NEWS, FEATURES & EVENTS

krzysztof

Krzysztof Kaczka Holds Flute Masterclass


March 11 was the Flute Masterclass of Polish Flutist Krzysztof Maciej Kaczka. He worked with six students who played their prepared individual pieces in front a full house audience at the Mini Hall in UP College of Music. Krzysztof also performed a world premiere of “Monologue” written and dedicated to him by composer Xing Yu.

Photos by: Jecman Bautista
Text by: Rodney Ambat

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Dr. Christopher Hughes Holds Workshop with UP Symphonic Band


Last March 7, the Winds and Percussion Department of UP College of Music held a Band Workshop of Dr. Christopher Hughes from Ithaca College with The UP Symphonic Band. He worked on the First and Second Military Suite of Gustav Holst with UPSB performing very well to the delight and satisfaction of Dr. Hughes.

Photo / Text by: Rodney Ambat

UBCSIGNALES

UP-UBC Laptop Orchestra Culminates in “SIGNAL:ES” Concert


The UP-UBC Laptop Orchestra during the finale of the concert. From left (3rd from top row) are the movers of the project, Dr. Maria Christine Muyco and Prof. Angel Baguilat; 2nd row from the top includes David Drucker and Dr. Keith Hamel; missing in the photo is Dr. Bob Pritchard, also an important force in the collaboration. Fifth from that row is Professor Emeritus Josefino Toledo of the COmposition and Theory Department. The top row are the leading executive committee members of the Composers of New Music (CONEMUS) Hans Gabriel, 2nd from left; and Gester Sibal, seen 4th from left side. Below Hans is Joseph Gerona, the CONEMUS documenter. The rest are students from UP and UBC.

Photo: Garry Sibal
Text: Franz Mallari

bob&keith

Learning to Make Sense of Sensors and Multi-Media Musicking


A successful masterclass was held at the Mini-hall University of the Philippines-College of Music (CMu) on February 22, 2024, by University of British Columbia (UBC) Music Technology professors They discussed their recent researches, explorations, and resulting electronic compositions primarily featuring non-invasive motion-reactive music in hardware and software applications. Former CMu dean Dr. LaVerne dela Peña welcomed Dr. Keith Hamel and Dr. Robert “Bob” Pritchard, recalling their 2 nd visit after the pre-pandemic international linkage with the UP College of Music. Hardware music specialists Bob talked about his experiments in using Sleeve Hand Responsive User Garment (SHRUG) and presenting music compositions using these technologies. On the other hand, music programmer Keith talked about his game-like piano work with technology-heavy content. He introduced the the “Notability” freeware notation software that he developed through the years and talked about its open source possibilities. Students and members of the UP community engaged with the professors, discussing their compositions and the latest advancements in music technology at both UBC and UP.

The Masterclass was opened to the public. Not only was it attended by students from the University of the Philippines (UP) and guests from the University of British Columbia but also professors from the Computer Science departments such as Carlo and Leroy Florendo; as well as film scorer and sound artist Teresa Barrozo.

The collaboration between UBC and UP CMu aims to introduce new music-making technologies through Max/MSP and the Kinect Controlled Artistic Sensing System (KiCASS), and this was showcased through the event "Signal:es: Sounding Bodies in Motion" at the Black Box of Gimenez Gallery Hall, UP Diliman on February 29th at 7 pm.

emergence

Emergence: A Freshmen Mini Concert


The UP Tiklado presented the Keyboard Department freshmen batch 2023 in their debut recital "Emergence: A Freshmen Mini Concert," on March 1, 2023 at the Minihall.

omori

Kana Omori Holds Percussion Masterclass


Last February 19, 2024, the University of the Philippines College of Music Winds and Percussion Department organized an exclusive Percussion Masterclass in collaboration with the Percussive Art Society (PAS) Philippines chapter. The guest artist Kana Omori is an international marimbist, percussionist, and composer from Japan.

In the first half of the masterclass, Kana Omori played her marimba arrangements of Libertango by Astor Piazolla, Flight of the Bumble Bee from Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and an old Japanese folk song called Sakura. In these arrangements, Kana Omori demonstrated the 6-mallet technique, and the use of multi-percussion instruments also while playing the different voices on the marimba.

With sufficient time in the latter part of the masterclass, three percussion students played solo pieces, and was coached by Kana Omori. Different musical approaches and techniques were shown to the students, which is a big help to improve their playing.

Written by:
Kevin Castelo

CNY

Chinese New Year Celebration at the UP College of Music


The UP College of Music belatedly celebrated Chinese New Year on Tuesday, Februrary 20, 2024 at the Maceda Garden. Performance classes on the Chinese sizhu and Korean samul nori, solo performances on the dulcimer yang qin by Chinese music instructor Mr. Vicente Ongsiako, and on the zither guzheng by piano student Gabriel Federico, along with the newly formed UP-based Chinese music ensemble Kim Hwa led the festivities. Our dance students also joined the fun, leading a noise-filled dragon dance around the Abelardo Hall with Dean Patricia Silvestre, College Secretary Dr. Jocelyn Guadalupe, Musicology Department chair Dr. Arwin Tan, and many members of the CMu community. Snaking through the halls, the participants collected stuffed ampao envelopes from generous CMu offices, enlivening the college with cacophonous blessings and optimism for another prosperous lunar year.

federizon

UP CMu Alumnus Ruben Federizon Holds Homecoming Lecture


On February 16, 2024, a successful homecoming lecture was held by one of the college’s distinguished alumni, Mr Ruben Federizon. His compositions and arrangements have been promoting Filipino music in festivals and competitions worldwide.

ozeke

Exploring Asian and Western musical connections between Turkish and Philippine music education with Sezen Özeke


From November 20 until December 1, 2023, the UP Center for Ethnomusicology (UPCE) (through University Research Associate II David Dino Guadalupe) and the Music Education Department of the UP College of Music (CMu) (through chairperson Asst. Prof. Anna Patricia Carranza) hosted Dr. Sezen Özeke, a music education professor from Bursa Uludağ University, Türkiye and a board member of the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS). Dr. Özeke’s visit was sponsored by the World Expert Lecture Series (WELS) program of the UP Office for International Linkages (OIL), which supports...

ONLINE EVENTS

"Remebrances"

In honor and in memory of all those who have passed especially during this pandemic, the UP Symphony Orchestra and the UP Madrigal Singers come together on November 26, 2021 to perform the Philippine premiere of the monumental Camille Saint-Saëns’ Messe de Requiem, Op. 54. They...

Friday November 26, 2021 7pm
available until December 5, 2021

KATHANG LIKAS

This October, the UP Symphony Orchestra reaches out to the young and young at heart with a 45-minute animated production, “Kathang Likas.”

Online Premiere:
7 PM October 29, 2021

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