The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) has a new music director in the person of Maestro Olivier Ochanine.
Maestro Ochanine began his musical studies in Paris where he was born. Having studied the flute in Germany and the US, and then the contrabass in the United States as well while pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree for flute performance at the University of Kentucky (UK).
While at UK, Ochanine studied flute with Gordon Cole (UK) and bass with Matthew Zory (Cincinnati Symphony), and frequently performed on flute and double bass with the award-winning UK Wind Ensemble under Richard Clary. He studied conducting with Dr. Robert Baldwin (director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Utah). He also served as auxilliary bassist with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1998, Ochanine was chosen to perform as bassist for the celebrated American Spiritual Ensemble’s Gershwin Tour of Spain.
In 2001, Ochanine began his masteral studies in Orchestral Conducting at USC’s Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, where he gained conducting experience while working with the USC Symphony, Chamber and Concert Orchestras. He was chosen as the recipient of the Conducting Department Award in 2003.
While at USC, Ochanine studied conducting under John Barnett (former associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Larry Livingston (former dean of the Thornton School). He has also studied under John Farrer (Bakersfield Symphony), Donald Thulean (Spokane Symphony), and Daniel Lewis (former conducting teacher at USC) in conjunction with the California Conducting Institute, where he worked with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra. More recently, he participated in a masterclass with Gustav Meier (Peabody Conservatory) and Mark Gibson (CCM), at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
Ochanine conducted the PPO with Enrique Barcelo, PPO principal flutist, featuring the work of Filipino composer Antonino Buenaventura’s “By the Hillside.”
This summer, Ochanine was selected from a large pool of applicants to study with Gustav Meier and Marin Alsop (Baltimore Symphony) and perform at the 2009 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and Conductors Guild Workshop in Santa Cruz, California. He will also participate in the Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop held each year in Portland, Oregon (with Kenneth Woods, David Hoose, and Christopher Zimmerman presiding). This year, Ochanine was chosen by the legendary Jorma Panula as one of his students in the 2009 Masterclass in Milan, Italy, with the I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra. Panula has been a primary teacher of conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Osmo Vänskä.
Until recently, Ochanine has resided in Los Angeles where he has been an avid music educator and freelance conductor. Ochanine is working towards his Doctorate Degree in Orchestral Conducting under Mark Gibson at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Currently, he lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. Maestro Ochanine will start his new post as the music director of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in early 2010.
Pacquiao supports Abot Tanaw
Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao has been known to unite Filipinos. In his fight tomorrow against Miguel Cotto, he is once again bringing Filipinos here and abroad together. This is exactly why he has decided to support and become a member of Abot Tanaw, a video conferencing service facility aimed at bridging the literal gaps between Filipino families free of charge, both here in the country or abroad.
Abot Tanaw is a facility that offers voice and video calling services to Filipinos abroad, in the provinces and their families.
Just like Pacquiao, Abot Tanaw also seeks to unite Filipinos through its free video conferencing services for OFWs, local migrants and their families.
“We Filipinos are very close to our families and loved ones. We always think about them when we are far from them. So when we miss them, we always look for a way to talk to each other more often. Kailangan natin silang makita kahit sandali,” Manny said.
Manny is happy that Abot Tanaw is now available to Filipinos saying he hopes “that more will actually take advantage of the opportunity being given to them especially because it is free.”
The boxing ring icon has been a mainstay in various international “most influential persons” lists. Pacquiao is now Abot Tanaw’s standard bearer in providing free and available communications for Pinoys in Metro Manila, the provinces as well as abroad.
“Our international pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao has always been a great role model for the country. He has greatly contributed to uniting the Filipinos and that is what Abot Tanaw is all about. And we are really glad that he has shown great interest in our concept and efforts of putting a high regard for our modern-day heroes, for in effect he is a hero to our nation’s pride,” says Abot Tanaw chief executive Kim Go.
Though Abot Tanaw is pretty new since its soft launch last June, it has been in the forefront of providing free telecommunications and video-conferencing services to Pinoys here with their families overseas. Just recently, it started offering its services to migrants. So, Manila-based workers can also access Abot Tanaw’s services to get in touch with their relatives and families in the provinces.
Abot Tanaw’s system utilizes Web-based technologies to provide free communication access for families, without the need for expensive mobile and Internet subscriptions and investments in hardware. The service provides seamless video conferencing and Web-enabled phone transmission powered by PLDT for quality connection. Unlike voice and video applications over the Web, Abot Tanaw utilizes a highly-advanced system with clear videos and crisp audio.
