Filipino String Ensemble regales audiences in Abu Dhabi

Filipinos have been recognised for their musicality. Over in the capital is an emerging ensemble that for now resembles a rondalla, with the hope that one day, it would be. Sextet for now and on the lookout for those who know how to play the coconut-based Philippine versions of the bandurria, laud, octavina, 12-stringed guitar and the bajo de unyas (bass guitar), this is the Filipino String Ensemble.

- Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Led by Lex Von Sumayo on the guitar alongside Randrews Rayan B. Feraer and Thara Astrid Mamaril; Marianne Olga Elloso-Macawili on the violin alongside Sean Emmanuel Tibe; and Nilisa Marie Barredo Victor on the cello, their maiden performance was during the Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi/Louvre Abu Dhabi special tribute for the “Una Bulaquena,” the oil on-canvas 1895 rendition of the adolescent maiden from Bulacan Province, Emiliana Yriarte Trinidad, by the then multi-awarded artist Juan Luna, from Ilocos Norte Province.

Perfect was their formation for the occasion by Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver. Their adaptations of the “Paru-Parong Bukid” (“Farm Butterfly”) by Felipe de Leon; “Dahil Sa lyo” (“Because of You”) by lyricist Dominador Santiago and composer Mike Velarde Sr.; and “Tinikling” (the instrumental accompaniment for the Philippines’ national dance) befittingly and elegantly captured that era when the Spanish Medieval-born rondalla had been owned by the Indios (natives) and Insulares (Spanish descent/mestizos y mestizas).