For the second concert of the UST Symphony Orchestra for the year, the group held a recital to honor Thomasian composers on November 17, 2019 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater. Presented annually, the UST Conservatory of Music staged for this year its “Tribute to the Thomasians: Pasasalamat sa mga Tomasinong Kompositor.”
The concert featured the works of Thomasian composers from the early beginnings of the Conservatory, from the late 1940s up to the 1950s, namely, Conservatory directors Julio Esteban Anguita, Bernardino Custodio, and Alfredo Buenaventura; former faculty members Eduardo Parungao and National Artist Ernani Cuenco; recently retired faculty member Fr. Manuel P. Maramba, OSB; present dean of the Conservatory Assoc. Prof. Antonio Africa, PhD; and current faculty members Assoc. Prof. Herminigildo Ranera, Ph.D., and Asst. Prof. Leo Nilo Mangussad. It would be remembered that Dean Julio Esteban Anguita composed the music of the UST Hymn and it was orchestrated by Fr. Manuel P. Maramba, OSB.
The entire concert was especially dedicated to Fr. Maramba who has served the University more than three decades of dedicated service, his important role in the artistic development of the Conservatory, and his lifetime achievement as concert pianist, composer and pedagogue. Before the final number of the concert was played, he was given a plaque of recognition by Dean Africa, and the Regent Rev. Father Jose Maria Tinoko, OP, JCD.
The UST Symphony Orchestra performed classical music under the baton of Assoc. Prof. Herminigildo Ranera, PhD. and Mr. Reynato Resureccion, Jr. The Orchestra gave life to the timeless compositions of Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn: Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 50, Polish composer Frederic Francois Chopin: Polonaise in A flat, Opus 53, and French composer Claude Debussy: Etude No. 11.
The Symphony, being a resident orchestra of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, is required to hold two concerts per year at the Main Theater CCP, according to Conservatory of Music Faculty Secretary Asst. Prof. Peter John Porticos, Ph.D. The first concert was held in March of this year. “We call one or both concerts “Tribute to the Thomasian,” Porticos added.
