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Sometimes, the best of ideas are brought out from the least expected places. Asian Journal Publisher and CEO Roger Oriel and friend Lito Ocampo Cruz, who first met when they co-produced Kuh Ledesma’s reunion concert with the Music & Magic at the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and the Blaisdell Hall in Honolulu in the late ‘80s, were merely having their usual casual conversation at the backporch of the Oriels’ residence in LA last summer when the idea of establishing the first Filipino-American Symphony Orchestra came to them. A call to Roger and Cora Oriel’s uncle Andy Tecson, a violinist himself and also a member of the AJ family, quickly followed, and he got in touch with fellow musician, Bob Shroder. That call was music to Bob’s ears. The rest is history in the making.
Filipinos are generally thought to be musically gifted people. Once during a break in an international business conference that I attended in Hongkong, the Filipino delegates were asked to belt out a couple of songs. Surprised, the Pinoys apologized and said they can’t sing. To which the Europeans shouted back, “No way, all Filipinos can sing!”
Well, it’s not true that all Filipinos can sing, but it is safe to say that Filipinos do generally love music. Pinoys love not only singing but listening to music. Just visit the Philippines, and you’ll notice that all public transportations, from jeepneys to tricycles, are tuned to music. Most public places are, too, like malls, restaurants, terminals, and others. From classical to pop, to jazz and rock.
No wonder, the Philippines has one of the oldest orchestras in Asia—The Manila Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1926.
Thus, it is just fitting that in Los Angeles County—the region which has the biggest concentration of Filipinos outside of the Philippines—there should also be a Filipino orchestra. Seeing the need for such a group has long been overdue, many talented Filipino musicians in LA have often wondered who will have the burden to take on the cudgels and form the orchestra. A few months ago, the dream began to take shape as the Asian Journal took the lead in forming the first Filipino American Symphony Orchestra (FASO).
To cultivate the artistry of Filipino musicians and showcase the innate Filipino musical talent, the Asian Journal is at the helm of FASO, calling and inviting all musicians—from high school students to veteran orchestra musicians—to join the orchestra.
“We’re making history here in LA as we form the first Filipino-American Symphony Orchestra,” said Bob Shroder, musical director of FASO. “The musician’s level that we’re looking for is from advance to professional, with experience playing in an orchestra,” he added.
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