In Grand Symphony: CCP holds first National Orchestra Festival

Seeing and listening to an orchestra performance, a rare treat, can be overwhelming. Seeing and listening to seven for several nights can be a stupefying thought. But the country’s premiere cultural institution, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), is making it happen, the rarest of treats. Magnitude 7 on the Orchestra Scale: The First National Orchestra Festival gathers together seven of the country’s finest orchestras for five days of concerts and performances from Sept. 21 to 25.
Participating are FILharmoniKA with conductor Gerard Salonga, the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) with conductor Arturo Molina, the University of the Philippines (UP) Orchestra with conductor Edna “Michi” Marcil Martinez, the Angono Chamber Orchestra with conductor Agripino Diestro, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Symphony Orchestra with conductor Herminigildo Ranera, the PREDIS Chamber Orchestra with conductor Jeffrey Solares and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) with music director Olivier Ochanine.
Raul Sunico, vice president and artistic director of the CPP and himself an accomplished musician, came up with the idea of the festival, thinking there is a need to democratize the arts, specifically orchestra music. Although the PPO is the official orchestra of the country, he said that “there are several orchestras in the Philippines that need our support and promotion.”
This will be the first that time that the country’s orchestras will come together in a grand event. The difficulty of transporting large contingents with instruments, scheduling, funding and logistics prevented this from happening sooner. Fortunately, most of the orchestras are based around and near Metro Manila. The Peace Philharmonic Orchestra from Cebu has been invited but was not able to participate because of transportation difficulty and insufficiency of funds.
As with the case with other fields of the arts, endeavors like this are not highly profitable and funding is a problem. Sunico admitted that the musicians are not compensated as they should have been. Martinez of the UP Orchestra, the only woman conductor in the country, said that performing inside the CCP, which is held in esteem, is enough compensation for many members.
Additionally, the younger musicians get to interact with and learn from senior, professional and established players, especially during their participation in the Festival Orchestra, which is something to look forward to.
“The highlight of the event is the performance of the Festival Orchestra composed of selected members of the participating orchestras which shall be performing with the country’s eminent conductors,” Melissa Mantaring, head of the CCP Music Division, said.
The Festival Orchestra will open the festival on the Sept. 21, playing Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 in E Minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and will perform during the grand finale on Sept. 25 in which the conductors will take turns in leading the orchestra. In between, the other orchestras will have their own performances. According to Mantaring, overall the event will showcase an exciting and varied program of immensely enjoyable and appealing pieces written for the orchestra.
Also opening the festival is the PPO, the country’s leading and professional orchestra. It was formally inaugurated on May 15, 1973, as the CCP Philharmonic Orchestra, initially intended to assist artists performing at the CCP Theater. It was reorganized in 1979 with a vision to be among the best in the world. The PPO has performed with many world renowned conductors, toured and performed in many countries, participated in many festivals, and premiered Filipino compositions and works by foreign composers not yet performed in the Philippines. For the festival, the PPO will perform Colas Breugnon Overture by Dmitri Kabalevsky; Pastorale d’été, H. 31 by Arthur Honneger; and Symphony No. 40 in G Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The following day, Sept. 22, the PREDIS Chamber Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra will take the stage.
The PREDIS Orchestra is composed of young musicians under the direct supervision and guidance of members of the MSO and are based at the Saint Scholastica’s College School of Music. Founded in 1985 by Basilio Manalo, and Sister Mary Placid Abejo, OSB, the Philippine Research for Developing Instrumental Soloists (PREDIS) was envisioned to develop young musicians for a professional music career. In 1995, advanced PREDIS members became the core group of the Manila Youth Symphony Orchestra, which later became the founding members of the reorganized Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSOII). PREDIS still continues to provide scholarships to talented youth.
On the other hand, the MSO, currently composed of 60 musicians, is considered one of Asia’s oldest symphony orchestras. It was founded by Dr. Alexander Lippay in 1926. In 1931, the Manila Symphony Society was formed to support the MSO’s regular season concerts. During the 1940s until the 1960s the orchestra was under Dr. Herbert Zipper who led the orchestra to perform major symphonic works, ballets and opera productions. In 2001, it was resurrected by its long time concertmaster, Basilio Manalo, by elevating into professional status the Manila Youth Symphony Orchestra, mostly composed of members trained under PREDIS.
The PREDIS Chamber Orchestra will perform Mozart’s Divertimiento in D Major, K 136; Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in A Minor; Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor; Edvard Grieg’s Suite from Holberg’s Time; and Bela Bartok’s Rumanian Dances. The MSO will play Angel Peña’s Philippine Festival Overture; Tchaikovsky’s Tempest; and Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
On Sept. 23, the UST Symphony Orchestra and FILharmoniKa will perform.
Composed of 70 UST music students, the UST Symphony Orchestra is a resident performing group of the CCP. It was founded in 1927 by its conductor Dr. Manuel Casas of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. After four public performances from 1929 to 1931, the group apparently disbanded and was reorganized in 1961 by National Artist for music Antonino Buenaventura. For the festival, the orchestra will play the Rienzi Overture by Richard Wagner; Piano Concerto No. 6 in B Flat Major K 238 by Mozart with Najib Ismail on the piano; and Finlandia by Jean Sibelius.
FILharmoniKA was formed in 2005 as the in-house recording ensemble of Carmel House Studios, a music and audio post-production facility in Manila, then known as the Global Studio Orchestra. In 2008, it took a new direction and a new name, FILharmoniKA. For the festival, it will perform “Terry’s Theme” from Limelight by Charlie Chaplin, arranged by Gerard Salonga; Night on a Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky; Yerma by Francisco Feliciano: and “Symphonic Dances” from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein.
The UP Orchestra and the Angono Chamber Orchestra will perform on Sept. 24.
The UP Orchestra has a sporadic existence. In 2003, it was revitalized by merging two existing orchestra classes, and now mainly serves as the laboratory class for the instrument majors of both the Strings and Chamber Music Department and the Winds and Percussion Department enrolled in orchestra class as well as one of the performing groups of the university.
Under the management of the Angono Philharmonic Society, the Angono Chamber Orchestra was founded conductor/composer Diestro, gathering talented children with ages ranging from 12 to 22 years old who come mostly from Angono and other towns in Rizal. Its main purpose is to bring classical music to the people of Angono and its neighboring towns. All members are taking lessons from noted Filipino instrumentalists under the U P Extension Program.
The UP Orchestra will perform Overture to the Impressario by Mozart; Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky; and “Mindanao Sketches” by Antonino Buenaventura. The Angono Chamber Orchestra will perform Francisco Buencamino’s Pizzicato Caprice; Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, KV356, Op. 3, No. 6, with violinist Mikhail Ivan Ramos; and Lucio San Pedro’s “Katutubong Awitin” and “Jubilate,” arranged by Diestro.
The Festival Orchestra will close the festival on Sept. 25 with the performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Three Dance Episodes” from On the Town; Richard Wagner’s “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” from Lohengrin; Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture; Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture”; Ralph Vaughan William’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; and selected movements from Gayane Ballet Suite by Aram Khachaturian.

