Filipino Musical Talent and Artistry Shine in Chile’s Valparaiso Port City
The Philippine Embassy team pose for a photo with the visiting Philippine musical delegation on 14 November 2023 (upper left photo). Philippine Ambassador H.E. Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat and Minister & Consul General Jim Tito B. San Agustin pose for a photo during their lunch hosting for the Philippine musical delegation on 18 November 2023 (lower right photo).
SANTIAGO 21 November 2023 – Filipino musical talent, artistry, and heritage were on full display in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso, itself a world heritage site, in a historic concert held on the chancel of the Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús on 14 November 2023.
Chile’s Marga Marga Orchestra, under Maestro Luis Jose Recart Echenique, captivated Chilean and foreign audiences with their faithful renditions of the works of Filipino national artist Mr. Ramon Santos and other leading Filipino figures in music composition and academe: Ms. Marie Jocelyn Marfil, Mr. Josefino Chino Toledo, Ms. Maria Christine Muyco, Mr. Mary Katherine Trangco, and Mr. Conrado Del Rosario.
With a rich roster of local talent playing violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and other string instruments, the chamber orchestra interpreted the composers’ best and most awarded compositions and set pieces, such as the Kundlong-an, Dawot, Himay May, Orasyon-Oracion, Meditations 1, and Mahal.
Philippine Ambassador to Chile Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat, accompanied by Minister & Consul General Jim Tito B. San Agustin, also hosted the Filipino composers on 18 November 2023 to a lunch meeting held at Clubhouse Concón in the nearby Concón commune. Ambassador Balatbat and the Filipino artists discussed prospective partnerships between the Embassy and their institutions, including with their alma mater, the University of the Philippines.
The recent visit of Mr. Ramon Santos and the rest of the Philippines musical delegation was the first of its kind in Chile, organized under the patronage of the Government of Chile’s Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage, and the Fundacion Orquestra Marga Marga (FOMM).
The Philippine Embassy, the Chilean Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage, and the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DIRAC) are also aiming to revisit and eventually sign a Philippines-Chile Executive Programme on Culture, with the end goal of broadening cultural exposure between the two countries, and encouraging more visits and exchanges between top Filipino and Chilean artists and performers. END
For more information, visit https://www.santiagope.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChile.