Music aficionados are in for an enthralling performance by internationally acclaimed Filipina pianist Cecile Licad at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Thursday, January 28.
The one-night only special concert dubbed as Cecile Licad Encore! will also have the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Olivier Ochanine, with a scintillating repertoire that includes Rossini’s Overture to Italian Girl in Algiers, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2
Licad rose to international prominence in 1981 when she was awarded the prestigious Leventritt Gold Medal – making her the first Asian to bag the award. The pianist has since played in the great concert halls of the world, performing with famous orchestras and distinguished conductors.
For the concert, Licad will perform on a Hamburg Steinway Grand Piano that was shipped all the way from New York and used for her concert at the Santuario de San Antonio Church concert in October last year, and also at the state dinner in honor of the 15 heads of state who attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit last November.
Co-produced by the Philippine Italian Association with the CCP, the concert has the Rustan Group of Companies, Calata Corporation, The Peninsula Manila, Starbucks, Royal Duty Free Shops, Inc., and San Miguel Corporation as main sponsors, with Bvlgari, Megaworld Corporation, Mercedes-Benz, Philippine Tatler, SSI Group, Inc., Amanpulo and Anflocor Group of Companies as supporters.
Proceeds of the concert will go to the Philippine Italian Association Endowment Fund and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra United States of America Tour in June 2016. Incidentally, the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto that Cecile will perform at the CCP will be repeated at the Carnegie Hall when she joins the PPO in concert.
The Philippine Italian Association (PIA) Endowment Fund was created in 2002 under the leadership of PIA president Zenaida Tantoco to respond to the growing needs of the underprivileged, as well as nurture the human spirit through arts and culture. Outstanding beneficiaries of the PIA Endowment Fund are major charities organized by Italian missionaries who provide educational, medical, food and housing facilities. The welfare projects initiated by PIA are supervised by the Missionaries of the Servants of Charity, the Sisters Handmaids of Charity and the Canossian Sons of Charity.
Tickets are available at P5,000, P3,000, P1,000 and P500. Please call CCP Box Office 832-3704 or TicketWorld 891-9999. You may also call the Secretariat and look for Maricar Alamodin at 8952109; 8773412/07; 09175384508; or email ESAlamodin@rgoc.com.ph for tickets or those who may wish to make a tax-deductible donation.