Concerts will be held at the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) at 8 p.m. For the opening and closing concerts of the festival, tickets are priced at P1,000 for orchestra center, P800 for orchestra sides, P600 for Balcony I and P200 for Balcony II. Tickets for the daily concerts are priced at P700 for orchestra center, P500 for orchestra sides, P300 for Balcony I and 200 for Balcony II. Festival passes, which provide access to all concerts, are priced at P3,400 for orchestra center, P2,600 for orchestra sides and P1,800 for Balcony I. Discounts are available for seniors at 20 percent and students at 50 percent off. For more information, call the CCP Box Office at telephone number 832-1125 local 1409 and direct line 832-3704.

Strumming Interest: UST Holds First International Guitar Festival

The guitar is most likely the most popular musical instrument in the country, if not the whole world, attested Raul Sunico, artistic director of the country's premier artistic institution the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Its popularity he attributed to its "being portable, inexpensive, and quite easy to learn as far as basics are concerned."

"Most of us don’t know that the guitar is actually capable of more complex and interesting sounds than we are used to hearing," said the renowned pianist, who is also dean of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Conservatory of Music, the largest conservatory in the country in terms of enrolment.

In the aim of showing the world the guitar as a classical instrument and as contribution to the quadricentennial celebration of the university in 2011, the Guitar Department, the third largest department in the conservatory, in cooperation with the Foundation for the Musical Filipino, mounts the Guitarra 2010: The First University of Santo Tomas International Guitar Festival, from Aug. 23 to 27.

The five-day festival features lectures, master classes and concerts of local guitarists and guitar teachers and international guests. Master guitarist from abroad include Agustin Castilla-Avila from Spain, Ruey Yen from Taiwan and Meng Feng Su also from Taiwan.

Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Avila obtained his music degree in guitar from the Conservatorio Superior de Sevilla under the tutelage of Josefina Calero. In 1998, he became the first guitarist to be awarded a scholarship by the Fundacion La Caixa and the British Council to study for a master’s degree at the London College of Music under Carlos Bonell. He later moved to the Guildhall School of Music where he earned a postgraduate diploma and a master's degree with guitarists Robert Brightmore, David Miller and composer Matthew King. He won the Portallion Solo Guitar Prize at this school. He also did guitar studies with Isabel Siewers at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and with Frank Koonce at Arizona State University where he served as a teaching assistant. He has taught guitar at the Conservatorio de Musica de Ceuta and at the Conservatorio de Musica de Lucena, both in southern Spain. As a guitarist, he has played as a soloist, chamber musician and as a concerto soloist with orchestras in Spain, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Finland and the United States. As a composer, he has participated numerous music festivals and written for different music groups, solos, chamber music, orchestral, theater plays, choreographies and a chamber opera.

Since 2009, Avila is the artistic advisor of the Microtonal Music Society in Austria and is currently writing a chamber opera called Don Quijote’s Dulcinea for the Passau Festspiele 2010 in Germany, among others.

Taiwanese Ruey Yen earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University and also holds a science degree in physics from the National Cheng Kung University. He has taken master classes with Manuel Barrueco, David Russell and Roberto Aussel. Yen was the director of 2004 Taiwan International Guitar Competition and Festival and has served as the executive board member of the Taiwan Guitar Society which he co-founded in 2000. Currently teaching in Open University of Kaohsiung, he has developed a series of online musicology courses which earned him national acclaim as a musicologist. His debut album entitled Guitarra Exotica with flautist Shelly O’Donin and tenor Joel M. Rinsema is a result of his interest in world music culture.

On the other hand, Meng Feng Su, who graduated from L’Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in 2005 under maestro Alberto Ponce with a Superior Diploma of Execution and was also accepted with honors at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris under maestro Roland Dyens, is one of the most prominent guitarists in Taiwan today. He has been awarded many prizes in Taiwan and other countries. His debut two-CD album Contatos¸ which explores a wide range of classical guitar works including 19th century guitar music as well as that of South America, was released in 2008 and became a bestseller in Taiwan and has garnered good reviews. Meng Feng Su’s repertoire ranges from solos and concertos to chamber music and works for vocalist and guitar, and covers the Renaissance era to the present.