“We at Abot Tanaw want to provide a service platform of communication to cater to the needs of our OFWs and local migrant workers to connect with their loved ones in support of our advocacy to serve them,” says Go. “We’ve equipped our business with advanced technology to bridge this gap and we’ve offered our services for free.”
Following a series of launch events, operational Abot Tanaw service hubs are located at SM North Edsa, SM Mall of Asia, SM Cebu, SM Pampanga and SM Davao and the Naia Terminal I OFW Lounge.
Apart from Asia and Europe, local municipalities are also being eyed as the sites of more Abot Tanaw service hubs.
Celebrate Christmas at LRI Design Plaza
There is something to look forward to this holiday season as LRI Design Plaza celebrates the yuletide with a timely event called “Celebrate Christmas.”
“Share,” as it is aptly called, is a mini-outreach program which is produced out of cohesive efforts of all the furniture/furnishings showrooms and art galleries in LRI Design Plaza and intended for the victims of the devastating typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. Showrooms/galleries, led by Ito Kish (Kish), Milo Naval (O.M.O. Furniture & Accessories), and Pinky Peralta (The Room Upstairs), committed to donate an outstanding piece/item which will be sold at an unimaginable low price during the event’s opening night on Nov. 19 at the LRI Pavilion, LRI Design Plaza, 210 Nicanor Garcia St. (Reposo), Bel-Air II, Makati City. Check out the items. A purchase will definitely help someone in need while satisfying your taste for distinctive home décor or accessories.
The event will equally highlight the presentation of the showrooms’ latest design/product collections for the season. Everyone—homeowner, architect, designer and anyone who has a particular home need—is invited to visit all the shops in LRI Design Plaza and delight on a wide array of product collections ranging from indigenous inspirations, ethnic and eclectic, western and eastern, classic to modern, work-of-art and must-have pieces. Thus, LRI Design Plaza opens its doors to the public for five consecutive Sundays—Nov. 22, 29 and Dec. 6, 13 and 20, from 12 noon until 6 p.m.—to give you more time for shopping.
LRI Design Plaza—hottest hub for home furniture and accessories, furnishings, art pieces, rare collectibles and interior design trimmings in Makati City—boasts of its over 30 showrooms/galleries and welcomes Triboa Bay Living as the latest addition to its roster of world-class shops. Five of them—Kish, Haute Design, On My Own (OMO) Furniture and Accessories, Komodo Teak Furniture and Living Space Home Furnishing—expanded their respective showrooms to accommodate more product lines.
With an eye for the singular, home store Kish offers an array of interesting home décors that were personally chosen and collected by ace designer and owner Ito Kish, who has been known for his passion for fusing chic designs, function, technology, even culture in one ensemble.
Lynette Ngo of Haute Design, for her part, boasts of lifestyle, functional, comfortable and artistic furniture that were lifted from indigenous or contemporary materials like resins-made corrals, wooden coat wrack, and miniature wrought iron trees with candle holders, which accentuate walls and corners.
OMO (On My Own) Furniture and Accessories’ Milo Naval, on the other hand, manufactures a must-see collection of contemporary furniture as well as modern accessories, which have been exported to Europe, United States, Australia, South America, Asia and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Triboa Bay Living showcases hand-crafted chairs, tables, cabinets, and other furniture, including lamps that are usually made from traditional woodwork in classical shapes that yields to the “caress of the sunlight and wind.”
Out of passion for teakwood classic design furniture, Louie and Kay Mendez established Komodo Teak Furniture as the biggest teak furniture store in the country with over 250 different designs on teakwood and other Indonesian exotic wood flooring, decking, doors and wall panels.
Barely months-old, Living Space Home Furnishing displays timeless pieces of modern furniture such as decoratively functional dining and lounge chairs, sofas, tables, clocks, lights as well as accessories, which have been gaining popularity because of their high quality.
Aside from home needs, indulge in other products and services offered by other establishments in LRI as they also accommodate people with senses for fine dining, luxurious spa and massage, professional dancing; interests for design, photo studios, as well as, eyes for exceptional art pieces.
Call 895-1772 or 7949 or visit www.lridesignplaza.com or e-mail lri_bp@yahoo.com for inquiries.
Gawad Dangal for CCP’s Literary Arts Division
The Literary Arts Division of the Cultural Center of the Philippines received the Gawad Dangal ng Wikang Filipino in ceremonies recently held at the Century Park Hotel in Malate, Manila. The award was bestowed by the Commission of the Filipino Language in celebration of the Month of Language.
