MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) through its Cultural Exchange Department (CED) presents “Mabuhay Philippines!,” a cultural awareness and arts appreciation program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and migrants, from October 20 to November 06 in selected communities in Europe.
Now on its fifth edition, Mabuhay Philippines will feature The Nightingales, composed of sopranos Bianca Camille Lopez-Aguila and Keiko Cressida Cayanga. The tour program will also include lecture demonstrations-workshops on Mindanao dance theater by Professors Cecile Mambuay and Lolito Pontillas of Marawi/Cagayan de Oro and Agusan del Sur, and puni leaf art by Marichelle Bernardo of Malolos-Bulacan.
When it was first implemented in 2013 and 2014, Mabuhay Philippines brought the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers for concerts and workshops in Singapore and Hong Kong. In 2015, the CED facilitated the performance tour of CCP Gawad Awardee Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation in various Filipino communities in Prague, Vienna, and Venice.
In 2018, the program brought the Song Weavers Phils. and Lahing Batangan Dance Troupe to Changwon City, South Korea for the Arirang Migrant Workers Cultural Festival. The program has been well-received in the three countries, with OFWs and Filipino migrants expressing their appreciation of the program.
For the Europe tour this year, the first leg featured concerts by the Song Weavers Philippines in June and July 2023 in Belgium, Germany, and France.
The last leg will have concerts in the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. These are in partnership with the Filipino Catholic Community of Gouda, Team Blended of Bonn, the Philippine Catholic Community of Cologne, and the Parroquia Immaculada Concepción Y San Lorenzo Ruiz in Barcelona.
The Nightingales concert program is a vibrant fusion of musical styles, featuring Filipino folk songs that celebrate cultural heritage, powerful operatic performances that will showcase the soprano duo’s vocal prowess, catchy pop tunes to captivate a modern audience, and heartwarming Christmas songs to spread holiday cheer.
The Mabuhay Philippines concert tour is organized by CED, led by department manager Chinggay Jasareno-Bernardo, with The Nightingales artistic Director Alfred Allan Samonte and production manager/videographer John Ryan Aguila.
