The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under the baton of Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura greets the New Year with its 6th series of its current concert season with pianist Hiyas A. Hila as its featured soloist on January 18 at 8pm at the CCP Main Theater.
The program consists of Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op.92.
Pianist Hila returns to play with the PPO after her critically acclaimed debut performance as soloist in an all Mozart concert of the PPO conducted by Maestro Fukumura in 2017. The Philippine Daily Inquirer acclaimed pianist Hila’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major as a “coup.” “She knew her concerto inside and out and her demeanor showed she was in excellent Mozart frame,” the PDI said.
Hiyas Hila performs regularly as a solo, orchestral and chamber music artist. She has been featured in concerts in the United States, Spain and the Philippines. Her orchestral appearances include performances with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, and the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra.
Hiyas earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota School of Music, with Lydia Artymiw as her teacher, and her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in piano performance, with Mack McCray as her mentor, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. A graduate of the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA), she attended the University of the Philippines College of Music for two years, where she was a consistent university scholar before she moved to the United States. Her previous piano teachers were Regalado Jose, Leonor Kilayko, Ariel Dechosa and Cecile Basilio-Roxas. She has played in masterclasses given by Blanca Uribe, Faina Luzshtak, Roman Rudnytsky, Russel Brandon, Reynaldo Reyes, Ariel Dechosa, Boris Slutsky, Julian Martin, and Albert Tiu.
Dr. Hila received several scholarships and fellowship awards such as the Sergei Barsukov Scholarship for Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship Grant, the University of Minnesota Centennial Piano Fellowship, U.P. Concert Chorus Alumni Foundation, Inc. Scholarship, Cecile B. Licad Scholarship, GlaxoSmithKline Philippines Scholarship Grant, and the Sonny B. Reyes Foundation grant.
She garnered top prizes in several piano competitions including the 2005 University of Minnesota Concerto Competition; the 2006 and 2007 Elinor Bell Piano Competitions in Minneapolis; 2006 Schubert Club Piano Competition (Graduate Division) in St. Paul, Minnesota. In Manila, she won the 1995 Category B and 1992 Category A-2 NAMCYA piano competitions; 1995 Piano Concerto Competitions sponsored by the Piano Teachers’ Guild of the Philippines; 1991 Lyric Piano Competition, and 1991 Rosario Picazo Piano Competition.
Dr. Hila currently teaches piano, chamber music and piano ensemble at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, California and at Saint Brigid Catholic School in San Francisco, California. She previously taught applied piano and class piano at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Tickets are Php1500, Php1200, Php800, Php500 and Php400.
For inquiries and reservations, call the CCP Box Office (832-3704), TicketWorld (891-9999) or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
