BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia is once again inviting the public to watch the free concert of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the premiere national orchestra and resident company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) grounds on Friday, February 1, starting 6 p.m.
It will be an open-air concert and is open to the public on a first-come, first served basis, the mayor said.
The PPO, with an 80-man ensemble, recently celebrated its 45th anniversary, makes Bacolod as one of its stops for its 36th concert season under Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura and Associate Conductor Herminigildo Ranera.
Prior to the BCGC concert, the PPO will also stage a concert at the SMX Convention Center on Thursday, January 31, at 6 p.m., which is “by invitation only.”
The Bacolod concert series forms part of the CCP outreach program under the CCP Office of the President, which started in 2018.
“We begin our outreach program for 2019 by going to the City of Smiles, Bacolod City. The smiles, in this case, also represent our happiness in bringing world-class orchestral music closer to the everyday man, the man on the street, the people from all walks of life. This is the primary objective of the tours,” CCP president Arsenio Lizaso said.
The PPO concert at the BCGC will also kick off the five-day Bacolaodiat Festival, now on its 14th year, and was initiated by Leonardia in 2006 during his second term as mayor.
The PPO concert will follow right after the ceremonial lighting of the BCGC to officially open the Bacolaodiat Festival.
After the concert, the Bacolaodiat fest will showcase a grand fireworks display, dubbed “Symphony of Lights and Sparks” at 9:00 p.m., also at the BCGC.
The BCGC will be the main festival site of the Bacolaodiat. Most of the activities will be held from February 1 to 4.
On the day of the Chinese New Year on February 5, there will be no more Bacolaodiat events at the BCGC. The festival will be capped with repeat performances of the Top 3 winners of Lantern Dance Competition at SM City Bacolod.
Culture
Leonardia, who initiated the PPO concert in Bacolod, said the city has to grow in all aspects, including culture.
Councilor Em Ang, project manager of the concert, said they started meeting with CCP president Arsenio Lizaso and other CCP officials since last year, to make sure that the Bacolod concert is included in the 2019 concert calendar of the PPO.
Ang said the two-night concert is part of the PPO’s outreach program which aims to “promote music appreciation in underserved communities in the different regions in the country.”
“It will boost our efforts to revive our people’s interest in the performing arts,” Ang stressed. (PR)