By Quay Evano, Contributor
INQUIRER.net

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates–During the press conference of award-winning composer and rock balladeer (l-r) Wency Cornejo, sexy actress-turned-singer Ara Mina and saxophone player John Ray for their show in Dubai called “Rock Ballad, Soul and All That Jazz,” one of the members of the Filipino Press Club-UAE asked the three artists how they want to be remembered by people when they are no longer famous.

Wency quickly answered: “More than anything else, I think I will be remembered for my songs. I believe I have composed many songs that have touched the hearts of many Filipinos. For an artist, I believe that is what is important — to have a legacy in the lives of people. Even if I pass away, my songs will live on and in some sense, so will I.”

Yes, for millions of his Filipino fans, Wency Cornejo, the unique and soulful voice behind beautiful ballads such as “Habang May Buhay,” “Hanggang” and “Only You” and generation-defining rock anthems like “Next in Line,” “Mangarap Ka,” “Pagtawid” and “Panahon,” he will surely be remembered for his songs. His immortality is clearly defined in his music. But for most of his closest friends, it is his true friendship, more than his music that he will be remembered for… because that’s what he really is aside from being a true musician — he is a true friend.

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SAMAON SULAIMAN of Mama sa Pano, Maguindanao received the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasure Award in 1993 for outstanding artistry in the Maguindanao kutyapi, a two-stringed plucked lute. Watch him play this difficult-to-master Filipino instrument.

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By Gerald Gene R. Querubin
Inquirer

BOAC, Marinduque–The Muslims have their “singkil” and the Visayans, their “Usahay” and “Dandansoy.” But what do the people of Marinduque have?

This question has inspired an advocacy by a music educator since childhood to learn and preserve songs and folk dances that are truly Marinduqueño.

“I heard old folks in my place singing old short songs aside from the kundiman and love songs with positive values. I listened to some of them and there, my research began,” says Prof. Rex Manuel Asuncion, who is now director of the Center for Cultural Arts Studies of the Marinduque State College in Boac town.

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By Ma. Diosa Labiste
Inquirer

ILOILO CITY–Inspired by stories that her grandfather was once a conductor of a local orchestra and that school orchestra competitions drew huge crowds in Iloilo decades ago, a 36-year-old Filipina, born in Manila but who grew up in Canada, has set her mind on forming an orchestra in Iloilo City.

Finding nothing to start with, Melissa Lopez-Exmundo opened classes in violin, teaching children from three years old and up, hoping to build a base for a chamber orchestra she dreams of.

Exmundo is among those who reversed the migration of professionals to North America and elsewhere. In 1998, she decided to stay in Jaro district and teach because she was amazed by the talent she was able to coax from her young students, who are now saying they want to be musicians playing in an orchestra.

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By Pablo Tariman, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine Madrigal Singers won the prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing Sunday night (Monday morning, Manila time) in Arezzo, Italy.

The Madz, as the choir is popularly known, is the first and only choir to win twice in what is known as the choral Olympics of the world.

It won the European Choral Grand Prix (GPE) for the first time in June 1997 when the Madrigals represented the Tolosa Competition, the first and only Philippine choir to win this competition.

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