An hour before their recent concert, Janna G. Peña was still on the stage, seated before her piano, still rehearsing. She was still wearing casual clothes, but the way she played the piano showed so much mastery that she could just perform at present and receive the same praise she would get later on.
Pausing from the rehearsal to sit down with an interview, she was asked what the best part is of being a musician. She answered, “It’s the impact it can make on someone, even to yourself, whether it’s the process of performing the music or someone that gets touched by the beautiful melodies.”
In the same place, Adrian Nicolas Ong was sitting on the edge of the stage, laid back. He is set to perform alongside Janna, playing the violin.
He answered the same question, saying, “It’s the music that I enjoy and also the people that I met, the people that I get to work with, and the friends, and the Music Culture.”
Janna and Adrian are 24 and 23, respectively. Both were from the Philippine High School for the Arts, and went to study in the US later on to pursue music.
According to Janna, she and Adrian knew each other for around 10 years now.
Adrian, 23, had just graduated from the Mannes School of Music in New York, and is set to pursue his artist diploma in The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Meanwhile, Janna is currently taking her master’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. She got her bachelor’s degree at Lynn University.
According to Adrian, he is “excited” to be back in the Philippines and to perform.
Janna added that she is excited to perform with Adrian. “It’s just exciting for me to be back and playing with Adrian back in our Home Country as we both, you know, came back from the U.S.,” she said.
The reason they came back to perform in the Philippines is not only to showcase their talent. For them, the performance is a dedication to their late teacher, Professor Carmencita Guanzon Arambulo, aka “Mrs. A.”
Just before Janna began the concert by playing the piano, Janna, standing in front of the audience, bursted into tears. She dedicated the night for Mrs. A.
“I was fortunate that I was under Professor Carmencita Arambulo Arambulo and so she really nurtured me,” she told Soundstrip.
‘To teach music’
Janna said there is a “lack of interest” of people towards classical music, but Adrian is optimistic, saying “it’s getting better.”
“Like when I’m on my instagram I see a lot of Tik Tok or Reels that show classical music and then like a lot of people have interest in it and yeah, that’s why I wanna teach,” he explained.
“I also think that’s why I really wanted to pursue piano… so that I can provide good piano education and awareness to the next generation especially,” Janna said.
Janna plans to someday move back to the Philippines and start a studio.
The same goes for Adrian, saying, “I also wanna perform abroad. But I do want to get to go home. I do wanna give a class or something and just teach.”
Asked what the secret is to becoming a good musician, Janna and Adrian had one answer: discipline.
Janna added, “But when the time comes, you always have to make sure that you love what you’re doing, you love the music and you enjoy it.”
TEACHING CLASSICAL MUSIC | Two young Filipino musicians aim to promote classical music in PHL
Source: News Paper Radio
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