Camille Thomas Joins MSO Centennial Concert V
The Manila Symphony Orchestra continues its 100th anniversary season on October 22, 2026 with a program that gives as much space to something new as it does to the classical repertoire. MSO Centennial Concert V brings Franco-Belgian cellist Camille Thomas to the Proscenium Theater alongside the world premiere of a work by two Filipino National Artists.
MSO Principal Conductor Maestro Marlon Chen leads the orchestra at 7:30 PM in a program featuring the World Premiere of Pasasalamat by National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, with text by National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario. Thomas performs Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, while Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Op. 48 closes the evening.
Ryan Cayabyab and Virgilio Almario premiere Pasasalamat
Commissioned by the Manila Symphony Orchestra for its centennial, Pasasalamat is a new work for choir and orchestra built around gratitude, but not merely gratitude as a polite thank-you. Almario’s text connects it with responsibility to others, compassion, respect for differences, freedom, justice, culture, knowledge, and the willingness to accept criticism and change.
That makes it a particularly smart choice for an orchestra celebrating 100 years. A centennial can easily become one long victory lap, but commissioning a new Filipino work shifts part of the attention from everything the MSO has already done to what it can still contribute to Philippine musical life.
Pasasalamat also gives the MSO centennial a work created specifically for this moment instead of simply borrowing meaning from an existing piece. Its world premiere becomes part of the orchestra’s history on the same night that the orchestra is looking back on a century of it.
The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bagong Himig Serenata joins the Manila Symphony Orchestra for the premiere. The choir also returns later in the program for Fauré’s Requiem, giving it a substantial role across the evening rather than a single appearance.
Camille Thomas performs Tchaikovsky with the Manila Symphony Orchestra
Camille Thomas takes the solo spotlight in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33. The Franco-Belgian cellist has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2017 and has performed with orchestras and conductors across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Written in 1876, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations looks back to Classical elegance without turning the cello into decoration. The soloist has to move between lyrical passages and some seriously demanding writing, which makes it a natural showcase for Thomas without throwing the shape of the whole program out of balance.
Thomas has also spoken through her work about music as something that can connect people beyond the concert hall. Her recording Voice of Hope, released in partnership with UNICEF, fits neatly beside the ideas of community and responsibility running through Pasasalamat, without requiring the two works to sound anything alike.
Fauré’s Requiem closes the concert
The evening ends with Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Op. 48, performed by the Manila Symphony Orchestra and PUP Bagong Himig Serenata. It is a markedly different Requiem from the kind built around terror, judgment, and theatrical force, with Fauré leaning instead toward consolation, peace, and rest.
Put together, the program has a clearer point of view than a simple anniversary greatest-hits concert. A brand-new Filipino commission opens one door, Thomas and Tchaikovsky bring the solo spotlight, and Fauré leaves the evening somewhere quieter and more reflective.
MSO at 100 still has something new to say
The Manila Symphony Orchestra has every reason to spend its centennial talking about history. What makes Concert V more interesting is that one of the night’s central works has no history yet. Pasasalamat enters the repertoire on October 22 because the orchestra reached 100 and decided that celebrating the past should also mean making something for the future.
That feels like a much better use of a milestone. Remember the century behind you, bring an artist like Camille Thomas into the celebration, then make sure the anniversary leaves behind something that did not exist before it.
MSO Centennial Concert V tickets, date and venue
Manila Symphony Orchestra Centennial Concert V is happening on Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 7:30 PM at the Proscenium Theater. Tickets are priced from ₱1,000 to ₱5,000 and are available through TicketWorld, with discount codes available for students, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.
The concert is presented by the Manila Symphony Orchestra Foundation, Inc. and Standard Insurance, and co-presented by EastWest Bank and DENZA Alabang by ACMobility Premium Dealership Inc. Sponsors include the Embassy of France to the Philippines, Grand Hyatt Manila, National Performing Arts Grantee, and SM Hotels and Conventions.