CCP PRESS RELEASES

“CRAFT AS CONTEMPORARY ART AT THE CCP”

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines is proud to present the exhibition HANDMADE featuring the craft-based works of artists Steph Palallos, Carmel Lim-Torres, and Josephine Turalba. The exhibit is on view at the CCP’s Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater Lobby) until October 18, 2015. The artists will have their exhibit closing event on October 15, 2015 which will begin with an artist talk at 4pm and cocktails at 6pm. 

The use of craft in contemporary art means a dedication to materials and processes, though not entirely as a path to perfection and polish. On the contrary, the craft approach to art production shuns aesthetic perfection. Art that comes out of craftwork is a celebration of individuality amidst the spirit of globalism. It provides a concreteness and tactility that cyberspace can only offer virtually. It is in contrast to certain tendencies in globalism that promote a sense of cultural uniformity. 

In their exhibit, artists Steph Palallos, Carmel Lim-Torres, and Josephine Turalba create diverse art highlighting the Handmade. They express personal experience rather than give voice to a collective social message. Consider Turalba’s leatherwork as a means to re-imagine landscapes from memory, or Palallos’ sewing fabric to construct garments that expose the ailing body, or Lim-Torres’ installation composed of paper, ceramics and wood to express hope amidst ecological peril. HANDMADE is curated by Leo Abaya.

(HANDMADE is open to all and can be viewed from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm at the CCP. For more information about the exhibit, call the CCP Visual Arts & Museum Division, Production & Exhibition Department at (632) 832-1125 loc. 1504/1505, (632) 832-3702, mobile (63920) 4700690, email ccp.exhibits@gmail.com. )

 ************ ************ ***************

“GERMAN CONDUCTOR IN PPO’S OCTOBER CONCERT”

GERMAN conductor Henrik Schaefer leads the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra on October 9, 2015 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) at 8:00 pm. The second concert is part of the PPO’s 2015-2016 concert season.

Program includes the music of Emilie Mayer’s Ouverture to Faust Op.46, Mozart’s Symphony No.40 and Schumann’s Symphony No.3.

Henrik Schaefer’s conducting career began with a ballet production of the Rite of Spring with the Leipzig Ballet and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Since then, he has become a sought-after Wagner conductor, and his repertoire includes all the great Mozart operas as well as the romantic Italian and French operas. He has appeared as guest conductor at the operas in Leipzig, Rouen, Chemnitz, Seoul, the Opera Hedeland, the Norrlands Opera, the Hongkong Opera and the Opera of Gothenburg.

Henrik Schaefer’s opera repertoire includes The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Eugen Onegin, Faust, La Traviata, La Boheme, Falstaff, Les dialogues des Carmelites, Hänsel and Gretel, The Flying Dutchman, Rheingold, Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, Tristan, and Parsifal.

As a concert conductor he is a worldwide acclaimed guest with the Tokyo Symphony, Gävle Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Helsingborg Symphony, Holland Symfonia, Norrköping Symphonie Orchester, Sapporo Symphony, Brabants Orkest, Sendai Philharmonic, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Tokyo Metropolitan, the Swedish and Dutch Radio Orchestras, New Japan Philharmonic, Nederlands Philharmonic, Japan Century Symphony, Hongkong Philharmonic and the orchestras in Nürnberg, Aalborg, Antwerpen, Enschede, Aarhus, Tromsö and Madrid.

************* *************** *************

“A Joyful Noise! The UST Singers’ Thanksgiving Concert”

THE University of Santo Tomas Singers, under the baton of its conductor Prof. Fidel Gener Calalang Jr., will stage “A Joyful Noise! A Thanksgiving Concert” on October 10, Saturday, 8PM at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The UST Singers recently arrived from their very successful 28th International Concert Tour of Europe, where they performed in key cities in Germany and Italy. Highlighting this trip was their monumental win at the 4th Florence International Choir Festival in Florence, Italy where they were proclaimed the Grand Prize Winner, bagging a total of 8 awards, including 4 First Prizes, the Best Male Soloist Award, and 2 special awards for Prof. Calalang.

Consequently, this will also serve as a send-off concert for the 32-member ensemble as they embark on another concert tour of South Korea, where they will be concertizing in the cities of Changwon, Jinju, Daegu, Busan, and Seoul. The choir will be featured as guest artists at the Busan International Choir Festival and Competition and the Daegu International Choir Festival.

The UST Singers is the premier mixed choir of Asia’s oldest Catholic university, the University of Santo Tomas. It has earned distinction as one of the world’s best choirs, having won 80 top prizes internationally, including the Choir of the World Grand Prize twice (in 1995 and 2010) at the oldest international choir competition, the Llangollen International Music Eistedfodd in Wales, the United Kingdom.