A Musical Night at the Museum

Multi-awarded NAMCYA Winners top bill symphonic band concert 

PASAY CITY, METRO MANILA (July 25, 2018)— Outstanding winners of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists will captivate our hearts with “Serenata sa Ayala” on August 29, 2018 6:30pm at the Ayala Museum. Bask in a night of classical, contemporary and Filipino music featuring the 2016 NAMCYA Youth Symphonic Band First prize winner Cardona Ocho Band conducted by 2008 NAMCYA Oboe Category First prize winner Franz Ramirez, 2011 and 2015 NAMCYA Piano Category First prize winner Gabriel Allan Paguirigan, and 5-time NAMCYA Flute Category First prize winner John Raymond Sarreal. The concert is part of NAMCYA’s 45th Anniversary celebration, presented in partnership with Ayala Museum.

Throughout the years, NAMCYA has been at the helm of discovering and nurturing our young Filipino musicians to become successful world-class artists, and this year in celebration of their 45th Anniversary, they will highlight four of their most successful alumni.

2012 ALIW Awards Best Instrumentalist Nominee, and Sarreal Music Academy founder, John Raymond Sarreal is one of the few NAMCYA multiple category winners, bagging the 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2008 Flute category first prize on every age group he competed in. He has been featured twice as a soloist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed with the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra (as principal flutist from 2004-2012), the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra. Raymond has been a part of both the South East Asian Youth Orchestra and the Asian Youth Orchestra which performed around Asia and Australia.

Another NAMCYA history maker is Gabriel Allan Paguirigan bagging the 2011 and 2015 Top Prizes in the piano category. The young virtuoso is now a sought-after piano instructor, concert pianist and collaborator featured several times by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He was invited to perform in different venues around the Philippines, Asia, and Europe. Most recently, Gabby together with 2017 NAMCYA Flute Category 2nd Prize winner John Owen Castro, won the coveted Grand Prize at the Princess Galyani Vadhana International Chamber Music Competition in Thailand.

Cardona Ocho is a Brass Band started as a group of self-taught musicians from a fishing village in the eastern part of Rizal Province. The group was pioneered in the 1920’s by Jose Francisco, popularly known as Joseng Bombardino, aptly named for his mastery and musical eloquence with his “bombardino” {Euphonium}. Amando San Jose, also a self-taught musician, took over the reins and shaped the music of the band by both the discipline and the expressiveness of his character. In the 1980’s Cardona Ocho continued to grow musically capping the prestigious Serenata ’84 National Championship held at the Folk Arts Theater under the baton of Romeo San Jose, eldest son of Amando San Jose. In 2016, the group reigned supreme after winning the Grand Prize in the NAMCYA Youth Symphonic Band Competitions held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). For the coming concert, the group will be conducted by Franz Miguel Ramirez; 2008 NAMCYA Oboe Category First prize winner, ABS-CBN Philharmonic orchestra Principal Oboist, and Great Grandson of Amando San Jose.

The concert will be at the Ayala Museum on August 29, 2018, 6:30 PM and tickets are available via Ticketworld and Ayala Museum. Ticket prices are Php 1000, Php 700, Php 560 (Ayala Museum Members), Php 500 (Senior Citizens), and Php 300 (Students). 

NAMCYA has been a principal instrument in discovering major music talents from all over the country. Its projects have involved and continue to involve countless musicians, trainers, and administrators, all serving in the difficult but fulfilling process of selecting the best artists from all seventeen regions of the nation annually. The Foundation carries out a three-fold program: discovering outstanding young Filipino musicians from every region of the country through annual competitions; developing these musicians through Workshops and Training Programs, and enhancing and expanding the appreciation for and performance of Filipino music by way of mandated competition repertoire programs and commissioning of new works. (https://culturalcenter.gov.ph/programs/the-namcya/) 

For more information, please call the NAMCYA Secretariat at +632 836 4928 to 29, +63 949 9932592, or email us at namcyainfo@gmail.com.