Archive - Arts & Culture

The recently concluded Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) has a gem of an entry called Lola Igna directed by Eduardo Roy, Jr.

Pandan, Antique – Awe and shock and exhilaration from over one thousand students in this fourth class municipality greeted the first morning screening of Arden Rod Condez’s “John Denver Trending” at the Liberman Sports Complex near the town plaza.

A series of exhibitions on the art and life of Santiago Bose (1949-2002), entitled Santiago Bose: Painter, Magician, has been set in motion by Silverlens Galleries, Makati. The first phase, Bare Necessities, is focused on Bose's artistic language and how it is used to produce a distinct form and critical discourse. It is on view until 14 September 2019. The gallery plans to have an annual exhibit on Santiago Bose in the next four years.

At what appears to be the First Chicaron Convention in the World at the Bayanihan Annex of Unilab in Mandaluyong City, Claude Tayag, chef, restaurateur, visual artist and writer, opened his presentation by saying , “No other nation in Southeast Asia has this obsession, or rather, fatal attraction with the pig, especially its crispy, crackling chicharon.”

When the brave ladies of ICanServe gather at the PICC in Pasay City on Sept. 28 for the 2019 Silver Linings, there is one person who will be sadly missed: Maria Fatima (Pamsy) Teosico.

Friday night and Saturday afternoon, Manila’s balletomanes saw two Odette-Odiles and two Siegfrieds, one pair straight from Russia and another pair, purely homegrown but nevertheless equal to the challenge.

Silence was loudest at the movie hall a few seconds after the screen went black to end the film. The well-deserved applause was rather hesitant, allowing some time for the collective shock to settle.

Viva Voce Lab, just about the country’s foremost vocal ensemble, is downscaling in its current performance series that is running for six consecutive months. The first concert of Broadway gems is already done.

The arts and culture section of a publication, whether print, broadcast or online, may seem to reflect the lighter side of things. But as the panelists, all young bloggers, in “Writing to the Beat: Specialized Reporting for Arts and Culture” at the Philippine Readers and Writers Festival held at The Raffles Hotel in Makati showed, the cultural is also the political and invested with a nation’s soul, including resistance versus the Establishment.

The turnout at the recent three-day Philippine Readers and Writers Festival at The Raffles Makati was all the evidence needed to show that the written word is alive, well and living in this country. It can be said that published authors are the new rock stars as their readers, mostly youngsters, lined up to have copies of their books signed and took selfies.

Eleven-year old Damodar Das Castillo provided a glaring visual contrast with the members of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) in a recent well-received youth concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines afternoon of July 31.

The Ateneo Art Gallery presents Print(Ed): The AAG Print Collection Revisited at the Wilson L Sy Prints and Drawings Gallery, 2F/ Areté, Ateneo de Manila University. It runs until 14 September 2019. Admission is free.

Last Saturday night was pretty much like the state of the nation when no one was looking.

For his only appearance on a Philippine stage this year, tenor Arthur Espiritu, much in demand in European opera houses, is doing love duets with three sopranos on July 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Spotlight Power Mac in Circuit Makati.

Just when you thought the ABS- CBN Philharmonic would be relegated to scoring soap operas and musicals and accompanying pop artists at the Araneta Coliseum, you watch their latest Saturday night (July 20) concert and emerged highly convinced it has not cut ties with classical music.

In a recital, it is tempting to go by what is popular and familiar to the audience. But not coloratura soprano Marielle Tuason who opted for Impressionist songs or chansons, as they’re called, which are hardly heard here, for her recital which was the finale of the summer concert series at the Steinway Boutique at the Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City July 13.

The foursome, with accompanying artist Gabriel Paguirigan, will be seen in “Les Nuit d’ete: An Evening of Opera Love Duets” on July 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Spotlight Power Mac in Circuit Makati.

Garbed in his costume as Felipe in his new musical Sindak 41 set during the Japanese Occupation, Vince Tañada is at once the actor blending easily with his ensemble. You try to look at the face of the young lawyer you saw years back and there is none