Here's an article written by Rina Jimenez-David of the Philippine Daily InquirerONE of the biggest sensations of the international music scene is Gustavo Dudamel, a Venezuela-born conductor whose most recent achievement is being named the conductor and musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The young, muscular, long-haired Dudamel has been the subject of a major publicity campaign, centered on his shock of long, curly hair, would you believe?
But Dudamel’s life story would, to my mind, make for an even more compelling angle. The son of musicians, Dudamel is a product of El Sistema, a pioneering music education program which to date has trained 250,000 Venezuelan children—about 90 percent of them from poor backgrounds—in classical music. El Sistema now has 30 symphony orchestras all over the country, and has produced a number of internationally-renowned musicians, the most famous of whom is Dudamel.
Founded in 1975 and sustained through the years by government subsidies, El Sistema is a program of Social Action for Music, founded by economist and amateur musician Jose Antonio Abreu, who was powered by his belief that “an orchestra represents the ideal society, and the sooner a child is nurtured in that environment the better for all.”
In a hurried conversation with Fr. Marlowe Rosales, OFM, musical director and conductor of the Christ the King College Jose Gomez Orchestra, after its stirring performance last Friday, I happened to mention El Sistema to the friar-musician. His eyes brightened upon hearing El Sistema mentioned, saying that indeed that has been his dream: “to develop a similar system here, and create other orchestras for young people to develop their talent and nurture a love for music.”
And indeed, as I sat through the program—and swayed, clapped my hands, thrilled and cheered to the young people’s and their energetic conductor’s performance—I couldn’t help thinking about El Sistema. Was it possible, I wondered, that a future Gustavo Dudamel was among the young people onstage? That a teenager toiling in Calbayog City in Samar was even now getting ready to conquer the world of music?
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THE CHRIST the King College Jose Gomez Orchestra was organized two years ago upon the initiative of the local hierarchy. With the help of the Gomez Family and US-based Calbayog residents, enough money was raised to buy the members’ instruments.
The orchestra is named after both the college (an educational institution that is over a hundred years old) now run by the Franciscan order and a local maestro, Jose Gomez, known as the “Music Man of Samar” for both his leadership of a local orchestra before the war and his compositions, many of them paying homage to his home province and city.
“Friends warned us that it would take at least three years before we could form a creditable youth orchestra,” recalled Fr. Tony Rosales, OFM. “But Fr. Marlowe challenged the students and bravely told us that within five months we would hold our first concert.”
Fr. Marlowe (no relation to Fr. Tony or to Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales) is a trained musician, holding a degree in conducting and music education from the UST Conservatory of Music. Despite the support given to outfit the orchestra, CKC-Jose Gomez Orchestra still struggles with funding for the training of its members as well as for scholarships for the more gifted students. Friday’s concert at the Paco Catholic School, meant to raise funds for Pondo ng Pinoy, was but one of many performances around Manila meant to raise awareness of the orchestra, raise funds for its development, and inspire other young people to take up classical music.
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TO BE honest, the CKC-Jose Gomez Orchestra still has quite a few rough edges to smoothen. But what it lacks in symmetry and solidity of sound it more than makes up for with energy and verve. It is difficult to fault the young people for their enthusiasm, especially given the passion with which Fr. Marlowe imbues his conducting, coaxing and moderating his young orchestra’s avid pursuit of the music.
Their repertoire is marked by the easy, casual mix of classical pieces by Beethoven, Bach and Mozart, pop and Broadway standards, rock anthems by Queen and Abba, and even Samareño folk songs written by Gomez, which have since gained heritage status.
At one point, I whispered naughtily to my seat-mate that pretty soon we would hear the orchestra break out into the current pop hit “Nobody, Nobody But You.” Well, what do you know, about two numbers after, what would we hear but the orchestra filling the auditorium with the strains of this hit song popularized by a Korean girl band? Everyone perked up as the singers danced and mimed the pop group’s trademark moves, and cheered when the members alternately stood and twirled without breaking rhythm. I think the moment summed up the evening and all the passion thrown into creating the orchestra: that music is the language of the heart and of the soul, and a happy heart and contented soul make for beautiful music.
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I KNOW now what Cardinal Rosales, who hastily arranged the concert with the archdiocese’s parochial schools association, must have felt when he first heard the CKC-Jose Gomez Orchestra on a visit to Calbayog. Truly, even in the remotest corners of this archipelago, we can find jewels of artistic merit and aspiration, and folk, young and old, dedicated to the pursuit of beauty.
I wish the orchestra a bright future. One of its members, in his closing remarks, articulated a wish for additional music trainers, admitting that Fr. Marlowe, despite his energy, can hardly cope with the needs of the orchestra for personalized training. I also wish for the young people to continue enjoying the gifts of the artistic life: discipline, dedication, creativity, focus and fulfillment.
As in the previous years, Gelera Street was blocked off for the fruit vendors. They always rake it in every year, thanks to that belief of being assured of blessings if one is able to collect 12 fruits by the new year.
Some police officers stationed in some areas of the city
Now this is the most welcome sight for me - torotot instead of paputok to meet the New Year.
