NCCA To Hold SUDI Awards This August

The SUDI Awards will be happening soon. This is NCCA's way of recognizing Filipinos who have outstanding contributions in musical works, creators and artistic exellence.

Noel Ferrer says "The SUDI Awards started back in 2018, later adapted by today's chairman and comittee. The SUDI Technical working group was formed to further push its cause which includes Bayang Barrios, Twinky Lagdameo, Mr. C., Dr. Felipe De Leon Jr. and more. This is multi sectoral. Everyone is part of the creative aspect, this is part of the Filipino music that we enjoy today. The NCCA Awards is a product of creative interaction with other stakeholders. The SUDI Technical working group was formed for this, mabuhay ang musikang Filipino."

Dr. Felipe De Leon Jr. says "We had the technical working group and the NCCA to select from a roster of nominees. It's not just Manila but regional personalities, educators, groups, made dossier for them and then given to the jury. The contribution should be huge, something that moved a lot of artists. We based everything on research, we see how they contributed, their being as an institution, from different genre and chose who have influenced. If they have a huge understanding of their music and given inspiration to others. It should be long term impact."

Ryan Cayabyab says "Choosing awardees are easy, they do standout. The idea is to have one per year, but because of the multitude of people who contribute to the music industry, we see how huge their impact is. The jury will choose in the end, it's going to be difficult in the future years."

Mark Carpio of the Philippine Madrigal Singers says "When the pandemic started, we took a break. People are expecting from us and Filipinos need something that uplifts things, then we received this award during this time. NCCA told us then, we are honored and felt happy that we are being recognized. Maraming salamat po!"

Award winning pianist and PPO's Raul Sunico says "Thank you to the Jury. When I was informed about this, I asked about SUDI awards, and learning about it I have come to appreciate the recognition. We don't perform for awards really, to make music, to make people happy and to make an impact for others. Thank you for recognizing us and our efforts."

Professor Carmencita Arambulo says "I have been teaching music for a few decades now. When I got the notice, I was surprised about NCCA's SUDI awards. I haven't been working for awards really, I have been teaching musical greats, teachers, performers, when I hear how they have done well, I already am happy. They are my affirmation. I will continue to do this, thank you NCCA and jurors. I will still teach the youth so they become excellent in their craft, their character become great, so they become better citizens. These days I have done it online, I have found it actually effective. We need to have great teachers so we get really good youngsters. When they get recognized here and abroad, my heart is full because that is my mission as a teacher. Thank you!"

Tiffany Gabuya of DZFE says "I should begin by saying that, we thought it wasn't really for us. When we read it, we couldn't bellieve it. We have luminaries that received this and getting it, we were just so grateful. Our contribution to music, usually are from Broadcasting. If I'm going to run this station, we are not going to change things, we didn't join any awards since I took over the station. I think, I'm happy to be part of the first batch. The people of heritage, for several decades, we're special and we're going to treasure that. We are thankful for the NCCA for the award, even if we don't get one in the next years, you have acknowledged us today."

Noel Cabangon says "Getting this gives me comfort. I am happy to give what we have for the industry and other artists, I am thankful for receiving this."

Chino Toledo says "Getting the email I got a little surprised. I saw the other awardees, and it wasn't a joke. The head of comittee was Ryan Cayabyab and saw the list seeing everyone I knew. This shows focus on years of making music, we're not stopping there. We don't make them for awards but being recognized made us feel someone is looking at it, someone is hearing it."

Gloc 9 says "When I see email, I don't usually read it. When they told me, I was super happy that it came from NCCA. I know how meticulous they are in choosing people, this just proves how we can make our own waves to be able for other people to see our work. This trophy will be really memorable for me."

By the way, Leo Abaya made and designed the awards for SUDI Awards, but he passed a few months ago. I'm so glad artistic excellence is being recongnized especially in a country that has been known for talent like us. Make sure you see the actual awards night in two parts on August 21 and 28 at 7PM on the NCCA Official YouTube channel. It'll be something good for the soul.

