They are following in the footsteps of pre-war and Baby Boomers who performed classical opera lead roles in Milan’s La Scala, Venice’s Teatro la Fenice, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and other world stages. Wala Lang Millennial musicians have been our unsung diplomats, so to speak. They generate goodwill and bring honor to the Philippines.
Tenor Arthur Espiritu has been performing lead roles in leading international opera houses. A European critic wrote that countertenor Kyle Sanchez Tingson’s voice has an “unearthly quality.” Jeffrey Ching composed a full-length opera at age 17 that was premiered at the CCP in the 1980s.
He continues to win prizes in Germany for operatic and cutting-edge compositions. Pianist-conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, age 24, has conducted European orchestras. Next month, he is opening Hong Kong Philharmonic’s season.
He will be its music director in 2026. They are following in the footsteps of pre-war and Baby Boomers who performed classical opera lead roles in Milan’s La Scala, Venice’s Teatro la Fenice, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and other world stages: Jovita Fuentes, Jose Mosessgeld Santiago Font in the 1920s and 1930s, then starting in the 1940s and 1950s, Dalisay Aldaba, Isang Tapales, Aurelio Estanislao, Remedios Bosch Jimenez, Eleanor Calbes, Evelyn Manda, Gilopez Kabayao, and Nena Villanueva. In Manila, I remember Conching Rosal as Carmen and Salvacion Oppus Yniguez as Michaela in Bizet’s “Carmen” translated to Taga.