OF COURSE, we got lost. My family and I finally took in SM Seaside City and were so overwhelmed by the massiveness of the building’s façade and the grandness of its interiors.
So, we had to ask for directions from every uniformed employee along the way to find the Centerstage.
That’s where international pianist Dr. Ingrid Sala-Santamaria graced and played at the grand launching concert of the Classic Youth Orchestra (CYO).
The musical offerings regaled audiences of all ages. We were spellbound by Santamaria’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 by Edvard Grieg.
The Little Fiddlers, seven children aged 7-9, captivated many a mother with their “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
When it came to showing skill at instruments, CYO’s musicians showed their mastery with composer Leroy Anderson’s “The Syncopated Clock,” “Fiddle Faddle,” and “The Waltzing Cat.”
I enjoyed immensely “The Syncopated Clock” about a clock that worked all night but went “tock, tick, tock” instead of the usual “tick, tock, tick.”
I’m no cat lover; never was. But “Waltzing Cat” and the violin creating feline sounds of cats at play, including the meowing, just made me enjoy these furry animals’ various antics.
But the leitmotif of all Superman movies sent us flying with the CYO’s performance of the “Superman Theme.”
The overture on Philippine folk songs touched the nationalist in us to the hilt. Nothing touched my heart such as the classics “Sarong Banggi,” “Dahil sa Iyo,” “Lovely Bloom of the Sampaguita” and “Lawiswis Kawayan.”
And just when I felt my day was full, businessman Kelie Go Ko sent us transfixed by the power and beauty of his rich baritone singing “Tonight” from the Broadway’s “West Side Story” and the challenging “Granada.”
Finale numbers came from the Cebu Normal University Chorale with their beautiful “Light of a Million Mornings” and “One Day More” from Les Miserables.
About three decades ago, people used to say Cebu City was booming “but where is its soul?” The commentary lamented that the city’s cultural development sadly did not match its infrastructure development.
In paying tribute yesterday to CYO owner Reynaldo Abellana, a violin/viola instructor and CYO conductor, Santamaria recalled how he and struggling musicians kept music alive all these years.
Faithful to their art, these musicians worked hard playing at festivals, cultural events and cruise ships. Abellana himself started his journey at the Salvador and Pilar Sala Foundation where, as a scholar, he was nurtured by Santamaria.
In nine years of playing in cruise ships and in over 200 cities, he saved his earnings to open his music school, the Classic Orchestra Music Studio.
His Cebu-based CYO with seventy musicians aged 7-18 has since 2011 made thirteen performances in different parts of Cebu and Bohol. Some individual members have performed in Bangkok, Japan, the Czech Republic, and soon, in Cambodia.
Saying that cultural development in Cebu has grown full circle, Santamaria proudly spoke of her hundred musical children and hundreds of musical grandchildren. “They have actualized themselves and have made their Creator proud and happy.”
Indeed, “Cebu’s cultural heritage is now assured.”
(lelani.echaves@gmail.com)