Thanks to Mr. Fausto of the Philippine Embassy, I learned that there was a Filipino competing at a music competition in Korea. And thanks to Mrs. Corazon Kabayao, the wife of the renowned Philippine violin Maestro Gilopez Kabayao, I learned that Mr. Jimmy Tagala, Jr. will represent the Philippines at the 2012 Seoul International Music Competition in April 2012.
The Seoul
International Music Competition has been held almost every year, and each year,
the competition rotates its categories: violin, piano and voice. And the category for 2012 is violin!
I am
posting Jimmy’s biography (courtesy of Mrs. Kabayao), where you can read about
this very young Filipino violin prodigy.
“Jimmy Tagala,
Jr. is acknowledged as one of the Philippines’ young violin virtuosos
notwithstanding a considerably late start at the age of 12. He won First place
at the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Violin Category B
at 14, barely after a year under the tutelage of the Philippines’ violin
virtuoso and pedagogue Gilopez Kabayao, besting older contestants in his
category. At 15, Jimmy was the youngest
among 100 young musicians from Asia who were accepted to join the 2006 Asian
Youth Orchestra in its concert tour of 6 Asian countries. The following year, at
16, Jimmy gave his solo debut concert with a performance of the Beethoven and Khachaturian concertos to critical success. This initial success was followed in 2008 with
his first full solo recital, at 17, featuring a program of Bach, Beethoven,
Ysaye, Paganini, Bruch and Sarasate, again, to critical and public acclaim. His inclusion as part of the European tour of
the Kabayao Family Quintet in 2009 was a welcome addition to the success of the
Philippine musical delegation in promoting the musical gifts and virtuosity of
Filipino artists in the field of classical music. At the recently concluded
2011 NAMCYA competitions, Jimmy won First Place, Violin Category C, the highest
and the only prize awarded for this category.
He will be one of the featured soloists of the Philippine Philharmonic
Orchestra at the CCP on August 8, 2012, together with two other first prize
winners of the 2011 NAMCYA competitions.
Jimmy Tagala is seriously building a solid violin
repertoire under the tutelage of Prof. Gilopez Kabayao, preparing himself for his
next solo concerts and even for further musical studies in other
countries. He is also being prepared for
possible inclusion in international violin competitions as well as in music
festivals that would focus his musical growth in the interpretation of standard
works for the violin. Presently, Jimmy is pursuing a Diploma Course in Violin
at the St. Scholastica College of Music in Manila. The critics have this to say:
“A stunning debut for teen violinist…Tagala
showed great intelligence and ability in the Khachaturian concerto where the focus was
virtuosity.” --- Philippine Star
“Jimmy
Tagala’s debut is a marvelous augury of his future. He showed maturity beyond his years. Further, he displayed, besides inherent
musicality, the keenest musical intelligence and a musicianship . . . a
virtuoso-in the making.” --- Philippine Star
“For one so young, he displayed musical
sophistication and unique sensitivity in his interpretation of the two
masterpieces…and he did it amazingly, one after another, something rarely done
even by the world’s great virtuosos.” --- Malaya
I found a few of Jimmy’s performance on Youtube and I’m
posting one uploaded by xebetan:
I would like to invite my kababayans in Seoul to lend
support to Jimmy and to the Kabayaos while they’re in Seoul. The first round of
the competition starts on April 18, 2012, at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu.
Good luck to Jimmy and to his mentor, Maestro Gilopez
Kabayao!
