The Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP) is now just weeks shy of 2019 where it begins its lineup of events geared towards its 50th anniversary on September—a groundbreaking milestone much anticipated by its patrons, frequent guests, former students, and roster of prolific artists. Find out more on what they are cooking for this momentous celebration:
CCP marks its golden anniversary with a sterling lineup of artistic performances, competitions, and culturally-inclined conferences.
"The artistic team has focused on three strategic areas namely, excellence in the arts, partnering for leadership in the arts, and broadening the reach of the arts," says CCP Chairperson Margie Moran-Floirendo.
Starting on September 2019 to 2020, art patrons will be indulged with live performances, exhibitions, as well as national and international tours of select CCP homegrown companies and revered local and international artists. Moreover, CCP will be hosting the conference of the largest alliance of major performing arts venues, the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centre, where executive directors, artistic directors, programmers, impressarios and suppliers in the performing arts venues in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to attend to plan on the industry's progress in the next years. Simultaneously, there will be a Manila Performing Arts Market, a gathering of performing arts professionals and groups to network, showcase, and pitch upcoming performances and seasons, engage in business matching, and enrich the Philippine creative industry. Not only that, CCP will be attending the 36th Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion Busan Conference and also opening the 37th concert season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo with Spanish-Philippine soprano Andion Fernandez as soloist. But perhaps the highlight of the month is the two-night show of the CCP People's Gala featuring the best performing arts and companies at the CCP Main Theatre.
Besides these, there are a lot in store for CCP not only during its anniversary month but also throughout the year. Most notable is the opening of the much-anticipated CCP Black Box Theatre, which will be known as Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez, that is designed for experimental theatre and multimedia experience for adventurous audiences. Furthermore, CCP expands the reach of its flagship festivals such as Pasinaya, Cinemalaya, and Virgin Labfest, to name a few.
"We celebrate the accomplishments of our artists of the last 50 years," says Moran-Floirendo. "We make first the important step to pursuing the possibilities of the next 50 years. And together with you, our friends and family from the media, will make it known to the broadest public so they, in turn, can participate and fully engage in the artistic gifts being prepared for the celebration. We are excited! And looking forward to CPP’s 50th foundation anniversary."
2019 is fast approaching but CCP still has a lot of spectacular events on the pipeline. Here's a quick overview:
PPO holds outreach concerts in Davao City
PPO will bring the excitement of live, symphony music to Davao City, through its outreach concerts happening on 23 November at 5:30 P.M. at Rizal Park, and on 24 November at 5:00 P.M. at RMC Petro Gazz Arena. Both concerts are free to the public. The first will coincide with the city's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, conducted by Maestro Herminigildo Ranera, while the second will be conducted by PPO music director and principal conductor Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura and Maestro Ranera.