They join Filipino guitarists Ruben Reyes, Angelito Agcaoili, Joseph Mirandilla and Manuel Cabrera II, mostly from the faculty of UST Conservatory of Music and all UST alumni.

Reyes serves as the festival director of Guitarra 2010. He has performed in many events and projects, and has written and performed music for plays of Tanghalang Ateneo. With master’s degree in music, summa cum laude, from UST, he currently teaches classical guitar and is concurrently coordinator for the Guitar Department at the UST Conservatory of Music. Also, Reyes is the music director of both the UST Guitar Ensemble and UST Guitar Quartet, and a member of the Clarion Chamber Ensemble and the Majam jazz group.

Agcaoili studied guitar under Mario Rodriguez at the UST; Jose Luis Rodrigo at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica in Madrid, Spain; Elliot Frank at East Carolina University; and Frank Koonce at Arizona State University. He has also participated as a performer in the workshops and master classes conducted by world-renowned guitarists such as Leo Brouwer, Jose Tomas, John Williams and David Russell. He has also garnered several prizes in guitar competitions in the country. He has taught at the University of Santo Tomas, Santa Isabel College and St. Scholastica's College, and served as a teaching assistant at East Carolina University and at Arizona State University. He currently teaches at Arcadia Music Academy in Phoenix, Arizona.

His work and research on the guitar music of the Philippines has been steadily gaining recognition. He has premiered the guitar works of Filipino composers such as Bayani de Leon, Lucrecia Kasilag, Antonio Pahang, Jose Valdez and Angel Peña.

Classical guitarist Mirandilla received his first training of the guitar and bachelor’s degree in music at UST under Ruben Reyes. In 2005, he went to Hiroshima, Japan to pursue his post-graduate studies at the Elisabeth University of Music. He won honors and awards in several international guitar competitions. He currently works as a foreign expert instructor of guitar at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, China, and is an active recitalist and concert artist with performances in Japan, China and the Philippines.

Cabrera started playing the guitar at the age of 18, obtained his bachelor of music in guitar performance at UST, later studied with acclaimed Japanese guitarist Norioh Sato and received his master of music in guitar under a scholarship grant from the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan. He has won major competitions in the Philippines and Japan, and has performed in numerous events. He has taught at the UST Conservatory of Music from 2000 to 2007, and recently moved to Singapore to further pursue a career in performing and teaching.

They gather together in celebration of the guitar. The Guitarra 2010 lectures are held in the morning and master classes in the afternoon at the recital halls of the UST Conservatory of Music at the fifth floor of the Albertus Magnus Building of UST on Espana Street, Manila. Lectures include "World Music and the Guitar" by Yen; "Philippine Guitar Music" by Agcaoili; "Microtonal Music for the Guitar" and "Composing for the Guitar" By Avila; and "Teaching Beginning Guitar."

In the evenings, concerts are held at the Philamlife Auditorium on United Nations Avenue, Ermita, Manila. Agcaoili and Avila perform on Aug. 24, Yen and Mirandilla on Aug. 25, and Su and Cabrera on Aug. 26. On Aug. 27, the festival culminates with simultaneous master classes by the guitarist-teachers and concert in the evening. They are joined by the UST Guitar Ensemble and the Festival Guitar Orchestra.

The UST Guitar Ensemble is one of the large ensembles with member coming from the guitar faculty, students and alumni of the conservatory. It began as the UST Guitar Quartet until it into ensemble. It was originally conceived as an avenue for guitar students to learn ensemble playing, but evolved as one of the finest concert ensembles in the country. The ensemble is unique with its use of three guitar sizes, the alto, prime and bass guitars, which are tuned a fifth higher, standard and fourth lower respectively, giving the ensemble a much wider range than a regular guitar ensemble. The alto and bass guitars were made by luthier Adolfo Timuat. The group's repertoire consists of music from the Renaissance to the present, and in different combinations from duets to trios, quartets, quintets and more.

All lectures, master classes and concerts are open to the public. For reservations and inquiries, contact the UST Conservatory of Music at 731-4022 or 406-1611 local 8246; the UST Guitar hotline at 0927-2224297; or e-mail ustguitarfest@yahoo.com.

