Archive - Arts & Culture

Petite Baguio girl Stefanie Quintin is going places. Last seen officially, she was a soloist in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s (SSO) Chamber Series called “Baroque Festival: Royal Fireworks.”

If his cheering CCP crowd last September 26 was of any indication, matched by a shouting ovation coming from a predominantly millennial audience, it just meant tenor Arthur Espiritu has bridged the gap between the young and the old in opera appreciation.

To soprano Nerissa de Juan, Original Pilipino Music is mostly made up of Filipino pop songs, particularly ballads, that embody the way Filipinos express their emotions and voice their sentiments. She added, “OPM doesn’t need to be patriotic. It can be about any topic. For me, OPM is a way of uniting Filipinos into one spirit.”

As Filipinos marked the 46th anniversary of martial law on Friday, September 21, students, workers, rights activists and members of religious groups staged protest rallies, chanting “Never again!” to dictatorship.

With zest and social media flair, Ties of History: Art in Southeast Asia, an exhibition of contemporary art in Southeast Asia, has opened with works of ten artists from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states.

Do you experience days when you don’t want to watch TV, read newspapers, or go online because you are afraid that you would be assaulted by bad news which you feel you have had enough and don’t want any more of it or at least you want a respite from it?

I have received three gifts from two persons I truly admire which have become even more meaningful now.

The Philippine Visual Arts Festival Bohol 2018 caught Boholanos and Central Visayas by surprise with its varied art offerings, including art installations that used the island province’s iconic heritage landscapes as backdrops.

One cannot abandon Renato Barja’s Children’s Stories (as told by Daniel Tayona and Gigo Alampay) without being haunted by the pools of pain found in the exaggeratedly large eyes of his subjects—children who have lost all, especially their innocence. The book comes with a warning: “Contains sensitive material. Parental guidance advised.”

And now comes the Rag-O Duo (rag-o is a deep Iloko word for “joy”) made up of pianist Gabriel Allan Ferros Paguirigan and his cousin, flutist John Owen Castro. The two won first prize in the Duo for Piano or One String or Wind Instrument Category at this year’s Princess Galyani Vadhana Ensemble Competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

Fine music in the midst of history.

Tenor Dondi Ong, the only Filipino in the international cast of Phantom of the Opera and last seen playing the role of Mr. Chua in Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical, felt that he had become relevant when he went into music therapy for his masters at St. Paul University (SPU) Manila