Philippine Philharmonic

Founded in 1973, the Philippine Philharmonic were one of the first Asian orchestras to receive international recognition and is now regarded as one of the finest of all orchestras coming from Southeast Asia.

We are delighted to present them, with their award-winning conductor Grzegorz Nowak in an exciting and colourful programme that features scintillating music from Bizet’s Carmen, Tchaikovsky’s much-loved Swan Lake and Vaughan Williams’ most popular work Lark Ascending which Diomedes Saraza Jr. will perform We look forward to the distinguished British pianist Mark Bebbington performing Delius’ elegiac Piano Concerto and the concert will end in thrilling style with a performance of Beethoven’s elemental fifth symphony.

We think the Philippine Philharmonic programme will be one of the most popular in our season, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Conductor: Grzegorz Nowak
Pianist: Mark Bebbington

Bizet Carmen Suite no. 1
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Suite
Delius Piano Concerto
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Vaughan Williams Lark Ascending
Beethoven Symphony no. 5

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Jeffery Ching:
Il maestro di capella

The violin soloist performing ‘The Lark Ascending’ who is Diomedes Saraza Jr.

Diomedes Saraza Jr. received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School as a full tuition scholar.

He studied with Stephen Clapp, Lewis Kaplan and Joseph Lin. During his time at the Juilliard School, Mr. Saraza was the recipient of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship, Ruth Katzman Scholarship, Juilliard Alumni scholarship and the C.V. Starr Scholarship. Then, he received his Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University under Prof. Hyo Kang. During his time in Yale, Mr. Saraza was the recipient of the Brodus Erle
Prize 2016 and Alumni Association Prize 2017. Since winning the National Music Competitions for Young Artists in the Philippines in 2002, Mr. Saraza has been concertizing and giving solo recitals in the Philippines and internationally at the age of 12. He has won international competitions most notably is New York’s Friday-Woodmere Young Artist Competition and Associated Music Teacher’s League Competition.

Mr. Saraza performed solo internationally with different orchestras such as the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra to name a few. He had his Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra performing Sibelius Violin Concerto under the baton of Olivier Ochanine.
In the Philippines, he performs solo regularly with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He has collaborated as soloist with prominent conductors such as Gzregorz Nowak, Darrell Ang, David Bernard, Gerard Salonga, Yoshikazu Fukumura, Joshua Kangmin Tan, and Haoran Li. Mr. Saraza’s extensive solo and chamber performances include prestigious venues that span from Philippines’ Cultural Center of the Philippines, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, to Russia’s Tchaikovsky’s Concert Hall.

Mr. Saraza was the former concertmaster of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He led the Manila Symphony Orchestra in their China and Japan tour. He also served as concertmaster of Yale Philharmonia under music director Peter Oundjian and associate concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Fabio Luisi. As an avid educator, his students have been accepted in international conservatories such as The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Hanns Eisler University Berlin, Yale University and Cleveland State University.
Mr. Saraza is currently the concertmaster and first artist-in-residence of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under maestro Gzregorz Nowak. Concurrently, he is the concertmaster for Filharmonika Orchestra under maestro Gerard Salonga. He is also the first artist-in-residence for the FilAm Music Foundation based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.