Share Your Wanderlust

Mountain Climbing, a good activity in the alps!

Winter, Spring, Summer of Fall, if I were to choose between these seasons, I’d gladly choose Winter. The perks of modern day traveling these days are literally out of this world. Your wanderlust can take you to places of your dreams, landmarks that may have once be considered impossible for people to go to, but now is accessible for a fraction of the cost much like vacation rentals in breckenridge. These days, it’s not just the island adventures that count, you can make your vacations comfortable in ski resorts, the cold chilly places where you could do alpine activities the whole year round with your friends and family. People dream of snow, rushing down mountain slopes, ice karting, fat biking, zip lines, dog sledding and more. It’s something that people in the equator have never even seen, so if they wish for a chance in climate, a change of scenery, then this would be a good place to start.

In TV shows, we often see locals also do ice diving, wild adventures in cold zero temperatures that even adrenaline junkies would completely enjoy. Hiking up the mountains with snow shoes, small workouts that can even make you healthy, I would have that - and some time for dog sledding so we could enjoy the crystal white landscapes that would make my ski holiday the perfect one.

To relax the mood, I’d rather sit, chill with a glass of champagne and see the view. It gives us that relaxing mood that puts our mind at ease, so we can rest from the hustle and the bustle of everyday life. We could spend a little more on indoor stuff, a luxurious refuge like pools, a few minutes in the sauna (which also helps for health btw!) and steam rooms so we could tone down, feel better. It’s like a reset button, takes our mind off of things then face reality later on, ready to work even more so we could achieve our dreams. We all owe that to ourselves of course!

We also would be able to play, build a snowman, remember when we were kids where we thought everyone else lived in an igloo? I’d like to experience that too. These days, hotels do custom travel packages that can do exactly that, the more posh ones build temperature controlled structures so you can see the skies above, which makes more stars visible - pitch black scenes would look like black velvet backdrafts with shiny diamonds here and there.

To get there I'd prefer a direct flight, if not maybe short transfers. I'd like to stay in a hotel that looks like a chalet, or perhaps a smaller, more compact place where I have access to everything. I also want those small ski areas that are easy to get around, a very family-friendly accommodation. I have friends who also have minor kids, it would be great to have childcare options. We also want lift pass and equipment offers so the kids won't be bored while we're there to stay. Maybe they also need free access to nursery slopes, it's not going to be easy seeing them mixing around with the adults, it would be dangerous if they didn't have professional instructors or adult supervision.

It would be also great to experience the local culture, if not to live with the locals, perhaps a visit to the town or market would do. It’s practical to get to know these places first so you get a grasp of what the country identity is like, I think that is interesting. You’ll also understand their ways and apply the good ones when you learn something new, bring it back home and tell their stories. I think it makes you grow as a person, as a citizen of the world.

Oh and let’s not forget about the food. It’s not just hot cocoa and marshmallows when the temperature drops. This is the time when you have to let the guns out, make hearty warm meals like baked pastas, meat stews and pies. I distinctly remember my family preparing their best versions of Mac and Cheese, take the strides preparing the ingredients and make use of the slow cooker and do Lasagna with tons of cheese (which I prefer over anything else). I also dig the hot southern spiced fried chicken and cornbread, the beef stew, the chicken pot pie, meatloaf, deep dish pizza, spaghetti and meatballs our Mom used to make. I can make a mean steak done medium, mozzarella stuffed pork chops, lobster cheddar soup and warm buttery mashed potatoes that I put a drop or two of truffle oil just to make things better. What’s there not to love with winter?

There are a ton of destinations out there that have snow - I’m going to one of them this coming October and making preparations as early as now. In a nutshell, I have to make plans to meet people, see how they live, know their history, experience the touristy stuff, then the less touristy ones, plus the ones where you discover that the world is huge. You may not end up traveling in each of the countries in your bucket list, but do the ones that would make you happy. Our happiness stems from experiencing these all with our friends and family. I am happy to have gone to a few and live to tell the others at home about it. Even with sharing of stories you get to let them understand that nothing is impossible and you are proof of it.

