Italian maestro Barbieri conducts European fare at CCP

RENOWNED Italian conductor and former music director and principal conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, maestro Ruggero Barbieri, returns to Manila to launch the 2009 performances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines with a concert entitled Glimpses of Europe.

To be staged on Jan. 16 at the Main Theater of the CCP (8 p.m.), the concert is presented in cooperation with the Czech Embassy on the occasion of the Czech Republic’s assumption of the presidency of the European Union.

The evening of European- themed musical fare opens with Sibelius’ Finlandia (which became the anthem of the independence movement of Finland) and ends with Dvorak’s popular New World Symphony.

Joining Barbieri and the PPO on stage is Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz who has the distinction of being the most internationally awarded Filipino concert pianist.

Filipino concertgoers will be happy to see the return to the CCP stage of maestro Barbieri whose international career embraces both the symphonic and operatic repertoires. He has conducted several well-known orchestras such as the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Klagenfurt Symphony Orchestra (Austria), the Paris Sinfonietta, the National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra (Radio Television Orchestra of Madrid), and the Pomeriggi Musicali Symphony Orchestra of Milan, among others.

From 1991 to 1995, Barbieri was assistant conductor for maestro Aldo Ceccato with the National Orchestra and Chorus of Spain, as well as for maestros Donato Renzetti and Thomas Bricetti. He was the founder of the Orchestra Citta di Bergamo and was principal conductor of the Orchestra Stabile di Bergamo until 1991.

In 1997, Barbieri made his Asian debut as opera conductor with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the CCP, followed by Don Giovanni (1999) and Il Trovatore in Singapore (2001).

As PPO music director, he toured the group through Europe in 2001 performing in Austria, the Czech Republic and Spain. The orchestra also took part in the Asia Orchestras Festival Week 2002 in Tokyo, Japan.

Barbieri’s enthusiasm for coaching young singers brought him to Canada’s Opera Nuova in Edmonton in 2004, where he conducted Cosi Fan Tutte, Falstaff and Hansel und Gretel. In 2007, Barbieri founded and became the artistic director of the First International Singing Competition in Citta di Sarnico with noted soprano Mara Zampieri, as well as the First International Chamber Music Festival in Bergamo Province. At present, Barbieri is a board member of Canada’s The Opera Project.

For the Jan. 16 concert, Barbieri will conduct Sibelius’ Finlandia, Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 1 in E flat major with Cruz as soloist, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1 in D major, and Dvorak’s Symphony no. 9 in E minor from The New World (op. 95).

Cruz was a prizewinner in the Jose Iturbi (Valencia), the Pilar Bayona (Zaragoza), the Concurs Internacional Maria Canals (Barcelona), and the Jaen International Piano Competitions in Spain, the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition in New York, the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Milan, and the International Competition for Piano and Orchestra in Sicily. He has also won first prize in the Bergen Philharmonic Solo Competition, the Haddonfield Symphony Solo Competition, the Queens Symphony Soloists Competition, the New York State Music Teachers Association, and the Five Towns, Great Neck, and Port Washington Piano Competitions.

He has performed as soloist with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the Manhattan Philharmonic, the Queens Symphony, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Maracaibo Symphony, the Orquesta Municipal de Valencia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the State of Oradea, the Uni-Orchester Säarbrucken, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife, the Orquesta Filharmonica de Gran Canaria, the National Symphony Orchestra of Malaysia, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, and numerously with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Cruz has also amassed hundreds of solo recitals and chamber music collaborations, and constantly conducts master classes all over the world.

A former child prodigy, Cruz began his piano studies at the age of three with his mother, Lourdes Villanueva-Cruz. At age six, he was invited to give a command performance at the Malacañan Palace and at age 10, he made his orchestral debut with the Philippine Youth Orchestra after winning first prize in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists. The Young Artists Foundation of the Philippines granted him a scholarship for piano studies abroad, first at the Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, England, and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York where he was a pupil of the eminent piano pedagogue Solomon Mikowsky.

At the Manhattan School of Music, Cruz was a winner of both the Preparatory and College Divisions Concerto Competitions and a recipient of the Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, the Elva Van Gelder, and the Anne-Marie McDermott Memorial Scholarships. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Piano Performance, and was awarded the Harold Bauer award, the most coveted given to a pianist with the highest honors at the Manhattan School of Music.

His participation in music festivals in New York, Germany, Spain, and Malaysia, has given Cruz critical acclaim. Audiences describe his solo recitals as “sublime,” “colorful,” and “fantastic,” and his performance of Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto was praised as “...technically impeccable.”

In 1996, President Fidel V. Ramos conferred on Cruz The Outstanding Young Men award for his contribution to the arts.

As a mentor, Cruz has produced prizewinning students, while as an artistic director and concert producer, he is one of the pioneers for the renaissance of classical music awareness in the Philippines. He is the founder and artistic director of Opusfest 2006: The 1st International Piano Festival Philippines, Opusfest 2008: The International Piano & Chamber Music Festival Philippines, the Ultimate Pianist Competition, and Filfest—a season of concerts held at the Insular Theater, the newly established cultural center in the south of Metro Manila.

Ticket prices: P1,000/800/500/P350/200, with discounts available to students, senior citizens and groups. For inquiries and subscriptions, call the CCP Marketing Department (832-1125 local 1806) or the CCP Box Office (832-3704) or Ticketworld at National Book Store (891-9999) or visit the CCP Web site: www.culturalcenter.gov.ph

Photos of outstanding personalities of Czech Music will be on exhibit at the CCP Main Theater Lobby from Jan. 13 to 16.