Con Brio

The family just got back from the Philamlife Auditorium where my son, Mickey, played violin in the DLSU chamber ensemble's concert entitled "Con Brio" under the baton of Maestro German M. de Ramos, Jr. The orchestra played a solid array of tunes from classical to the more contemporary pieces. This is the second year my son has been playing for the group and we have seen all the major concerts they have had so far and I can say they are getting better and better.

The concert started with a prayer sang beautifully by Ms. Reynabel Becquero and accopanied on the piano by Ms. Chenie Chua. This was followed by the Pambansang Awit and the DLSU Alma Mater.

A guitar performance by Ms. Milette Zamora followed immediately where she played Gaspar Sanz' "Suite Española". Thereafter, the conductor led the orchestra in playing their repertoire as follows:

"Zarathustra" by R. Strauss
"Barber of Seville Overture" by A. Rossini
"Suites - Trepak, Mirlitons, Valse de Fleurs" by P. Tchaikovsky
"Nimrod" by Edward Elgar
"Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika" by Ryan Cayabyab as arranged by German de Ramos, Jr.

After a 10-minute intermission, the group played a medley of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Phantom of the Opera" arranged by Calvin Cluster; G. Bizet's "Toreador" and John Williams Symphonic Marches as transcribed by German de Ramos, Jr.

The audience was so pleased that they requested for more to which the players gladly acceded to and played a Christmas medley.

It must've been prophetic of me but even before we got married, I already told my wife that I am going to have a son who will play the violin. I did not know where that came from but I said that with sureness albeit the fact that my favorite instrument is the cello and I play the guitar (so I guess I never influenced him). When my first born turned out to be a girl, I thought I was a little off the mark. But then, my first born did not get a liking for the violin. She played the piano for a time but did not push it through and stopped right after her first recital.

When Mickey was in Grade three, he told me he wanted to learn to play the instrument. While it did not come as a surprise as we never discussed anything to that effect (I am not one to dictate on my children) and so I gave him the go signal. A few months and he was asking me to buy him his own violin as he was just borrowing the violin provided by the school. I did not accede immediately thinking it would be a lot of money wasted if he suddenly lost interest with the novelty of playing a musical instrument. But then the interest persisted prompting me to buy him a 1/4 size violin. He complained that it was too small and did not sound good. So, when we heard news that my niece was coming home from the States, we thought she could buy one for Mickey and she did!

How I wish you were there with us and shared a night of wonderful music. I'm only too glad that his best friends from high school went out of their way to watch. And so did his "ninang" Marissa and her family who have been part of the family eversince that they have seen him grow.

And so tonight, there he was, in complete regalia in his tuxedo, seated in front, unconsciously fulfilling his father's dream of becoming a musician. The saying that the son is the perfection of the father must be true.