Pundaquit Virtuosi Performs in Vatican
VATICAN 13 June 2019 — As part of its celebration of the 121th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence and in preparation for the commemoration of the 500th year of Christianity in the Pilippines, the Pundaquit Virtuosi performed before a packed house composed of the Vatican diplomatic corps, young Filipino students from the Philippine Schools of Rome together with long-term Filipino residents and workers at the historical Church of Santa Pudenziana on 30 May 2019.
Ambassador to Vatican Grace Relucio Princesa welcomed the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, as well as other diplomats and members of the Filipino community. Ambassador to Italy Domingo Nolasco also graced the event.
The Church of Santa Pudenziana is the oldest place of Christian worship in Rome, where Saint Peter consecrated for the first time in Rome bread and wine as the Eucharist–in effect, it is where Saint Peter first celebrated the Holy Mass in Rome.
The church is a national church for Filipinos and is therefore one of the national churches in Rome. It was the residence of the Pope until 313, when Emperor Constantine offered the Lateran palace to be the Pope’s Residence.
The mixture of western classical pieces followed afterwards by classical Filipino pieces was well appreciated by the audience. In particular, the young Filipino students were very vocal and effusive in their appreciation of the performance, as it should be, since one of the primary objectives of the Embassy was to introduce classical Filipino pieces to the Filipino youth in Italy, particularly in Rome, in addition to giving them a higher-level of cultural exposure to western classical pieces.
The Pundaquit Virtuosi lived up to their name and performed with aplomb, seamlessly flowing in their rendition of their set pieces almost without exception–adding a particular Filipino flair on top of their technical excellence–a mix of a Asian serenity characterizing their performance while bursting at times with Filipino vigor and a particular rhythm that could be characterized as something that one could partly ascribe to our unique Latin heritage in Asia. END
For more information, visit www.vaticanpe.dfa.gov.ph.