That’s just the start. Thanks to you, they too will have wanderlust!

BINONDO A Tsinoy Musical

Rebecca Shangkuan Chuaunsu

When Madame Rebecca Shangkuan Chuaunsu went to China to trace her roots, she stumbled upon the story of a Chinese professor who told them about his greatest love and heartbreak. It takes them to the oldest Chinatown in the world, our very own BINONDO in Manila, Philippines.

I've been i n BINONDO quite a few times over the years and I like how it shows the Tsinoy culture, the delectable food choices, the nice olden buildings and its people. When I heard it was being done as a musical, I've had a pretty good idea how it would look like. In my mind it would look and feel that way too, but I watched this show - it had me crying towards the end of the story, I expected less, they have indeed given me more.

It started with a prayer, not required but it shows how deeply rooted Christianity is in the Philippines

The orchestra was phenomenal, I would choose the sets a few rows after the front ones because audio wise, I couldn't hear the voices as I was too near. I was seated beside playwright and famous writer Ricky Lee.

Albeit some creative freedom to make this for the stage, I didn't mind at all. They introduced us to the love story of Lily Dela Rosa and Ah Tiong. Lily is a lounge singer whilst Ah Tiong is a scholar who did his phD in the US, spent his vacation in BINONDO for two weeks finding himself falling in love with Lily before he went back to Beijing. The story revolves around an era where Mao meets Marcos, victims of situations they did not have any control with, what they were sure only of what was they love each other. I don't want to spoil the whole story for you so I'll concentrate on the actors performances because there are a lot of them that should be lauded.

The Binondo Arch with the moon in the background

Choreography was on point, thanks to Douglas Nierras and Powerdance

Costumes had hits and misses

The ensemble cast who played many roles, all were essential, although took some attention, provided entertaining comedy in some serious and tough times. The hits and misses we're just in the costumes as if we are going to talk about period clothing. The 70's should have stayed 70's, and the Chinese should have stayed Chinese, and not like French clowns which reminds me of some of the pieces here. This is a big production, upscale audiences could see the runs on panty hose, some sloppy adhesives on the microphone which would take away a lot of the actors look. I was worried about that. It demands so much talent and passion, they gave that solidly though, highly commendable.

During this show, lead actor David Ezra played An Tiong, I am a fan now. He took a while to warm up to the character.

This is also Carla Guevarra Laforteza as Lily, obviously an experienced actress

Noel Rayos as Carlos, I could see his veins come out of his neck while singing, that's passion right there.

David had real great pipes, you could hear him sing even on the back row

They had love scenes, I enjoyed that of course

He had kissing scenes, a lot more than Arman Ferrer according to the press I watched with that evening. Good job buddy!

Ima Castro is Ima Castro, world class!

Jasmine was okay. Played by Mariella Laurel.

Ruby was outstanding, no matter how short that stint is, she made a mark. 

I had a wide lens on my ASUS Zenfone5Q so it was easy to capture the whole stage even if I was in the front row

BINONDO would be so good for Tsinoys and people who would like to see and feel love, have their hearts broken, hope, disappointment, and all the feelings in between. Congratulations to Rebecca Chuaunsu Film Production for a job well done on this original material, this was just awesome, sophisticated, full fo feelings and playful. 

You may watch the show in it's last 5 runs. Binondo, A Tsinoy Musical happens this July 6 Fri- 8pm (carla / david / floyd), July 7 Sat- 3pm (carla / david / noel),  July 7 Sat- 8pm (shiela / arman / floyd), July 8 Sun- 3pm (shiela / arman / noel), July 8 Sun- 8pm (carla / david / floyd). It's worth to watch, I enjoyed it so much I may invite a few people on Friday to watch it with me. 

It's sensational and beautiful, some flaws but a good story and interpretation. Watch it at The THEATER at Solaire in Pasay City.

KUMAGCOW

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