Filipina Soprano Performs at Terras Sem Sombra Festival in Portugal
Filipina Soprano Manila Adap and Spanish concert pianist Alberto Urroz performing at the Terras Sem Sombra festival in Cuba, Alentejo Portugal. (Terras Sem Sombra photo)
LISBON 15 May 2019 — The municipality of Cuba in the Alentejo region of Portugal played host to the unique musical duo of Filipina soprano Manila Adap and Spanish concert pianist Alberto Urroz on 04 May 2019 at the Cuba Municipal Auditorium.
The full house concert, entitled “Coração Viandante: Canções de Amor e de Embalar no Oriente e no Ocidente (Traveller Heart: Songs of Love and Lullabies from the East and West)”, revealed to the audience the tradition of lyrical singing in the Philippines through the 19th to 20th centuries, placing it in parallel with European and North American music.
Under the auspices of Portugal’s famous itinerant festival, Terras Sem Sombra (Lands without Shadow), the duo wowed the audience with their varied repertoire which included Filipino kundimans and lullabies, as well as European operatic favorites.
Ms. Adap, who is currently based in Madrid, has won several Philippine and international singing contests beginning in 2002. She studied singing at the Conservatoria Profesional de Musica in Madrid, and has since triumphed in the world of opera where she distinguished herself as one of Montserral Caballé's favorite disciples. The Filipina soprano is also well known for her composition, Unidos por Diversidad, the anthem of the campaign against racism in football, which was premiered at the 2004 Barcelona Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.
Mr. Urroz is one of the most brilliant and multifaceted Spanish musicians of his generation, author of a vast discography - and a first-rate international career. He performs regularly with renowned artists and bands, such as composer Jeffrey Ching or the New York-based company Dance Theater of Harlem. In 2004, he founded the Mendigorria International Music Festival, An IBS artist, he has recorded Scarlatti, Sanchez Allu. Granados, Albeniz, Falla and Mompou.
Now on its 15th year, the Terras Sem Sombra Festival bring together music, cultural heritage and biodiversity in, and about, the Alentejo region. The festival “focuses on cultural decentralization, the formation of new audiences and the promotion of the Alentejo region.” END
From left: Terras Sem Sombra Director General Dr. José António Falcão, Spanish classical pianist Alberto Urroz, Filipina Soprano Manila Adap, Coro Camara de Lisboa Founder Professora Teresita Gutierrez Marques, Ambassador to Portugal Celia Anna M. Feria, Cuba, Alentejo City Mayor João Português. (Terras Sem Sombra photo)
For more information, visit www.lisbonpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinPortugal/.