Full interview with classical pianist Nick Nangit

“I don’t want us to lose our identity. We should love our country, our music, arts, and culture”

In the June 3-9 issue of Market Monitor, we featured an excerpt from an interview with classical pianist Nick Nangit who will hold a concert tomorrow, June 29, 2024 at 2 pm at the Bulwagang Gat Antonio J. Villegas in Manila City Hall.

In this time, we are bringing the full text of our interview with Nick, a lawyer, multimedia artist and a spirit quester.    

Boy Villasanta (BV): What will be your repertoire this time?

Nick Nangit (NN): After the success of “Timeless” last October, I was asked by the City of Manila early this year to perform again and do a “Timeless 2.” I got excited and gladly acceded. I was given the option to choose either February or June. February was too early, so I opted for June. There would then be sufficient time to prepare. Little did I know that my concert would be the culminating activity for the City’s three celebrations, namely: Independence Day (June 12), Jose Rizal’s Birth Anniversary (June 19), and Araw ng Maynila (June 24). So, I thought the best way to combine all three events was to trace the History and Development of Filipino music, arts, and culture, which was in line with my original repertoire. I would be performing mostly Filipino classics and traditional (meaning, indigenous) music from pre-Spanish times to the contemporary popular period.

My repertoire will include the musical influences of Spain/Mexico (of course, especially the habanera, creole, and syncopated tango rhythms on our kundiman, harana, and balitaw), America (impact of jazz, rhythm and blues on our marches and the roaring 20s vaudeville), Germany and Britain (to show the horrors of war), and our neighbors China, Japan, Thailand, and Korea (their Eastern-type of dissonance and microtones loved by ethnomusicologists). There will also be traces of French impressionism and Russian militancy in a few pieces. What excites me more is that most of the music you will hear are Philippine premieres, meaning they have never been played in our country, and two will be world premieres, meaning commissioned work as a tribute to the OPM geniuses.

BV: How would you differentiate your “Timeless 1” with “Timeless 2”? What musical realities/revelations perhaps (eye-opener, kind or otherwise, etc.) that you have encountered in “Timeless 1” that you want intact in “Timeless 2”?

NN: While the first “Timeless” was a happy blend of heavy classical and light Filipino music for my comeback to the concert stage, with an added orchestral treat, “Timeless 2” would be a more relevant showcase of how our music started and evolved. With the various influences from different cultures mixing with the innate musical sensibilities of our forefathers, anyone can hear the richness of our culture. To cap it all, there will be Live paintings done by the resident artists of the Manila Clock Tower Museum, except that we will now move to a bigger venue, the Bulwagang Gat Antonio Villegas of the Manila City Hall.

I would say that the musical eye-opener would be the penchant of the Filipino audience to always love our own, at the same time welcoming the new and avant-garde. It’s like an experimentation that reveals our resilience to changes. An example would be the surprise finale where I will be joined by world-class artists to hopefully inspire everyone and still see the beauty of life.

BV: What are the striking arts and culture practices in the Philippines that you are presenting to embody your music?

NN: It is quite revealing that our composers in the early 1900s—the likes of Santiago and Abelardo—patterned their works after their Spanish and American counterparts. They are quite predictable. But there are a few who ventured into the unknown by mimicking the sound of our gongs and other ethnic instruments, as well as nature itself, and combining diatonic scales and clusters with the art forms and time signatures of the West. In a way, it is a strikingly mad but beautiful fusion that is novel to the ears.

BV: Will this “Timeless 2” exclusively Filipino music, Filipino in English (lyrics) music or pure Filipino music?

NN: Since our culture is very rich, you will get to listen not only to the works of Filipino masters, but also to Filipino music arranged by foreign contemporary composers. It surprises me that non-Filipinos today (would you believe that?) have so much interest in our folk music, raising these to concert standards and away from the usual salon-types or tertulias. You will get even more excited, because this will also be a comeback for the lead Jazz /R&B singer of a well-known band who will be performing a timeless Filipino classic, as well as collaborations with world-class operatic singers and other very gifted but low-key vocalists who need a little push to be recognized – one who will be singing for the first time another Filipino classic in another language and another who will probably be our answer to Josh Groban, both in looks and talent.

