Hollywood music icons come to Manila to share film images in symphony orchestra

Manila Symphony Orchestra’s “A Night in Hollywood” is all set on June 28, 2025 at 7:30 pm at Aliw Theater CCP Complex as MSO proudly announces the second featured concert for its 99th Season dubbed as such. This exciting concert will feature new music composed for movies as well as a suite of iconic Hollywood compositions.

Some of the artists who are coming to Manila for a weeklong collaboration with MSO are Angel Velez, an American guest conductor and one of today’s most sought-after conductors for film and television and guest conducting for pop concerts around the world having given world premiere concert performances for hits such as “Captain Marvel,” “Green Book,” “Tom and Jerry in New York,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and many more. In addition to his work in the studios of Los Angeles and as conductor of the Hollywood Studio Chamber Orchestra, he has served as music director for the Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival, American Society of Cinematographers Awards, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Miss World 2022, one of the largest televised events in the world. He has produced concerts such as “Silent Films LIVE,” “Star Wars: Past and Present” and HBO’s film “For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story LIVE IN CONCERT” starring trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval. He has recorded for the Varese Sarabande and Sudwestrundfunk labels and continues to work in the entertainment industry on shows such as “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Star Wars: Rebels,” “Family Guy,” “Jane the Virgin,” “The Mandalorian” and many others, including the recently released MGM superhero film “Samaritan” starring Sylvester Stallone;

Hungarian cellist Zoltan Onczay received his diploma at the Liszt Music Academy Budapest in 2004 in the class of László Mező, cellist of the famous Bartók Quartet.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive (LAFCI) which is dedicated to advancing the art of conducting by providing workshops will also be part of the show;

Sophia Bass, a composer, was given the monikers Wunderkind and “bold composer” by her mentor, Hollywood film composer Roger Neill. Sophia is a Chicago-based orchestrator, arranger and conductor. She attended college in the U.S., receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology for Composition at Oberlin College and Conservatory;

Mohamad Rasull, who plays flute and piccolo with the Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra and the Singapore Wind Symphony, is a composer, conductor, and educator with a unique background in both music and mathematics; 

Robin Raisch is the Wind Conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) at Inglewood under the Los Angeles Philharmonic;

Noah N. Zubia-Sanchez is a Latin American composer and innovator of minimal Latin-Jazz. He is celebrated for weaving the vibrant rhythms and harmonies of Latin music with elements of jazz, orchestral innovation, and minimalist aesthetics; and Ricardo Reyna who is a conductor for Zubia-Sanchez is also a trumpet player, and music educator located in the Los Angeles area. Currently, he holds the position of Music Director at Glendale Adventist Academy. (Toots Tolentino)