THE Asean Music Festival 2019 was held in Haiphong, Vietnam on May 24 to 31, 2019, jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, the Vietnam Musicians’ Association, and the Haiphong Department of Culture and Sports. Artists from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam participated in the festival.
The Manila Camerata Artists, through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), represented the Philippines in the ASEAN Music Festival. The Philippines bagged the most number of awards, one gold medal and three silver medals. Its musical director and pianist, professor Josue Greg Zuniega, was recognized by the festival organizers for his outstanding performance, presenting him with two Excellent Performance Certificates.
The seven-member delegation of the Manila Camerata Artists (Prof. Josue Greg Zuniega, pianist, Amanda Nicole Pugeda, soprano, Isaac Ishmael Iglesias, tenor, John Paolo Anorico, cello, Mark Kenedy Rocas, flute, Christian John Mercader, guitar and Gerard Christopher Secillano, violin) performed an all-Filipino program, approximately 25 minutes for two consecutive evenings at the Haiphong City Opera House, and 45 minutes at the Do Son Beach Open Air Plaza in Haiphong, Vietnam.
The Manila Camerata Artists is a musical ensemble led by Prof. Josue Greg Zuniega. As a cultural ambassador, Prof. Zuniega has performed for the 70th anniversary of Philippines-Lebanon relations with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra and in events organized by the Philippine diplomatic posts in Berlin, Paris, Rome, Guangzhou, Hongkong and Abu Dhabi, respectively.
The performers of the Manila Camerata Artists are faculty, students or alumni of the St. Scholastica’s College School of Music, a Center of Excellence designated by the Commission for Higher Education. The group, which is composed of instrumentalists and singers, most of whom are prize winners of the National Music Competition for Young Artists, performs classical music and also aims to promote Filipino music to a wider audience and to the younger generation, in particular.
The ASEAN Music Festival aims to promote unity in diversity of the cultures of Asean Member States (AMS), showcase the priceless values of ASEAN music and provide opportunity for artists from the AMS to perform and exchange their musical knowledge.
The NCCA is a member of the Asean Committee on Culture and Information (COCI) Philippines. Asean-COCI is composed of the Ministries of Culture and Information of AMS.
As de facto Ministry of Culture of the Philippines, the NCCA joins its counterpart agencies in the region to promote the ASEAN identity and awareness through various cultural engagements that highlight a people-oriented and people-centered ASEAN.
For further queries on this event, please contact Ms. Rulet Salgado of the NCCA-International Affairs via telephone, 527-2206 or email, ncca_iao@yahoo.com
For questions on this press release please contact Mr. Rene S. Napeñas, Head of the NCCA Public Affairs and Information Section through numbers 527-2192 loc 625, 09285081057 or email your queries to ncca.paio@gmail.com.