Headed by Herminio Beltran Jr., the CCP Literary Arts Division was cited for its vigorous development of Filipino literature such as establishing a Coordinating Center for Literature of the CCP, publishing literary works such as ANI and other books, and conducting literary studies. Likewise, the division was acknowledged for promoting Filipino language and culture through competitions in the writing of poetry, short stories, drama and libretto in Filipino, creative writing (Likhang Paslit), literary performance and writing competitions for children (Bata-Batute), poetry reading (Parnasong Pilipino and Tanghal-Tula), creative expression (Batang Sining), storytelling using children’s books (Boses Bata). The division aims to democratize writing as a means of creative expression, which focuses not only on writing, but especially, in performance rooted in native tradition, such as debates in verse like the balagtasan (Tagalog), crissotan (Kapampangan) and bukanegan (Ilokano), recitation of poetry such as the siday and ismayling (Waray), duplo (Tagalog), arikenken and dallot (Ilokano), and binalaybay (Hiligaynon, Cebuano), epics in pre-Hispanic languages, the coronation poems, as well as the song lyrics or narrative.
The Commission on the Filipino Language is the official regulating body of the Filipino language and the official government institution tasked with the development, preservation, and promotion of the various Philippine languages. It was established as provided for in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.
Travel show focuses on Philippines
A full-blooded Korean who knows how to speak fluent Tagalog and a self-confessed foodie and viajera plus a couple of funny-looking, food-loving and very lovable aliens are the hosts of the newest, food and travel show on GMA.
Grace Lee embarks on a discovery tour of the islands through various culinary feasts and exciting adventures. Each trip becomes even more colorful and fun as she is joined by Eka Chos and Ifo-fot, two adventure-seeking aliens (played by real-life buddies Maey and Betong) who are in search for intelligent life—and good food—in the universe.
Their weekly adventures began last Sunday as they traveled to Bukidnon considered to be the “food basket” of Mindanao. There they had a grand and rollicking time learning the cowboy way from Bukidnon’s real cowboys. The trio also visited a coffee plantation run by monks and took a dip in the cold water of a river inside a cave. Get to know our planet through food and travel in Eateria on GMA every Sunday morning.
‘Firepower: Pacquiao vs. Cotto’ at SM Cinemas
There will be a lot of firepower tomorrow with the much-anticipated Pacquiao vs. Cotto bout.
Two of boxing’s biggest names —Manny Pacquiao, the no. 1 pound-for-pound champion and Fighter of the Year, and Miguel Cotto, Puerto Rico’s pride and three-time world champion—will meet at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in what could well be the Fight of the Year.
SM Cinema proudly presents Firepower: Pacquiao vs Cotto live from Las Vegas at all SM Cinemas nationwide.
Millions of Filipinos can enjoy this mega fight and cheer for our champ in the country’s biggest and number one cinema chain. Enjoy this thrilling event live in gigantic movie screens that will make you feel you’re just by the ringside.
It’s a battle, after all, of two of the world’s best boxers. Pacquiao comes into the fight with six world titles in six different weight divisions under his belt. From humble beginnings at 112 lbs, he has worked his way up to the 140 lb division. Will Pacman be able to continue his success in what is considered by trainer and coach Freddie Roach as his “toughest fight yet”? Will he continue his winning streak after celebrated victories over Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar de la Hoya, and the most recent Ricky Hatton?
Miguel Cotto doesn’t come easy. The Puerto Rican is a three-time world champion and holds a 34-1-0 record with impressive victories over Sugar Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Joshua Clottey, Paulie Malignaggi, and Demarcus Corley. With both fighters expected to bring their A List Game to the ring, this fight promises to be a truly exciting battle.
SM Cinema even adds more firepower to your viewing experience with exciting promos that will give you more reasons to watch this historic battle at SM Cinema. Every purchase of one Firepower: Pacquiao vs Cotto ticket entitles one to a raffle coupon and a chance to win one out of 100 Accel Team Pacquiao sports jacket or one of 10 Victorinox Swiss Army Watches. This promo is ongoing until Nov. 14 and the grand draw will be held on Nov. 27.
With so many prizes to be given away, SM Cinema brings lots of fun and excitement to the biggest event of the year. Be sure to watch the country’s sports hero go for glory in the country’s number one theater chain, SM Cinema tomorrow.
