Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra Tops Two International Music Competitions in Europe
After winning the Gold Prize and Grand Prix at the recently concluded Bratislava International Music Festival in Bratislava, Slovakia last July 4, the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) repeated its success three days later by winning the First Place, with Outstanding Success for String Orchestra Category at the 2024 Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival in Vienna, Austria. The competition was held July 7 at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, one of the most iconic concert venues in the world.
Together with the MSJO, first place was also awarded to the Hsing Lung String Orchestra from Taiwan while second place went to the Hong Kong Youth Strings and the Taipei Municipal Zhongzheng Junior High School while the Third Place went to the Singapore National Youth String Orchestra.
The 40-member orchestra’s European Concert Tour started June 29 with performances in Budapest, Salzburg, and a competition in Bratislava, where the group scored 99 points and was awarded the only Grand Prix given to participating orchestras. They will continue with a concert at the MuTh Theater in Vienna on July 8 and will perform at the Winner’s Concert at the Vienna Konzerthaus on July 9. Their tour continue to Prague, Czech Republic with a concert at the Smetana Hall on July 11 before returning to the Philippines on July 13.
The entire 2024 European Tour of the MSJO was sponsored by Standard Insurance, led by its Group Chairman Ernesto “Judes” Echauz, who is joining the group for the entire duration of the tour.
The MSJO performed a program consisting of Puccini’s Crisantemi, Dvorak’s Scherzo from Serenade for Strings, Stephan Koncz’ A New Satiesfaction, Ernani Cuenca’s Nahan arranged by Cyro Cloud Bon Moral, and Tagu-taguan by Ryle Nicole Custodio. The group performed their repertoire entirely from memory.
The Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival is one of the most prestigious music festivals for young musicians. This year’s festival, led by Artistic Director Prof. Saul Saks and Managing Director Christian Bender was attended by over 2000 participants from 14 countries and 38 distinct ensembles
MSJO was led by its conductor Jeffrey Solares, executive director of the MSO Foundation and Associate conductor of Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO), and current MSO Concertmaster Sara Maria Gonzales and MSO Principal cellist Arnold Josue.
Vittorio Vicenzo “Vinci” G. Vizcocho V, son of Subic Bay News Publisher Vic V. Vizcocho, Jr. and Managing Editor Louella is a member of MSJO, a youth orchestra training project of the MSO Foundation, whose project include the MSO, one of Asia’s oldest orchestra, the MSJO, and the MSO Music Academy.
The MSO Foundation is currently applying to be chosen as one of the National Performing Arts Companies (NPAC) where it hopes to be chosen as a National Orchestra under the Republic Act 11392 that will allow deserving non-government performing arts companies to receive regular funding from the Philippine government. (MSJO)
