PPO CLOSES ITS 35TH SEASON WITH TRUMPET PLAYER DE LEON AS GUEST SOLOIST

Press release

THE Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra culminates its 35th season, billed “Romancing the Classics,” with a finale concert featuring trumpet player Raymond de Leon as guest soloist on April 13, 8p.m., at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater).

Under the baton of its music director Yoshikazu Fukumura, the CCP resident orchestra will perform F. Delius's “A Walk to the Paradise Garden” and “Summer Evening,” F. Haydn's “Trumpet Concerto,” and M. De Falla's “El Sombrero de Tres Picos (Complete Ballet).”

A three-time first prize winner in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Raymond studied at the University of Santo Tomas where he received the Benavidez Award twice for International Excellence in Music. He also worked as a recording artist with Global Recording Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Gerard Salonga.

He joined the Seattle Philharmonic in 2012. In the same year, Raymond has performed with the PPO, performing the Arutiunian trumpet concerto as soloist which drew raves from the audience and critics. He has also performed and toured in Europe, USA, and Asia with international orchestra players and competed in international music competitions. He served and performed as a soloist in the US Army with the 56th Army Band stationed at Joint Base Lewis – McChord in Washington.

Some of his accolades include: semi-finalist in the 1st Calvia International Trumpet Competition in Mallorca, Spain in 2003, third prize in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Trumpet Competition in New Jersey in 2006, and won First Prize in the Seattle Philharmonic Don Bushell Concerto Competition in 2011.

Meanwhile, Maestro Fukumura, recognized as one of the most famous maestros in Japan, is the former music director of the Tokyo Ballet, Kyoto Municipal Symphony, and Nagoya Philharmonic. From making recordings to conducting festivals and subscription concerts in almost all parts of Asia, he has found a huge satisfaction in working with Asian orchestras. He was assigned as the first chief conductor of ASEAN Symphony Orchestra, consisting of 80 musicians carefully selected from some of the ASEAN countries, at the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on October 2010 as supported by the Nippon Foundation.

Popular for conducting charity concerts, Yoshikazu Fukumura was appointed as the music director for the charity concert of the special orchestra in support to the Association of the Blind in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the same year. The concert was the pioneer symphonic concert in Cambodia after the civil war took place.

For inquires and subscription, call the CCP Marketing Department at 832-1125 local 1806, the CCP Box Office at 832-3704, or the TicketWorld at National Bookstore at 891-9999.