Photos by Elizabeth Lolarga
After his recent successful appearance at MiraNila Heritage House wherein he showcased Filipino art songs at their best, world-acclaimed tenor Arthur Espiritu has put on his teaching hat to train 11 classical singers in a three-week intensive workshop at the Mirror Theater in Makati.
Capping this training is the Cultural Arts Events Organizer’s production of “Opera Unveiled: Comedy and Tragedy” on June 19 at 7 p.m. and 21 at 5 p.m., still at the Mirror Theater, fifth floor of SJG Building, 8463 Kalayaan Avenue, Barangay Poblacion, Makati City. The Espiritu workshop is modeled after the Royal Opera House Jette Parker Artists Program and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program in that it gives the students advanced training and preparation in performance.
The participants fortunate to be coached by Espiritu include sopranos Isabela Madero, Lhareen Lazo, Angeli Benipayo, Miko Galang, Charina Althea Balmores, mezzo-soprano Via Villasin, tenors Gregan Rebadeo, Nomher Nival and Rovic Emmanuel Solomo, baritones Ruzzel Clemeno and Louie Angelo Oca.
Madero, 27, did not study in a conservatory. Instead, she has had private lessons in classical music since the age of eight with teachers like Perpy Heath, Giancarlo Monsalve and now, Espiritu. She will play Mimi in an excerpt from La Boheme, a role she feels connected to because of the character’s gentleness and sweetness. She said, “Her arias are so beautiful. I love singing her a lot! I love Puccini!”
Lazo, 24, is on summer break in the Philippines while studying for her master of arts in voice performance at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. She wanted to work with Espiritu and have fun with roles in La Boheme and La Traviata. She said, “I never had Arthur for a coach. I greatly admire him for what he represents across the international stage.”
Villasin, 31, saw the announcement about the workshop in Facebook and consulted colleagues and friends about signing up. She said, “I want to grow more as an artist. I want to do something productive for a month.” For “Opera Unveiled,” she will take on the roles of Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Rosina in Rosini’s Il Barbieri di Siviglia. She studied music at Santa Isabel College and has for her favorite singers Mirella Freni and Tatiana Troyanos, both for having sung “powerful opera.”
Miko Galang, a.k.a. Micah David (her recording name), is best known as a vocal coach herself. She said it has been “a few years since I sang. I am getting my way back to singing after being so busy teaching. There’s nothing like learning from the great Arthur Espiritu.” She has been singing in church, teaching singing to children, writing songs (as an independent artist, she can be heard in Spotify). She will also be singing and playing Rosina from Il Barbieri di Siviglia, Musetta in La Boheme, among others.
Balmores, 31, is in the workshop “for love of art. Here, every day is a learning day. I get to collaborate with my friends.” She will sing Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata and Musetta in La Boheme. She described the character of Violetta as “complex yet so human.”
Benipayo, 29, a University of the Philippines College of Music voice major, said, “I’m here because I want to expand my repertoire, to do roles that I’ve never done before.” She added that she is using the opportunity to learn more about the heroines of opera. Her roles are Adina in Donizetti’s L’elixir D’amore and Giuliette in I Capuleti e i Montecchi. The latter she considered a challenge “because of its many high notes” and the fact that she has “not done a lot of Bellini. The temperament is different as opposed to other bel canto songs.”
Solomo, 31, a music education graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, saw Espiritu’s post in FB and told himself that he hadn’t sung in a while. He was engaged in family business and looked at the workshop as a way “to return to classical singing.” He has sung in the past with the Pasipo vocal ensemble and is learning more about “character, internalization of character and being free onstage.” He will sing the parts of Alfredo in La Traviata and Rodolfo in La Boheme’s Act 3.
Rebadeo, 29, considered the workshop “a great opportunity to hone singing opera and acting. We get to share the experiences of someone like Arthur.” At the UST he initially started as a musical theater major for a year. Then a teacher advised him that his voice was better for opera. For “Opera Unveiled,” he will sing Nemorino in L’elixir D’amore, Rodolfo in La Boheme and Count Almaviva in Il Barbieri di Siviglia.
Oca, 31, got invited to the workshop by friends from Pasipo. He had just started taking voice lessons last year. Before that he had been a pipe organ player. His whole life had been spent being an organist and now he was getting exposed to opera. He said, “I feel like a new student. I’m learning different techniques, different roles and watching full-length operas.”
Clemeno, 32, looked at the workshop as part of “the learning process of an artist. It is one of perpetual commitment. I entrust that to someone like Arthur, someone who can really help in your craft. This workshop shows that opera is not a solo act of singing arias but a collaborative ensemble work wherein you learn from your co-artists. The workshop seeks to promote opera in the Philippines, promote Filipino opera singers and artists. This is the place to learn new roles, explore styles and genres that will fit our voice.”
He will play Marcello in La Boheme, Germont in La Traviata and Figaro in Il Barbieri di Siviglia.
At 39, Nival is the most senior in the group and yet he believed that to keep his “vocal health since he had been singing a lot of heavy stuff,” this workshop would enable him to be a student once again. He will sing the role of Roberto in Le Villi and Scorpio in La Pizza con Funghi.
Nival’s attitude is: “Every performance teaches me something valuable. Every time I teach, I also learn something new. It’s a life-long learning. And we singers always need a good pair of ears to listen to our singing. Maybe we know how to do it or we’re technically secure, but there will always be room for improvement, no matter what level of singing you’re at. As the great Maria Callas said, ‘When it comes to music, we’re all students, all our lives.’”
The singers will be accompanied on the piano by Pauline Aguila and Gabriel Allan Ferros Paguirigan.
For tickets to “Opera Unveiled,” visit www.veniccio.com or contact CAEO at 0920-954-0053 or 0918-347-3027.
