What better way to celebrate a charter day of a city but with the best musical ensemble-- the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra-- feeding the citizens' auditory sense with heavenly music on October 16.
Ormoc's gain is Leyte province's capital Tacloban's loss, as the latter cancelled a scheduled concert of PPO on October 19.
The city will host the world-renowned PPO during its month-long celebration of its charter day, which city officials claim would be worth the hype not just for the residents (and visitors) but also for the PPO.
Jude Abenoja, chair of the executive committee, earlier posted a shot of (actor) Rep. Richard Gomez and his better half, City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez after their successful meetings with the Energy Development Council (EDC) bigwigs at Rockwell and PPO at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which sparked excitement as they both vowed that "the best is yet to come to Ormoc."
Set to perform this October 16 at Ormoc city Superdome, the internationally- renowned PPO's four-hour performance to be open to the public as arranged by the city government of Ormoc. Already, locals and fans consider this as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a perfect way to end their night.".
"Yes Philharmonic! Welcome to Ormoc! Definitely one to watch and an opportunity na di dapat ma miss kasi baka di na maulit and it's free!" fan and Ormoc resident, Flower posted on her social media.
Worth the hype
The public's excitement of witnessing the rare performance live is expected to be worth the hype as both the city government and the PPO are known to meet, if not exceed, the people's expectations based on their past performances.
Established on May 15, 1973 as the CCP Philharmonic Orchestra will acompany performing artists at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) PPO's first music director was Prof. Luis Valencia with Julian Quirit as concertmaster.
However, in 1979, the former First Lady Imelda Marcos asked Prof. Oscar Yatco to reorganize the orchestra where three years later, the PPO was born with a new vision – to be ranked among the best in the world, which it did.
PPO has since been making a name here and abroad with previous international performances in Tokyo in 2002, Bangkok in 2004, Shanghai last 2010, Beijing in 2011 and several European capitals since 2001.
In addition, in June 2016 PPO its historic concert as the first Philippine orchestra to perform at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall in New York.
It also premiered several proud Filipino compositions as it continued to promote music appreciation through outreach concerts in schools, parishes, government agencies, and underserved communities in Metro Manila and different regions in the country.