Japanese, Cebuano orchestra groups to conduct free concerts

A JAPANESE orchestra will join the Cebu Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in a series of concerts starting today, Feb. 17 at the SM City Cebu Northwing.

UUU, which stands for Music “U”nites the “W”orld, is a project orchestra consists of 18 musicians from universities in Japan.

Akihide Noguchi, leader of the group, said one of their aspirations is to collaborate with Filipinos on classical music.

“We want to cultivate the interest of the children in Cebu in classical music,” Noguchi said.

Around 300 elementary students were invited to the concert, which has three stages.

The first is a wind orchestra stage, second is string ensemble stage and the last is the orchestral stage.

The theme of the event is the name of the Japanese group, Music Unites the World.

Aside from the Japanese and Filipino pieces, the concert will also feature European and American songs.

“We want the children to experience travelling the world through the different pieces from the different places,” Noguchu said.

Rey Abellana, one of CSO’s founding members, said this is a good experience for them.

“We are glad to be able to play with musicians from another part of Asia. It is also the goal of CSO to educate children who can’t afford our season concerts.”

Part of their collaborative activities is to visit the far-flung schools in the city and give a concert performance and mini lessons.

Both UUU and CSO will also be at the Ayala Activity Center on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m., Matutinao Elementary School in barangay Matutinao, Badian, southwest Cebu on Feb. 20 10 a.m. and Medellin Sports Complex in Medellin town, northern Cebu on Feb. 21 at 10 a.m.

All the concerts are for free. For more information, please contact Naila Beltran at 0926-7478441.  UP Masscom student Annie Fe G. Perez