Pianist Oliver Salonga is the first featured artist of the CCP Special Concert Series 2016 which will be held on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino at 7:30 PM.
Praised for his emotional energy and technical brilliance, Salonga has enthralled music aficionados in concert halls in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Australia and the Philippines. The two-time winner of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) is an alumnus of the Philippine High School for the Arts where he was awarded Outstanding Graduate Artist for Music.
Salonga recently obtained his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Southern California under the guidance of Norman Krieger. He also minored in Music Analysis, Music Management, Audio-Engineering and Collaborative Arts. In 2009 and 2011, respectively, he obtained his Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma in Piano Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music under 2001 Van Cliburn Silver Medalist Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and was awarded the Sadie Zellen Piano Prize for his superior musical talent. Under his guidance, Salonga won the Gold Medal in 2008 Jeonju International Piano Competition in South Korea. He has been invited to the world’s most prestigious competitions including the Hilton Head International Piano Competition (2010), Scottish International Piano Competition (2011), and Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition (2011).
He is currently under the guidance of Prof. Angela Cholakyan, Russian concert pianist and pedagogue, at the Soochow University in China and serves as her assistant. He also handles piano duo ensembles and piano students in the preparatory division. With her partnership, Oliver has won 2nd prize in 2015 Steinway National Piano Competition and 2nd prize in 2015 Yamaha Piano Competition in China.
His program is as follows: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.31 in A-flat Major, Op.110; Chopin’s Introduction and Variations on La ci darem la mano, Op.2; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36 and Liszt: Rhapsodie Espagnole, S.254.
Salonga will also give a piano masterclass at the CCP Little Theater on Tuesday, August 2, 2016.
Other featured artists of the CCP Special Concert Series are award-winning guitar Trio Triple Fret on August 24, 2016 and brilliant soprano Bianca Camille Lopez on September 28, 2016.
For information regarding tickets, regular and student subscriptions, contact the Paulo Perez of the CCP Marketing Department at 832-3704. For information regarding the piano masterclass, email the CCP Artist Training Division at ccp.artist.training@gmail.com or 832-1125 loc. 1604.
