Camille Thomas joins the Manila Symphony Orchestra for Centennial Concert V on October 22, 2026. 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. MSO Principal Conductor Maestro Marlon Chen leads Centennial Concert V. Ryan Cayabyab and Virgilio Almario premiere Pasasalamat Co...

The FEU Bamboo Band returns to the FEU Auditorium with MALAYA: Songs of Freedom on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 7:30 PM . Presented by the FEU Center for the Arts, the one-hour concert brings together Philippine folk music, reggae, and international songs in a program about freedom, peace, and cultural identity. “Kapayapaan,” “Wind of Change,” “Bayan Ko,” and “Imagine” are among the announced selections. Hearing them in a program built around Philippine bamboo instruments is the particular draw here, with the FEU Chorale and a soloist from the FEU Theater Guild joining the band for two of the evening’s collaborations. I’ve previously featured the band’s Let It Beatles and Ang Tangi Kong Ikaw concerts on Unsaulicited. MALAYA offers another way into its work: a selection of songs connected by what they express, rather than by a single artist’s catalog.

Filipino singer-songwriter Nicole Laurel Asensio is putting the songs, and the stories behind them, at the center of an intimate new performance at 78 Salcedo in Makati. On September 19, 2026 at 7 PM , Nicole presents Songwriter , a one-night show featuring 20 compositions selected from hundreds she has written over the years. The set includes songs audiences already know, along with unfinished work, spoken word, fragments, and material that has rarely, if ever, been heard in public. More than a regular concert set, Songwriter gives audiences a closer look at how some of Nicole's music started before it became a finished recording. I've been following Nicole's work for a long time. I still remember being in awe of her Mimi in 9 Works Theatrical's Rent back in 2010, and years later, her music was among the songs I found myself turning to during some particularly difficult months of the pandemic. That history is part of why a show centered on the songw...

On August 29, 1956, audiences at the Far Eastern University Auditorium heard Georges Bizet’s Carmen in Tagalog. Not a Filipino-inspired retelling. Not a few translated songs placed inside a variety show. Bizet’s opera, performed in Tagalog, with a young Conchita “Conching” H. Rosal singing the title role. Seventy years later, the Manila Symphony Orchestra is returning to FEU on the same date. Opera at Kundiman: The Legacy of Maestra Conching Rosal will be presented on August 29, 2026, at 7:00 PM at the FEU Auditorium in Manila. It is the fourth concert in the MSO Centennial Season and also marks Rosal’s 100th birth anniversary. Manila Symphony Orchestra. Photo courtesy of the MSO. How Carmen reached Manila in Tagalog The 1956 production was conducted by Herbert Zipper, who had succeeded MSO founder Alexander Lippay as musical director. Trudl Dubsky-Zipper staged the opera. Instead of using the original French libretto, the production used a...

Manila Concerts Some concerts are programmed around an occasion. Others return to the historical thread that makes the occasion matter. For the third concert of its Centennial Season, the Manila Symphony Orchestra is doing the latter. On Saturday, July 4, 2026, the MSO brings In Pursuit of Excellence CELEBRATION: The MSO Centennial Season Concert III - LIBERATION: 80 Years of the Philippines Republic to the Manila Metropolitan Theater . The concert looks back to the first days of the Republic of the Philippines while bringing together Filipino and American music that reflects eight decades of artistic exchange, cultural connection, and friendship. In Pursuit of Excellence CELEBRATION: The MSO Centennial Season Concert III - LIBERATION: 80 Years of the Philippines Republic takes place at the Manila Metropolitan Theater on July 4, 2026. Official image courtesy of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. What to Know About In Pursuit of Excellence CELEBR...

Manila Concerts Christiana Serafin de Ocampo returns to Manila for a two-month series of Homecoming Concerts. Solo portrait photo credit: Dominic Dimagmaliw. After years in Europe, acclaimed Milan-based spinto soprano Christiana “Tinette” Serafin de Ocampo is back in Manila for a two-month series of Homecoming Concerts. The Manila dates are not a pause in her European career. They are part of what comes next. De Ocampo is establishing an Asian base while continuing her international work across Europe and expanding her artistic presence throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Her homecoming brings together four announced performances from June to August 2026, moving from major opera arias to orchestral collaboration and a concert lecture. The organizers have also announced plans for masterclasses, with further details still to follow. What to know Artist: Christiana “Tinette” Serafin de Ocampo ...

From Mozart to Mahler Manila 2026: Manila Symphony Orchestra From Mozart to Mahler in Manila on May 30, 2026 brings the Manila Symphony Orchestra to Proscenium Theater Makati for a program led by Joshua Dos Santos and featuring Emanuel John Villarin, Christian Wrona, and selected members of the UST Symphony Orchestra. The Manila Symphony Orchestra continues its Centennial Season with this upcoming concert, adding another major entry to the 2026 cultural calendar. If you have been following Unsaulicited's Manila theater and live performance coverage, this program stands out for how it brings together classical precision and Romantic scale in a single evening. Image courtesy of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. Concert Details: Date: May 30, 2026 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Proscenium Theater, Makati City Conductor: Joshua Dos Santos Performers: Manila Symphony Orchestra, Ema...

Kate Liu in Recital Manila 2026 brings International Chopin Competition laureate Kate Liu to Ayala Museum on May 2, 2026 for her Philippine debut. For more classical music, recitals, orchestra features, and live performance coverage, visit the Concerts in Manila hub on Unsaulicited . Presented by Veniccio.com in partnership with MA Piano Academy, this one-night recital places one of today’s most admired pianists before a Manila audience for a program centered on Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. For listeners who follow classical piano closely, Kate Liu’s arrival in Makati is the kind of event that immediately stands out on the 2026 concert calendar. Kate Liu in Manila 2026: Quick Info Event: Kate Liu in Recital Date: May 2, 2026 Time: 7:00 PM Venue: Ayala Museum, Makati City Performer: Kate Liu Program: Chopin, Schumann, Brahms Ticket Prices: PHP 2,500 to PHP 10,000 Tickets: Veniccio.com W...