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News Story
Europe-based Filipino Classical Artists to Hold Concert in Amsterdam, 25 June
Lovers of music in the Netherlands can look forward to an evening of European, Broadway and Filipino classical songs
when soprano Rica de Lima Nepomuceno performs with virtuoso pianists Aries Caces and Irma Reyes Galias in a concert
recital at the Oud-Katholieke Kerk in Amsterdam on Saturday, 25 June from 1900 to 2100 h
Ms. Nepomuceno and Ms. Galias are not new to making beautiful music together. They earlier combined talents with
baritone Nu Driz, last 19 December 2004 when they gave a recital at the concert hall of Emile van Leenen Pianos in
Leiden. The invited audience gave them standing ovations repeatedly and some commentators described their
performance that night as "breathtaking", "endearing", and "professional".
In the forthcoming concert in Amsterdam, Bologna-based Ms. Nepomuceno and Leiden-based Ms. Galias will be joined
for the first time by the Vienna-based concert pianist and conductor Aries Caces. The three Filipino artists have
prepared a program of opera arias, musical theater pieces, kundimans and piano solos.
Aries Caces will play solo on the piano Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Bach-Tausig and Soirees de Vienne by
A. Gruenfeld. Caces and Ms. Galias will take turns accompanying on the piano Ms. Nepomuceno. She will sing
"The Sound of Music", "Think of Me" (from The Phantom of the Opera, "All the Things You Are"," Nasaan Ka Irog"
"Pamaypay ng Maynila" , "Lupang Hinirang", "Ah Je veux vivre" (from Romeo et Juliette) "Oh quante volte" (from I
Capuletti ed I Montecchi), "Glitter and be gay" (from Candide) and "Awit ng Gabi ni Sisa (from Noli Me Tangere).
A special treat for the night is their premiere rendition of the poetry of Prof. Jose Maria Sison set to music. A
collaborative endeavor by master Filipino musicians, the poems of Prof. Sison were composed by Danny Fabella
and Levy Abad, Jr, and subsequently arranged and edited by the well-respected conductor and composer
Prof. Josefino Toledo, head of the department of the music composition and theory of the College of Music
of the University of the Philippines..
Ms. Nepomuceno and Mr. Caces recently finished a recording of kundimans and Filipino patriotic songs featuring
these poems, and the CD album is aptly titled "Songs of Love and Struggle: From Andres Bonifacio to Jose Maria
Sison". The CD album will be available at the concert.
Rica Nepomuceno graduated with a Bachelor of Music, Major in Voice, from the College of Music of the University
of the Philippines, under the tutelage of Prof. Fides Cuyugan-Asensio. She pursued further vocal studies in Vienna,
Austria under mezzo-soprano Andrea Pfeffer and tenor Abdul Candao, and is currently studying under soprano Wilma
Vernocchi at the Conservatorio G.B. Martini in Bologna, Italy. Ms. Nepomuceno regularly and continuously performs in
concerts and recitals in the Philippines and around the world.
Irma Reyes Galias began her piano career as a child prodigy at the age of 5. She graduated from the St. Paul's
Conservatory of Music in Manila majoring in Piano and minoring in Violin and Music Education. As pianist of Eurokoor
Nederland she has played at their concerts in Luxembourg, Trier, and recently in Gent, Belgium. An active member
of the Filipino community in the Netherlands, Irma has performed in and co-directed several concerts featuring Filipino
talents and music.
Aries Caces is considered today as one of the most versatile Filipino concert pianist. He started his formal training in
music at the age of 7, enrolling as a personal scholar of Prof. Feliza Custodio at the Conservatory of Music of the
University of Sto. Tomas. He came to Graz, Austria, in 1985 and studied with Prof. Walter Kamper at the Hochschule
für Musik und darstellende Kunst.
He was under the tutelage of world-renowned pianist Prof. Paul Badura-Skoda when he obtained his "Diplom" in 1989
at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst. He then obtained his Master's Degree in Piano Performance
in 1994 under Prof. Roland Keller, studied piano chamber music with Prof. Georg Ebert, and in 1999 finished his "Diplom"
in Conducting under the tutelage of Prof. Uros Lajovic, also in Vienna, Austria. Mr. Caces has performed several solo
recitals and various concerts in the Philippines, in Europe, and in North America.
The Filipino community and Dutch friends can expect a truly rare treat,, a virtuoso performance of Filipino musical masters.
Tickets to the concert recital sell at 10 euros each. Gates at the Oud-Katholieke Kerk in Amsterdam open at 1830h, and
the performance will be from 1900 - 2100h.
The recital is being produced by the European-Philippine Intercultural Solidarity (EPICS) in cooperation with several
Filipino organizations. Sponsors & donors are also supporting the concert.. For ticket inquiries and program details,
contact: Ruth de Leon at (06) 24655648. ###