After  more than thirty years, has the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA)  in Mt. Makiling in Los Banos,  Laguna continued to produce artists of consequence?

Oliver Salonga

Yes, it has and the distinguished list is led by Tchaikovsky Laureate (1982) Rowena Arrieta, (she will be heard in Manila August 1 at the St. Paul University in Malate), Berlin-based baritone Jonathan Zaens, Singapore-based  Albert Tiu, Berlin-based composer Alan Hilario, Memphis, Tennessee-based Victor Asuncion, North Carolina-based music scholar Bianca Montanez,  acclaimed cellist Victor Michael Coo with pianist-brother Jonathan  (winner of the  first Rosario Picaso Competition in Manila and sister-violinist Cecilia and many others and the now-Cleveland-based pianist Oliver Salonga.

By the looks of it, these exemplary alumni of the PHSA have chosen varied  career paths. They not only excelled  as performing artists; they are also unbeatable as cultural workers and music pedagogues.

Take Albert Tiu. He  was one of the top prizewinners at the 1996 UNISA Competition in Pretoria and the 2000 Web Concert Hall Competition,  the 1996 Honens, 1998 Paloma O'Shea and 2002 Maj Lind competitions. He was soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Michigan Chamber Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Guangzhou Symphony, Philippine Philharmonic and Juilliard Symphony.

Now Tiu  is based in Singapore, where he is an Assistant Professor at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, National University of Singapore and the Vice President of the Singapore Music Teachers' Association.

Baritone Jonathan Zaens was a prize-winner at the 7th Sylvia Geszty International Voice Competition, and a finalist at the 13th Bach International Competition as well as the Mendelssohn Voice Competition. His credentials include performances as guest in the State Opera and Estates Theater in Prague , and at the Neukollner Opera, Berliner Chamber Opera and the New Opera Stage in Berlin . In 2003, he sang at the world premiere of Stockhausen's Dufte-Zeichen at the Salzburg Festival.

Victor Michael Coo

Prize-winning cellist Victor Michael Coo is now a father of one and will be soloist of the Manila Symphony  on August 21 in a Schumann cello concerto.

(The list is long and if I missed out on some outstanding alumni, please update this writer at musicnewsservice@ayahoo.com. We also extend our condolence to the family of PHSA graduate Miguel Castro who passed away the other week. Castro was my assisting artist in one of the concert tours of Joseph Esmilla and Victor Michael Coo.)

Another PHSA graduate worth following up is pianist Oliver Salonga who is scheduled to have a solo recital  at the Philamlife Theater  on June 11.

Now a holder of a Master of Music in Piano Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the guidance of 2001 Van Cliburn Silver Medalist, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Salonga was awarded the Sadie Zellen Piano Prize and under Pompa-Baldi’s tutelage, Salonga won the gold medal in the 2008 Joenju International Piano Competition in South Korea . He is presently continuing his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music as an Artist Diploma candidate.

The pianist was also soloist in  Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 in c minor with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of George Ellis and got a standing ovation.Later, he was soloist in  Liszt’s  Piano Concerto No.2 in A major with the Lynn University Philharmonia under the baton of Albert George Schram. He reprised the same concerto with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra  under the baton of Rodel Colmenar and  received rousing cheers.

Some years back, Cecile Licad found Salonga worth encouraging and thus she coached him while auditioning for some music school in the US . By coincidence,it was Mrs. Rosario Licad (Cecile’s mother) who discovered Salonga before he was passed on to Marietta Cruz and Chit Arambulo.

As you can see, the products of Mt. Makiling have made their mark all over the world. Next month, let’s patronize another pianist making his mark abroad.

Salonga’s Manila program includes Dmitri Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue No.23 in F Major, Op.87; Sergei Rachmaninov’s  Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.36 (1931)Alexander Scriabin’s  Piano Sonata No.4 in F-sharp Major, Op.30 and Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No.7 in B-flat Major, Op.83.

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