Luke for Love

These days, singers are prepping up for Valentine shows, including Luke Mejares, who is still famously known as a former lead vocalist of the band South Border. Now he is striking it out on his own—performing in hotels, bars, lounges and concert halls; doing corporate shows and shows for overseas Filipino workers; and releasing two CDs, Stop, Luke, Listen and Pangako. He has been in the professional music business for more than a decade now, but I was getting to know him a little more just recently aside from his being with South Border.
A friend organized an intimate dinner at Uno Café in Quezon City with Mejares, some of the producers and a few journalists. Mejares was affable and shy, somehow self-effacing. He is known for his falsetto, singing rhythm-and-blues and pop songs with pitch and breadth that elicit applause, as vocalists of South Border are known for. What is immediately noticeable about him is his physical features—more African-American than Filipino—which I am sure has been asked about him frequently.
His father is black Mexican-American, Mejares said. Despite the sad story behind it, he talked about it as if there is no bitterness, remorse or anger. Someone eventually asked and he was open to talk about it.
Mejares grew up in Tagbilaran, Bohol, only knowing his adoptive parents as his real ones. Often, he got teased about his features. He was often called “Negro” or “Igorot.” His parents, Leonides and Elvira Mejares, told him that he is pinaglihi kay Michael Jackson.
As grew up he learned that his parents are really his uncle and aunt; that his real mother live in Cebu; and that his real father was with the United States Navy who got assigned to the Philippines. It was only in recent years that Mejares got to know his father. That journey started in 1998 while in the company of friends, who were asking what little he knew of his father.
Former MTV VJ Sarah Meier was taking note of the details Mejares was giving, and unknown to him she embarked on a search through the Internet. One day, Mejares got a call from Meier. They met up, and she handed him a diskette, crying. The diskette contained pictures and information on Mejares’s father, Robert Edward Davis.
When he opened the diskette, he saw his father’s picture and immediately recognize the physical similarities. The diskette also contained his list of achievements, an admirable one, and his current whereabouts. Davis lived in Hyattsville, Maryland, and was with the faculty of the town’s Northwestern High School.
Mejares wrote his father a letter, telling him that he doesn’t want money, that he is a famous singer and that he only wanted to know him. He also sent a few clippings, a photograph and a CD with it. But the letter went unanswered. In 2002, Mejares had saved enough money and decided to go to the United States to meet his father. His then girlfriend Inger Cuenco from Cebu went with him.
They went to the school where his father worked. Inger went in his office first and Mejares followed. As soon as Davis saw Mejares, there was instant recognition, and his demeanor changed. He went berserk and yelled at them to get out, pushing them out of the office. As they were leaving, Davis even called security. Inger was crying and Mejares was numb, too shocked to feel anything. Davis had built up a good standing in the community and church that perhaps he did not want tarnished. After that episode, Mejares seemed to have moved on well. Mejares married Inger and has two children, Akeisha and Jamal. And he has a career in music he has to concentrate on.
Music is another journey for him. Aside from sports, music was one of Mejares’s loves when he was young. In Bohol, he became known as the Gary Valenciano of Bohol, singing and moving like the famous singer, although he still maintains Michael Jackson as his most influential artist.
He has always been sent to compete in amateur singing contests, and he remembers always emerging second to Cebu’s Ana Fegi. They eventually became schoolmates when Mejares moved to Cebu to study college. He also moved in to his aunt who later turned out to his real mother. Fegi and Mejares were always chosen to do front acts whenever a famous performer visits and does a show.
Ryan Cayabyab went to the south, searching for a new member of his singing group Smokey Mountain. Fegi was chosen while Mejares became an understudy. In Cebu, he slowly carved a name as an entertainer, doing front acts and becoming a host for an ABS-CBN lunchtime show.
He eventually went to Manila, trying his luck in the music business. He was then chosen to replace Brix Ferraris for South Border in 1998. After fruitful five years, he left the band and went solo.
Now, he is evolving as an artist. “One has to grow with time. As an artist, I feel that I should be open to explore possibilities, to spread my wings as a singer, to sing songs beyond those that I usually perform,” he said.
His latest gig is a Valentine’s show at Club Mwah in Mandaluyong City. The idea for the show came from a small group of friends partying at the Abaca Resort in Mactan Island, Cebu, where Mejares was performing. The producers include the owner of Abaca Resort and the owners of Club Mwah, a small club known for its cabaret-like performances and performers, some which are transsexuals.
“I’d be doing musical collaborations with the Club Mwah performers,” Mejares said. “It’s a first for me and I’m excited. I have heard a lot of good reviews about them, and I’ve seen them do their act. They are really amazing at what they do—so much passion, so much heart, so much color, so much art, too!”
As of now, Mejares is concentrating on this and looking forward to a musical future.
“Music is what brought me to where I am now. I am grateful for all the small victories I had and many of the perks I still get as a singer. I look forward to continue singing for as long as there will be people out there listening to my songs and watching my shows,” he concluded.

For inquiries on the Valentine’s show at Club Mwah, call 0929-8568428, 0922-8584321 or 0922-7832012, or e-mail luke_atmwah@yahoo.com. Club Mwah is at the third floor of The Venue Tower, Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City.

Suddenly Sarah Chang

I was not sure what to expect from a former child prodigy. There are a lot of preconceptions, and I was trying to remember one minutes before meeting Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang at the Conrad Centennial Hotel in Singapore. But my mind was on her track record: starting violin studies at age four; auditioning at age eight for Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti which led to immediate engagements with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra; a recording contract at age nine; notable recital engagements including her Carnegie Hall debut and performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Symphony Hall in Boston, the Barbican Centre in London, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; an Avery Prize in 1999 as well as other honors; worldwide acclaim; collaborations with giants in classical music, etc.
Chang was in Singapore for the second Singapore Sun Festival, a 10-day extravaganza of art and living well, born out of the Tuscan Sun Festival, which was inspired by the book Under the Tuscan Sun. There were notable chefs preparing signature dinners, writers giving light on their craft, musicians and singers touching the soul, and gurus talking about wellness.
I was not able to catch Chang perform, having flew in late and being busy with sampling a wide array of good food, but I was able to talk to her. She turned out to be effervescent and amiable, almost like a teenager in interest and attitude, dressed almost skimpily. That I did not expect.

RHM: You started very, very young. How was it? It doesn’t seem to be a normal kid’s life.
SC: It’s really not. Within the circumstances, my parents did what they could. They were very supportive. They made sure I went to a normal school so I have friends my own age because when I was working I was always with grownups and people twice my age, three times my age if not older. When I was working, touring, recording, doing concerts, that was one set of my life and then when I went home I was a kid. My mom expected me to do homework. I went to Juilliard on top of that so I would have all the musical training. I feel that it was very structured and categorized in a way that I really did try to get the most, the best of out of both worlds. In theory it works like that. Obviously going to high school that became really, really hard. Because it’s hard enough when you’re just a full time student, but to have a career, as long as it’s a recording career, and then trying to finish school and keep up with school, it’s not fun. It was at a time when email was just starting but not huge so I really did finish high school like that. I really did. It truly saved my sanity. That was the only way that I was able to finish school. I had great teachers, amazing professors, who were willing to work with me, you know, to fax this when I’m working extra in the classroom. They were usually supportive but you know at the end of the day their requirements have to be met. There were a few years of rehearsals, concerts, parties and dinners and all that great stuff and then having to rush back to the hotel to do my homework, and I did. Many years of that. I’m glad it’s over now.