BV: Will you be interpreting “kundiman”? If yes, what are these?

NN: Oh yes, definitely, I will. I will be doing chamber music with an operatic tenor – the Kundiman works of Abelardo, Santiago, San Pedro, and the like, and then the two of us collaborating with a violinist who trained under Gilopez Kabayao himself (who is world renowned for being the first Filipino violinist to perform solo at the Carnegie Hall in New York). Their works will tell us much about the sentimentality and passion of Filipinos, as well as their love of country. I hope that we get to inspire more nationalists as we reminisce local songs that are no longer played, much less known by the millennials.

BV: In your law profession, are there materials that could be transformed into music like legal cases that you have handled that reflect or embody your music?

NN: That will be a tall order. But, one thing for sure is that, legal cases can be a very good source of inspiration for writing music about family, poverty, and the ills of society.

Did you know that the most painful and bloody cases involve, for example, inheritance among siblings who turn to monsters, because of greed often initiated by their spouses allegedly for the sake of their children? Families are torn apart, especially when the parents leave to become OFWs. Music of this sort can be fiery and regrettably sad later on, because everyone loses in the end.

Another case where the poor are often neglected and so resort to various crimes just to have food on the table. It’s an economic issue. This is where the horrors of war come in. Manila was the Paris of the Orient until it was declared an Open City due to the war. We were destroyed and heavily damaged in a war not of our making. Everyone lost here. The gap between rich and poor has started to become very appalling. The poor refuse to learn, and the rich refuse to teach. In their desperation to survive, the poor commit so many crimes and eventually lose trust in the system of governance and regulation, but then I would also be showing in “Timeless 2” that the post-Liberation era can also be viewed as a period of revival and hope.

In today’s society, many legal cases still show the avarice of the rich who merely throw crumbs at their workers, and the government is inept at putting a stop to this altogether. Sad, yes, but music for this should not be downright resigned to fate and incapable of redemption. Music can paint the bad in us, but it can also be the cure that brings out the collective good.

BV: Will you play original compositions, especially contemporary creations by you or other composers?

NN: Yes, there will be original arrangements. These are commissioned works of OPM quite challenging to the arranger. I have not seen the copies yet, but I will soon. They are surprise world premieres – familiar to the audience, yet novel to the ear.

BV: How much preparation are you devoting to “Timeless 2”?

NN: Every day now. The pieces may be short but nonetheless demanding in so many aspects. The rhythms, styles, genres, and interpretation are unique. I am gasping now as I speak, because the pieces are both daunting and challenging physically, mentally, and emotionally. I even added a Tribute to the prolific songwriter and film composer, Henry Mancini, who is celebrating his 100th birth anniversary this year. I carefully picked three of his works that have parallelisms to our own history. They can be quite nostalgic, I assure you.

BV: Are you musically accompanying all your guest performers?

NN: Yes, from start to finish, I will be accompanying them. Although I am a soloist, really, I can also do chamber or intimate music for special occasions like this. Last year, I was joined by an orchestra, this time a multi-awarded choir under the direction of a world-class conductor.

BV: What impact would you want to create to the audience and to yourself as well from “Timeless 2”?

NN: We should revive our own music. We are a nation of multi-cultures and artists. We should be proud of it.

Despite our working on a very small budget, and hoping for sponsors to generously help us defray the costs of a seemingly big production, we remain steadfast in our mission of reviving the best in each one of us, for the Filipino represents both the East and the West in music, arts, and culture. It is an indispensable pillar in our national development.

Sadly, the young generation has become a sucker for K-pop, Japanese, and Western trash. They do not anymore know our roots. Some even scoff at and deride the music of our Filipino masters, thinking of their works as something that they are embarrassed to listen to or even share with others. If we continue to ignore or relegate these to the black curtain, we will just wake up one day not knowing who we are.

I don’t want us to lose our identity. We should love our country, our music, arts, and culture. It is a heritage written in our hearts and nurtured by our souls. We should teach our children and they, in turn, should teach theirs to love our country. No one else will.