PPO’s December concert features bassoonist Mendoza

Bassoon player Adolfo “Pong” Mendoza is the guest solo­ist in the fourth concert of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under the baton of Maestro Hermin­igildo Ranera that will be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) on December 16 at 8 p.m.

The concert program includes F. Suppe’s Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna— Overture, A. Buenaventura’s Concert for Bassoon and Orches­tra in F minor op. 87, and P.I. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor.

Mendoza graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Perfor­mance degree from the Uni­versity of Sto. Tomas (UST). He obtained his masteral de­gree in music from Elisabeth University of Music in Hiro­shima, Japan, where he was a full scholar. He also passed the international scholarships for the master’s program in the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, the Univer­sity of Southern California, and Brooklyn College in New York. He finished his doctoral degree in music at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Mendoza is the assistant principal bassoon player of the PPO; conductor of the Lyce­um Northwestern University Chorale and Trinity University of Asia Symphonic Band; a faculty member at the UST’s Conservatory of Music and Sta. Isabel College of Music; and a freelance composer and arranger.

A conductor, composer, arranger, performer, and edu­cator, Ranera holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the UST Conservatory of Music, majoring in Trombone and Theory; a Master of Music degree from the University of Northern Colorado; and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Cagayan State Universi­ty.

Ranera has served as a visiting professor and guest conductor in Taiwan, China, Singapore, Thailand, and Cal­ifornia State University-Long Beach. He has also composed incidental music for various productions staged at the CCP, and has done orchestral arrangements featured in the albums of Maestro Redentor Romero that were performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

The conductor is cur­rently a faculty member of the UST Conservatory of Music, where he is the conductor of the UST Symphony Orches­tra and UST Wind Orchestra. He is the founding presi­dent of the newly organized Philippine Band Association (PhilBandA).

A senior officer of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxilliary, Ranera is the music director and conductor of the Philippine Coast Guard Symphonic Band and the San Juan Nepomuceno Band of Malibay, Pasay City. He is the PPO’s current associate conductor.

Tickets are available at P1500, P1200, P800, P500 and P400.

For inquires and subscription, call the CCP Box Office at (632) 832- 3704 or Ticketworld at (632) 891-9999.