RHM: Is there a chance you will go pop?
SC: No, that’s not where my interest lies. I do listen to a lot of pop music. When I’m relaxing or driving or when I just want to get my mind off work, like anybody else, I love Beyonce, I love Rihanna, I love anything Latin and anything salsa. You know, I love, love that. That’s what I would be listening to. But when it comes to work and what I do onstage, I mean my training is classical music and I think that’s where my strengths are. And I feel that I’ve been very lucky in this career. I have some of the most amazing friends in the music industry who are absolutely the best in what they do. I don’t feel the need to do like crossover things for pop project. If anything comes in my direction and it’s a good project musically then of course I’ll love it. I’m with EMI. I’ve stayed with them since I was nine years old, and it’s probably one of the longest recording relationships out there. Occasionally, they send me projects, you know, that are unique or a little different or slightly more crossover but I think they also know what I do and what my fan base is, the classical field.

RHM: Who are your artistic influences?
SC: I think when it comes to like violinists, I think (David) Oistrakh I love, love Oistrakh. Anything that Oistrakh did I think is just phenomenal. Out of the living, I think Lieberman. I think he’s just unbelievable.

RHM: How different is it performing in the festival in Tuscany from this one in Singapore?
SC: First of all, this is by far the biggest hall and this is the proper hall. This is an actual proper hall. You can bring any orchestra, any conductor, and this is at par with any of the great halls in the world. The one in Tuscany, it’s just small opera hall. It’s beautiful but it is not an opera hall. You can’t fit in a big orchestra. I have played with a reduced chamber orchestra. Of the opera halls in Europe and especially in Italy, they’re like little miniature jewel boxes. They’re very like visually beautiful but capacity-wise they’re smaller, and the number of seats are smaller as well. The stage there is so much smaller. You can’t fit a hundred and twenty on stage, whereas this (the Esplanade) is enormous. There are differences like that. I’ve gone to Cortona a few times. It’s just different because here like after yesterday’s concert we have this big thing at the tent, we all went out to dinner and we had drinks at the Raffles then we went clubbing. It’s really a cosmopolitan big city. There’s so much to do here. Whereas Cortona is rustic. It’s wine country. A lot of green stuff. Really, really beautiful but in a different way like all cobblestones. You don’t wear heels there because you’ll get stuck and stuff like that. It’s one of those places where there’s one strip of shops and that’s basically it. It is like in a lot of little Italian cities and you go there and you get vegetables and stuff, and there were a few shoe stores and clothing stores. I remember I was walking back after one of the rehearsals and there was this little shoe shop which is so cute, so great. The next day I tried to go back and it was closed, and that wasn’t like on a Sunday or anything else. It was just a regular Thursday, four in the afternoon. No big deal. I asked the guy the next day why were you closed, and he said my mom came so we went out, we had company and we had lunch and it sort of got late so I just closed the shop. It’s sort of like that—totally easy-going, slightly disorganized, which is charming in a way. They’re very laidback. It’s different being in small Italian city from being in a big city.

RHM: How is it working with an orchestra?
SC: I have it easy because as a soloist. You’re only there for a few days. You do your normally two rehearsals. You do the concert. Sometimes it’s one. Sometimes it’s as many as four or five in a city. And then you are out of there. So it’s great if you like the people that you work with. But if you don’t, it’s okay because you’re leaving anyway. I think most of the musicians are contracted for like fourteen to eighteen weeks in an orchestra. They have a validity pack. And orchestra members, you know, it’s their community. It’s their family. And I think everyone gets strong like any family, great relationships and great friends, and some that are aren’t so fantastic. It’s pretty fun. There are a lot of married couples in an orchestra. There are a lot of divorced couples in an orchestra. It’s fun like a soap opera.

RHM: What’s your personal definition of music?
SC: For me, it’s my life. It’s a huge part of my life. It takes over most of my major decisions. In the music industry, we schedule really far in advance. So right now we’re doing my 2011 to 2012 calendar so you know what city you’ll be in, who you’ll be working with on a certain day on 2011. It adds a little bit of stability, which is really good. It’s a challenge just to live the rest of your normal life. With all this extra stuff that goes on and at the end of the day, when you go on stage and actually play and to be with an audience that is so enthusiastic, to be with an orchestra and conductor that you really click with and work really well with, then the chemistry is there, that really makes everything just click, you know. It really all works out.

RHM: If you weren’t a musician, what would you be? What other interests aside from music do you have?
SC: I was at one point really interested in journalism, not just because I do some interviews, but I love to write and all that about me. But if I wasn’t actually a violinist I would hope that I would be somehow involved in the music industry, the promotion side of it, the recording company side of it.

RHM: Who is the biggest source of inspiration in your musical career?
SC: I would say probably my teacher, Miss (Dorothy) DeLay. She passed away several years ago. But she was an incredible teacher who taught like a whole list of really wonderful, wonderful musicians. Her and Isaac Stern probably. He really had a wonderful way of keeping an eye on the next generation of musicians, and was constantly calling and asking what you are working on, when are you going to Europe, and I want to hear you playing. You know, keeping an eye out. That’s pretty impressive, to see somebody of that stature and that important and huge, and he was certainly making that effort.

