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Tag: CCP Special Concert Series

  • Guitarist Ivar Fojas at CCP Special Concert Series 2022

    Classical guitarist Ivar Fojas will hold his solo concert as part of the Special Concert Series on November 16, Wednesday at the CCP Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (Black Box Theater) at 7:30 pm.

    Dr. Ivar-Nicholas Fojas currently works as a guitar professor at the Philippine Women’s University School of Music Graduate School.  He mentors masters and doctoral-level guitar students and teaches Ph.D. courses in music and is an associate Professorial Lecturer 5 at De La Salle University Literature Department.  He received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his doctoral studies at the Bolton Guitar Studies Program at the University of Arizona in 2011. He was also a full scholar in his previous studies at the Philippine Women’s University and the University of the Philippines from 2008 to 2011.  He taught at the University of the Philippines College of Music and later became a lecturer of humanities at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

    Fojas conducted research on the lute works of J.S Bach that culminated in a lecture.  This led him to baroque guitar performances with the Helios Ensemble and Arizona Baroque.  He presented numerous solo recitals and performed guitar concertos in the Philippines by Mauro Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Federico Moreno-Torroba, and Joaquin Rodrigo with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and Peace Philharmonic Philippines, among other events.

    In 2020, Fojas was featured in an online concert under the Sunshine Classics concert series on October 16-31 together with the Kabataang Gitarista (KG); Fernando Sy-Changco III, David Tiongson, and Edel Mark Bitao who are a group of skilled public high school students.

    For more information about the event, please follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • Trombonist Ricson Poonin to Play at CCP’s Special Concert Series

    Trombonist Ricson Poonin will be the second featured artist of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Special Concert Series on October 20, 2022, 7:30pm at the CCP Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (Black Box Theater).

    For his solo concert, he will be rendering “The Casterede Sonatine” which he described as challenging to play because of its 20th century syncopated rhythms; “Milagros”, a showpiece Filipino music presented with piano accompaniment; and the Pandemic Concert Piece for Trombone and Piano.

    Composed by Poonin’s long-term mentor Maestro Herminigildo Ranera, The Pandemic Concert piece is a new trombone composition which Poonin himself requested from Ranera to create especially for this recital.

    According to Poonin, the piece is highlighted by various composition techniques and represents the Filipinos’ experiences during the crisis

    During the pandemic years, together with his colleagues, Poonin gathered different Filipino trombonists who lived in the Philippines and overseas and had practice sessions, lectures, open fora, and virtual videos featuring multiple trombonists playing together in the first-ever Philippine Trombone Festival held virtually.

    Poonin is renowned for his distinctive musicality, sound technique, and adaptability as a soloist in an ensemble or with an orchestra.

    He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in 2012 with a degree in Bachelor of Music Major in Trombone Performance under the tutelage of the Maestro, Dr. Herminigildo Ranera. 

    “Sir Hermie has been a big influence in my career,” Poonin said. “As my mentor, I would like to pay tribute to him by featuring his work here”, the artist recounted.

    Maestro Ranera described Poonin as “very musical, meticulous and highly skilled.”

    Ranera, who is associate conductor of the PPO, and Poonin continue to work together in the orchestra.

    Due to Poonin’s outstanding performances and active student life, he was granted a full scholarship at the famous John Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, with the support of Irene Marcos Araneta, Zenaida Tantoco, Monique Villonco, Tricia Amper-Jimenez, and Chuchu Madrigal Eduque and the FAPI.  He won both the Peabody Excerpts Competition and the James Winship Lewis Memorial Prize Performance Award. He also played with a great number of other Peabody Ensembles including the Fourtissimo Trombone Quartet, Marquee Brass Quintet, the Peabody Jazz Ensemble, and the Trombody Peabones Trombone Choir.

    Consequently, he became a part of the International Trombone Association’s Guinness record for having the most number of trombone players performing at a single event in Lincoln Center in New York.

    Currently, Poonin is a trombone teacher at St. Scholastica’s College and at the University of Santo Tomas–to which he proudly says that his students have improved and progressed and are winning in competitions too.

    Savor music through the instrument known to be “the Voice of God” (trombone) as it creates a full and beautiful reverberation through the versatility of interpretation by Ricson Poonin, an amusing and light-hearted musician in this otherwise serious concert setting.

    Likewise, applications are being accepted for the Ricson Poonin Trombone Masterclass which will be held on October 19, 2022, 2:00pm – 6:00pm at the CCP Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez.

    Please check the health and safety protocols at https://bit.ly/staysafeatCCP

    For more information about the event, please follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    For inquiries on the Ricson Poonin Trombone Masterclass, email artist.training@culturalcenter.gov.ph or call at 8832-1125 local 1605.