Violinists JoAnna Farrer and William Harvey, hornist Danielle Kuhlmann, bassist Andrew Roitstein, violist Frank Shaw, and cellist Jeremiah Shaw traveled to the Philippines from May 25 to June 17, 2007, where they presented lessons, master classes, workshops, and performances at St. Scholastica's College in Manila and the Casa San Miguel in Zambales province. With the Manila Symphony Orchestra and Toti Molina, William gave the Filipino premiere of the Elgar Violin Concerto in celebration of Elgar's sesquicentennial. Danielle and Andrew also presented workshops for the Philippine Horn Players Society, the Metro Manila Community Orchestra, and the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band.
The six participants enjoyed a two-hour private audience with Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, and were interviewed on national television and radio. The project concluded with workshops, presented in collaboration with the Cartwheel Foundation, in which we worked with the Tala-Andig tribe (in the remote mountain village of Miarayon, on the island of Mindanao) to develop compositions reflective of their heritage. Project IV was generously underwritten by the McGraw-Hill Companies. It was our second project in the Philippines, after Project II in 2006.
Watch the documentary film, "Tala-Andig Kay," available in six parts via YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
Read William's travelogue about our time in Miarayon with the Tala-Andig tribe. Articles about our trip appeared on St. Scholastica's website and in the Manila Times.
Andrew with Tala-Andig students in Miarayon, Mindanao
Thank you to the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to Project IV:
Mme. Imelda Marcos, for granting us an audience and for her generous praise of Cultures in Harmony, and also to her daughter Irene Araneta, without whom the audience simply would not have occurred
Sr. Mary Placid Abejo, Mary Grace Martinez-del Rosario, Mutya Abarico, Jedi Villar, Kits Falcis, Chu Chu Cruz, Melchora Regina Medina, Ramona Balingcos, Dimples Maling, and all the faculty, students, and staff of St. Scholastica's College in Manila for their hospitality, friendship, and for organizing our workshops there
Coke Bolipata, Executive Director of the Casa San Miguel, for his hospitality at Casa San Miguel and for organizing so many different workshops for Danielle and Andrew
Lorenzo "Chong" Raval, for contributing his artistry to the Casa San Miguel benefit
Rojean Caharian, Executive Director of the Cartwheel Foundation, for setting up the workshops in Miarayon
Katherine Sciglitano, volunteer with the Cartwheel Foundation, for organizing so many aspects of our workshops in Miarayon, and Eric Sister, for his terrific job as documentarian
Fr. Dario Saniel, SJ, for his hospitality at the convent in Miarayon and for doing so much for us
The convent girls in Miarayon, especially Vanny, for their delicious food
The Tala-Andig students in Miarayon, whose emotional bond with us ended up affecting all of us enormously
Toti Molina and the Manila Symphony Orchestra, for a memorable collaboration in the Elgar Violin Concerto
Everyone involved in the Philippine Horn Players Society for their hospitality to Danielle and Andrew