RHM: Do you have one violin or several?
SC: I travel with one but back home I’ve got a few. I got one that I bring out for photo sessions. I have one sometimes for outdoor concerts. When it’s raining or really hot and humid, it’s not good for the instrument. I got another one for that. [But I have] one main, one main instrument.

RHM: How’s your relationship with your violin? Some artists can be protective of their instruments.
SC: I don’t think I would go that far, but it is pretty special. For me, it’s my life, almost like an extension of your body. You spend a lot of time with it so you get to know it pretty well. They get quite temperamental with the different climates that we’re in. It’s very, very sensitive. Over the years, you need to learn how to make it work for you, realize if you’re in a tropical climate what it will and it cannot do this for you. And if you’re somewhere really high up like in Aspen, Colorado, you realize what amazing things it can do for you. What you want to do you know after the climate but you should just be calm and just learn.

RHM: What’s your main violin?
SC: It’s a Guarneri, del Gesu. It is about 300 years old. I’m pretty lucky to have it.

RHM: Some musicians sort of ascribe gender to their instruments, referring to it as he or she.
SC: I don’t know. I spend so much time with it so I should probably call it a he. Sound-wise it is a very, very masculine instrument. It’s very in a way dark, sort of colored violin. It’s got a really beautiful like caster panel, sort of black. I think it’s got a really good balance.

RHM: Does traveling influence your music?
SC: It does actually. Just being in a different culture, being in a different atmosphere, you can feel it. You do feel that when you’re in a different city, you know. You get the vibe from people and their ways. They kindle the way you work. When being in the hotel all the time, you make an effort to go out and try the local restaurants, and go out and walk around a bit and get the feel. I love doing that. Traveling by itself is not a walk in the park anymore. Traveling is a bit of a pain and especially when…I’m from the States, so coming to Asia is a big flight, and jet lag is no joke…I’m always taking catnaps. Backstage there’s always a sofa usually for like sleeping or like taking a quick nap before the show.

RHM: What are your favorite places?
SC: I love Italy as a country, the architecture and the culture. There’s so much to do and to see and to hear. Germany is amazing just for a musician—great conductors, amazing orchestras. As a musician, it’s a jewel. Obviously, in the States, it’s Philadelphia, a very special place for me, and I started my career in New York.

RHM: How much do you travel?
SC: I’m on the road basically all year long. I do about a hundred, a hundred twenty shows a year. That basically means I’m gone most of the time. My tours are normally all clumped together in big chunks. I never go away for just one day. This whole Asia thing [includes] Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong. It just goes on and on. It’s a certain lifestyle that you need to get used to, that you need to adjust the rest of your life for. With my life right now it totally works because first of all I enjoy doing this. Second, I don’t have my own family so it works. My mom came to see me in Korea. Sometimes I get to see family. And I got friends in most of the cities that I go to. I keep it fun.

RHM: Do you have any traveling tips?
SC: You know what, give up and just take as many bags as you need. For a while, I tried to abide by these expert tips and all these going-away stuff. After a while, you just give up and think that life becomes so much simpler if you just take what you need. Because when you’re on the road, so much of your life is just in your suitcase. And you need your stuff. You need your tons and tons of music, which is really heavy, but you also need your dresses, your shoes and your normal clothes and all your personal items. You need all these stuff. This is a discussion that so many artists have. We all have the same life, and some of us leave sometimes for months, sometimes longer, and how do you pack life in three little suitcases? What I do now is I send stuff home. When I’m finished with a concert and I don’t need this stack of music anymore, I send to my mom. After Japan, I didn’t need my coat anymore, my boots anymore, I sent stuff home.

RHM: What do you dream of doing?
SC: A vacation. Just a little bit of breathing time sometimes. Where I could just have a free day and like actually a free day. With my life right now I don’t know if I actually have a so-called free day. It gets jam-packed with things that my manager puts in without me knowing. At least it’s not complicated. You know what I love doing is when I finally go home like for Christmas, my little brother and I, we usually…because when you travel so much you can’t keep up with your TV shows. There’s no way, right? The weekly TV shows you try to follow like Prison Break, Lost or whatever. You go away for seven days and then like everybody’s dead. You don’t know what happened. And then your friends start telling me, and you don’t want to hear it.
Normally, when I’m home for like a day and then I need to leave again, I barely had enough time to repack. Usually we went out on Christmas and get everything on DVD. My brother and I would just literally like go through all the seasons in one sitting, all day, all night. We don’t even get up for meals. We’re pretty serious about it. I love doing that. I love doing that when you just basically catch up on life.

Light of Day

The second Singapore Sun Festival, set for 10 days, from Oct. 17 to 26, 2008, was deluge of sensory delights. Involving about 200 or so artists, musicians, chefs, writers and celebrities, it celebrated the arts and living well, set against the cosmopolitan feel of Singapore, particularly in the Marina Bay area and along the Singapore River. I came to Singapore during the latter part of the festival, missing opera star Kiri Te Kanawa, the Vienna Boys Choir, actor Geoffrey Rush, singers Sergio Mendez and Peter Cincotti, Chicago chef Charlie Trotter, violinist Sarah Chang and Australian-Filipino writer Merlinda Bobis. But I did get to taste the dishes of Australian chef Luke Mangan and contemplate the paintings of German-American abstract artist Sibylle Szaggars. I heard Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Esplanade, and was introduced to Canadian flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook and American singer-songwriter Spencer Day.
Cook and Day performed back-to-back one Saturday night at Timbre, the chic café near the Arts House, near the river and among colonial buildings restored to become art spaces. The statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, almost disappeared among the people, dancing and drinking, and in the darkness dappled with varicolored lights. Cook impressed with his dexterity, coaxing incredible sounds from the guitar and setting the air on fire, and Day coolly crooned, dripping with sincerity, against the backdrop of the glittering skyline along the Singapore River, a spectacle.
Fusing jazz, contemporary, folk and country music, Day sings in his velvety baritone on diverse subjects with refreshing wit, becoming a favorite performer at San Francsico’s Bay Area. He is also well-received and acclaimed when he performs in other areas of the United States and outside it. He has put out two albums, Introducing Spencer Day in 2004 and Movie of Your Life in 2005, and is working on a third, Vagabond.
The next day, Day was set against the skyline composed of malls and office buildings, his blond hair catching the most gossamer light of a gray Singapore day as we conversed at the club lounge of the Conrad Centennial Hotel. He was easy-going and was excited being in Singapore.
“It is really great. It is really clean. I haven’t seen really so much because we literally flew in yesterday, slept for a few hours, did a rehearsal and a sound check. We went to a hawker center. I have eaten a lot which has been great. That’s the main thing I have done so far,” he started.
Day has been performing a lot recently like at the Monterey Jazz Festival and at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Massachusetts. Now, at the Singapore Sun Festival, he appreciated performing in a smaller scale in a warm outdoor setting. He also got to watch and interact with other artists, and taste the gustatory offerings. He also got to be interviewed, sharing his views on his music and life:

