'VIVA LA IRMA': A MOVING TRIBUTE TO IRMA PONCE-ENRILE POTENCIANO

Maestra Irma Ponce-Enrile Potenciano, a grand dame of vocal music, was recently honored with a tribute by the University of Sto.

- By ANTONIO C. HILA

Tomas Conservatory of Music at the Proscenium Theatre in Rockwell, Makati.Aptly titled “Viva La Irma,” the concert was participated in by many of her former students and by guest artists, who performed operatic arias and ensemble numbers, Broadway, pop and Philippine songs.

The concert, as Professor Maria Alexandra I. Chua explained, was not only a homage to the honoree but a “celebration” of her life “whose artistry, discipline and generosity have touched generations of Filipino musicians.” Maestra Potenciano taught at the UST Conservatory of Music for five decades, and produced singers many of whom became professional performers and vocal teachers.

In fact, according to Dr. Chua, about two thirds of the conservatory’s vocal teachers now were her previous students.

In her honor, Chua added the UST conservatory of Music is establishing the Irma Ponce-Enrile Potenciano Production and Scholarship Fund that will provide the dual aims of providing financial support to needy vocal students, and support musical theater endeavors such as opera, zarzuela and musicals.

The concert followed with the glorious playing of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro Overture by the UST Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of its conductor, Dr. Herminigildo Ranera, who collaborated with the singers for the entire program.