

a rhapsodic and captivating account of the piece [Bizet’s Carmen],” said Donal Hurley in

Edinburgh Music Review.

Saraza’s monumental nine-day concert tour with the PPO might have ended, but his encore of the Philippine folk song Leron, Leron Sinta lives on in the audience’s hearts. Fraser described the interpretation as a “blistering display of virtuosic dynamism and technical adeptness”.

Stylish interpretations of a cellist and a pianist

With heartfelt sensitivity, cellist Yang and pianist Mark Bebbington conversed with the PPO through virtuosic elements. Yang played Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variation with an “enjoyment passed over to the audience in no small measure,” according to Fraser. He added, “It’s easy to run out of superlatives, such was his [Yang] fantastic display of skill, technique, and dazzling fingerboard gymnastics.”

Yang rose to popularity after winning first prize at the Geneva International Music Competition in 1991. He later became a regular guest at the international music festivals in St. Moritz, Davos, Biel, Dresden, Weilberg, and at the Ludwigsburg Castle Festivals. Since 2004, Yang has been a of Violoncello at the Academy of Music and Theater in Munich.

Meanwhile, Bebbington, a certified champion of British music, enchanted audiences with his interpretations of Delius’ Piano Concerto. Saraza labelled him as the tour’s “hidden gem” when the revered Maestro Nowak shone marvelously with the piece.

Bebbington had previously toured with the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, as well as the London Mozart Players, Orchestra of the Swan, and BBC Concert Orchestra.

The PPO’s rousing success in the UK

Made possible by IMG Artists, the PPO performed in nine different venues, which require varying technical precision. Despite standing on unfamiliar stages, the orchestra received the same brand of adoration for its unparalleled commitment to music.

Highlighting Filipino excellence while strengthening cultural ties between the Philippines and the UK, the PPO UK Tour commenced at the Bristol Beacon in England on May 13 and concluded