RHM: Any influnces?
SD: I have a ton of different influences. I think it has been a challenge in the industry because I am not doing what I think a lot of people expect me to do. I had some challenges in my career because I think I am not as jazzy like Michael Buble, or I am not doing a big band thing but I am also not doing a rock thing. But I think ultimately, hopefully that would be a huge benefit, that I don’t fit into either of those categories. I also grew up listening to a lot of different sorts of good music—country or Western music. My favorite singers are Ella Fitzgerald and Chet Baker. I really think they both sing ballads so beautifully. I really consider myself a torch singer, a ballad singer. I don’t think there have been a lot of torch singers lately though, more of another time period. I want to try bring that spirit of another time but put it in a more modern context.

RHM: Does the younger generation like your music?
SD: Yeah. I have been really surprised. I try not to worry or think too much about who is going to like the music and just do what I love to do. That is always better than thinking if I am cool with this people or am I proper enough for older people. What I have been really happy about is that I have discovered that there is a very wide range of people who seem to listen or appreciate what I am doing. I have people who are in their 80s and some are 18-year-old. I am really pleased about that.

RHM: Do you get compared to Michael Buble?
SD: It really depends on where I play and in what context. Sometimes when I play more like a singer than a songwriter, I get compared to Jamie Cullum or Rufus Wainwright or Harry Connick, Jr a lot, or Michael Buble. I think that’s what just people do to have a reference point, when people are trying to describe something. Just like if I would describe Singapore. It is a mix of Hawaii or Hong Kong. I don’t even know how to describe it, but sometimes when people don’t know something they need a starting point to give them an idea, even if it does not end up something familiar to it. People do that a lot. I don’t mind because they are wonderful people to be compared to.

RHM: How does a song idea come to you?
SD: It starts with coffee. Nothing happens without coffee. So as long as the trees keep growing beans, I would have ideas hopefully. When I am stuck with an idea, what I do is listen to something, whether it’s bolero or Joni Mitchell, and listen to a song I really like and try to figure what it is that I enjoy about it, and start to play along with it. When I stop the CD, it kind of transforms to something else. Sometimes by the point that I am done, it does not sound like anything like what I have started to listen to. When I am stuck creatively, I’d like to go back to a catalog of songs that I really love and respect, and think of what it is that makes me feel good about it and try to come up with my own interpretation. Sometimes, if I am stuck creatively, to work up a challenge, I would write a love song but never use the word love in it or do something like that. Or maybe just write a song about a bottle of water and what makes you think about it. It is a great way to focus your self. I think there are a lot of artists who tend to be very scattered. I put a lot of discipline onto myself.

RHM: You write songs on diverse topics. Where do you get your ideas?
SD: One thing that I was told when I was younger that I really disobeyed is you don’t want to write too specifically because then people won’t be able to relate to the song. That’s why a lot of love songs tend to have a general or very broad appeal. But a lot of the songs that I really, like The Counting Crows’ “Me and Mr. Jones,” has very specific details. It was a huge hit because they are really creating an image of the place, the people. Even if they have not been in that world, they really understand and know where the person is taking them. And for that one, I want to write a song from the perspective of family whose son is leaving home and they are worried that he is not going to make it and he is going for the big city of California. They never hear from him again, which is not an experience I personally had.
The fun in writing songs is that you can write about Marie Antoinette or you can put yourself in many different worlds. It is almost like a mini acting performance. Within the four-minute song, I can create a world which I have not personally experience, but we can find that experience all within our selves, and I want to invite everyone else to come along.

RHM: Do you have any idiosyncrasies or rituals before creating a song?
SD: I meditate a lot. I think creating an atmosphere wherein you can be creative is really important. That’s why I live now in the woods. I don’t live in the city. Usually I can find it when it is really quite which I do better too. I need to be alone, too. If I need to do any work calls or something like that, I have to do it on a different day. If I am going to be creative, I have to wake in the morning knowing that I have nothing else to do left to do because you are using the left part of your brain. Anytime I start thinking that I should write this song to make money or something else, it kind of ruins the creative impulse. You really need to be open and free. Yeah, I guess my real ritual is turning off my phone.

