After its successful metamorphosis on its recently concluded 38th concert season, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra turns gold. Established in 1973, the country’s leading orchestra looks back at its humble beginnings through its PPO 50th Anniversary Gala slated on May 12, 8pm, at the Metropolitan Theater, the temporary home of the PPO while the CCP Main Building is undergoing rehabilitation.

For this milestone, the CCP resident orchestra recreates in part its very first concert, which happened on May 15, 1973. That debut concert of the orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Luis C. Valencia, its first music director, with Julian Quirit as concertmaster.

In the 1973 concert, the PPO performed Alfredo S. Buenaventura’s Bathaluman and National Artist Lucrecia Kasilag’s Divertissement for Piano and Orchestra. The concert also featured Manuel de Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de España and G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with guest performer pianist Benjamin Tupas.

Under the baton of Maestro Rodel Colmenar, the PPO will once again relive the first concert, performing Buenventura and Kasilag masterpieces, with young pianist Aidan Ezra Baracol as guest performer. Young virtuoso Baracol is currently a Grade 12 scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts. He has won 16 local and international piano competitions over the last three years, notably the Junior Piano category of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA). He is currently a scholar of the CCP.

Critically-acclaimed Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu will perform Salut! Demeure e Chaste et Pure! from Faust (Charles Gounod), Che gelida manina from La Boheme (Giacomo Puccini), and Kundiman ng Langit (Augusto Espino).

The anniversary concert will culminate with a must-watch performance of renowned pianist Dr. Raul Sunico, playing G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue under the baton of PPO resident conductor Herminigildo Ranera. A former CCP president, Sunico has brought home several awards in piano competitions held abroad including a silver medal in the 1979 Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli, Italy. He has also given solo recitals in Canada, Mexico, France, the United States, and Australia, among other countries.

A multi-awarded performer, Ranera was a three-time prize winner of the NAMCYA in 1982 and 1983 as a performer in Trombone, Baritone, and Tuba (Chamber Music) categories. He was a prize-winner of the 1983 League of Filipino Composers Competition for Young Composers and collaborated with his mentor, Fr. Manuel P. Maramba, O.S.B. for various CCP productions.

Tickets to the PPO 50th Anniversary Concert are available at the CCP Box Office, located at Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez, Vicente Sotto Street, from Tuesday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 pm. You can also get tickets at the TicketWorld via www.ticketworld.com.ph. Ticket prices are: P3,000.00 (Loge Premium and Orchestra Center Premium), P1,500.00 (Orchestra Left and Right), and P800.00 (Balcony Center, Right, and Left). For other ticket details and inquiries, contact the CCP Marketing Department at salesandpromotions@culturalcenter.gov.ph.