SENTIMENTALE AND MUÑOZ STRING QUARTET AT SUNSHINE PLACE ONLINE

The Sunshine Place completes this year’s Sunshine Classics online concert series with Sentimentale, which brings together the magic of music from the flute and the piano on November 1 to 15; and with the Muñoz String Quartet on November 16-30 via the Sunshine Place: Senior Recreation Center’s YouTube Channel.

Sentimentale from November 1 to 15 features virtuoso pianist Dingdong Fiel and flutist Nico Dioneda. Relax at home and listen to scintillating strains from the piano and light, airy, poetic music from the flute in a program that includes the surprising, sensitive Sancan Sonatine, the elegant charm of the Poulenc Sonata, and the Claude Bolling’s crossover Jazz Suite for Flute and Jazz Trio.

Immanuel Nico O. Dioneda, is a musician, educator, and an aspiring entrepreneur from Calbayog City, Samar. He graduated cum laude from Bachelor of Music in Music Education, with emphasis in flute performance, at the University of Sto. Tomas, and his musical artistry has brought him to different places in the Philippines and all over Europe (Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, France, Rome, and Vatican.) Currently, he is a flutist-member of the Pundaquit Virtuosi, a pride of the Province of Zambales and the Tacloban based Asian Development Foundation College Symphony Orchestra.

Dingdong Fiel, pianist, composer, vocalist, and musical director/conductor, earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from the UST conservatory of music in 2007. Immediately after graduation, he was awarded a two- year full scholarship grant for post graduate studies (Weiterbildendes Certificate) at the FRANZ LISZT Hochschule Fur Musik in Germany and was one out of only four pianists from around the globe (2007-2009) chosen to study solo piano and Chamber music under the rector – Prof. Rolf Dieter Arens as well as Vocal accompaniment with prof. Karl Peter Kammerlander.

Through sponsors like the Deutsche Post, the UST Alumni Organization, Thueringer Aufbau Bank, Sparkasse Thueringen, and The Neue Franz Liszt Stiftung, Dingdong was able to perform in a series of piano concerts around Europe, The Middle East, Asia and the USA. He was pianist and the co-founding member of the Jazz fusion trio “HDC” and the Dingdong Fiel Quartet.

The Muñoz String Quartet, on the other hand, will be performing selections from Dvorak’s American String Quartet, as well as Carlos Gardel’s Por una cabeza (a tango) and Verdi’s Brindisi from La Traviata on November 16-30. Violinists Juan Muñoz and Gian Barayuga, violist Mhaze Lim and cellist Paul Natividad, the quartet will serenade you with its intimate, fascinating performance.

Born in Santiago, highly-acclaimed Chilean violinist-conductor Juan Muñoz studied under Prof.Fernando Ansaldi and Prof.Sergio Prieto at the Catholic University of Santiago (Chile). There, he was concertmaster of the University of Santiago Symphony Orchestra and toured throughout Chile, Argentina and Peru as soloist and concertmaster of the Pro-Musica Orchestra.

Mr. Muñoz lived in South Africa for 25 years, playing a very active and vital role in the country’s musical life, and was sub-principal violinist of the CAPAB Orchestra. Currently, he has a private violin studio and also teaches at the Waldorf School in Laguna and in St. Scholastica’s College of Music where he conducts the String Orchestra.

Gian Paolo D. Barayuga started playing the violin at the age of 10 under Belgian violinist Dr. Cedric Lachenal. Currently, he is the Assistant Concertmaster of the PIC-AUP orchestra and the second violin of the recently formed Muñoz String Quartet. Mhaze Daniel, on the other hand, started playing the viola on their church IEMELIF at the age of 13 under Eugene Sumague under a program called MEC (Music Enhancement Course). A graduate of the  UST Conservatory of Music, he was the Grand Prize Winner and Special Prize Winner for best interpretation of contest piece of the NAMCYA 2015 Strings Competition Category C (Lower Strings). Currently, he is the principal violist of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and also play viola for the Emanon String Quartet.

Cellist Paul Natividad started playing his instrument when he was 13 years old. A graduate of the St. Scholastica’s College of Music, Paul won the 1st Prize and Best Interpretation of a Contest Piece in the NAMCYA 2017 Category C. In 2018, Paul won First Place at the prestigious Summa Cum Laude festival held in Vienna, Austria with the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra.

Reserve your tickets now, just contact Mariel Ilusorio at (0917) 709-2255 or marielilusorio@hotmail.com. Ticket prices per concert are P250 senior rate and P350 regular rate. Ticket purchases are accepted until 12:00 noon of November 15, 2020 for Sentimentale and November 30, 2020 for Munoz String Quartet.

Once registered, an email will be sent to registrant containing the program’s link. The link will be valid respective to the duration of each concert. With one click, registrant can access the concert video as many times as they want.

Aside from Sunshine Classics concert series, Sunshine Place Online also offers music classes for its members/clients which include piano, voice and music therapy classes. Just contact 09175155656 or email online.sunshine@gmail.com to enroll.

The Sunshine Place, a senior recreation center under the Felicidad Tan Sy Foundation, is a venue for adults to live actively, through engaging in recreational classes and age-appropriate physical training programs. It is the venue to be entertained, to socialize and to reflect; a place of happiness and wellness for one’s mind, body and soul.

For more updates, like and subscribe to our Facebook Page and YouTube channel, Sunshine Place: Senior Recreation Center. Or follow our Instagram account @sunshineplaceph.