RHM: You are a singer, a composer and an actor. Which of the three comes first?
SD: I would say songwriter-composer and secondly a singer. I love singing other people’s songs too. All composers and singers have an element of acting. It is not the main talent if I would say, but I have learned that no matter what you are doing it is acting. You still have to create a world around you and then invite people into it. I did not think about that before, but now I do believe that I am an actor. But really more of a songwriter

RHM: Do you have any favorite songs that you wrote?
SD: I love them all. They are like children. Even if you have one kid who’s in jail you would still love him the same. I am really proud of the song I did last night, called “Weeping Willow,” and some of the ones that are very melodically strong. I think those of the songs I most proud of. I think a lot of songwriters are saying the best song they have ever written they haven’t written it yet. It is yet to come. Maybe tonight, who knows.

RHM: Who do you want to work with?
SD: Wow! I love Joni Mitchell. She is wonderful. I would love to do an album with an orchestra like the Boston Pops or the New York Philharmonic. There are so many different projects I’d like to collaborate with I can’t even think any of them. There are so many people I respect. I am really lucky that finally I am starting to meet those people and be respected in those circles. I love Feist. I would love to sing something with Feist. I love her. She is fantastic. I can go on forever.

RHM: What do you do in your spare time?
SD: I love to garden. I live in Topanga Canyon, in Malibu North of LA (Los Angeles). I love working in the yard. I just moved in to a new property. Tons of work to be done which is for me is exciting because for me I could see a lot of ways to make it beautiful. There are deers and coyote and some stuff. I am really excited to go back to tons of work. I also love traveling which is fortunately what I do. I get paid to travel. I want to do it anyway. I am so happy to be in Asia. Traveling is one of my big loves. I used to teach swing dancing, so used to do jitterbug music.

RHM: Where did you last spend your vacation?
SD: Oh, that is a while ago. I went to visit my family in Arizona. They live up in the mountains which is really beautiful. So I guess that is my last vacation. New York is my favorite city in the world.

RHM: What other places have you been or want to go to?
SD: Well, I have been to Australia a few times. It was wonderful. I love Australia. I’ve been to Paris which is amazing. Rome, all over Italy. Brazil, a few times, and London. I would love to go back to Paris though. I was only there for three days. It was prettier than I could ever imagine. I did not think it would be that beautiful when I got there, but it was really something.

RHM: Are you a light packer or heavy packer?
SD: I used to be a light packer until I destroyed my very expensive travel bag because I was packing too much into it. Now, I have started transitioning to be better safe than sorry. When I travel I have an enormous bag so that I won’t miss anything. I bring more than what I need. I bring like the entire medicine cabinet. I bring my own pillow for the airline, earplugs. I don’t leave anything to chance now. But it is a little bit of a pain.

RHM: What albums by other artists are you listening to right now?
SD: I am really into Roy Orbison right now. I am kind of rediscovering him and Dusty Springfield. It is so great. The productions are wonderful in those albums. I am kind of going back to the music I have grown up with that I kind of took for granted because it was always there. [I am listening to an artist] from Pakistan. I am listening to him a lot too. It is very diverse, and I don’t know what would come of me after this. A very interesting combination.

RHM: What are you reading right now?
SD: I am finishing a book right now entitled Delirious New York, which is an architectural manifesto about New York by Rem Koolhaas. It is a theory about everything that is wonderful and horrible about New York, that it is pre-planned. Because of the way it was built on the grid, it created certain rules on how to build because you couldn’t build a really huge building. You only have this tiny area so all the buildings have gone up. It is just a study of how people deal with each other in the city, [being put] in close quarters. It is really an interesting psychological study. I am reading that and I am also reading Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke.

RHM: Some critics have called you the male counterpart of Nora Jones. How do you deal with this?
SD: I love that. I’ll take whatever I could get. You know when I was younger, I try to avoid getting compared to someone, but now it is such a huge honor to be in comparison with them. I think what we share in common is that her music is very organic and natural sounding as opposed to other tracks out there which are very studio and manipulated. I think that’s what I actually share with her. We are both crooners too. She is a torch singer too. She sings ballad and has a very breathy, beautiful voice. She plays the piano. I feel great about it. Being in her company is not a bad place to be.

RHM: Do you consider yourself a poet?
SD: Other people call me that. I don’t know. There are so many good poets out there as well as songwriters.

RHM: Did you write some poetry?
SD: Yeah, a little bit. I did write some poetry. I write long, free-flowing poetry. With songs, it is a little bit difficult with the nature of melody. It kind of limits what you can say poetically. It’s really a whole different thing. Lyric writing is similar to poetry, but I think the rules are a little stricter. I think you have a little more freedom when you write a poem because in songwriting the melody should always comes first and the lyrics come second. “Take on Me” is a great 1980s song, and I don’t know what they are talking about. The lyrics do not make any sense at all.

RHM: Do you have a favorite poet?
SD: Who do I like? I like Frank O’Hara, Anne Sexton. She is really great. I have to be in a little sad if I would be reading Sexton poetry. Elizabeth Bishop, she is really great. Pablo Neruda.

RHM: Do you look at their styles?
SD: I think sometime. also lyrically I get blocked out, and I just have to go back and look at the subjects they write about. Poetry is best at taking what seems to be a very simple moment and bringing something so profound out of it.

RHM: Do you have a philosophy you follow?
SD: I think one of my main goals through music is to try to bring all the religions and philosophies in the world and show them what they have in common. I have been studying a lot of Buddhism recently, but I think they all have the values of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, etc.

RHM: What do you want people to remember you for?
SD: That is a very good question. I think what I want people to remember me for, long after I have gone in the earth, I hope there is a little smile in their face. I think if I could leave people feeling something or thinking something, that is my main goal. I really want to encourage people to look at the world and human beings a little differently. Even if I could only do that with one person in an audience where after they go home and encourage them to view their lives in a more positive way. That is my goal. I think musically, to just leave them with something beautiful. It is a very simple goal.