GUITAR players – amateurs and professionals – are invited to join the national guitar competition, “Himig ng Panahon,” launched recently at the Victoria Sports Building in Quezon City.
Presented by Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, the nationwide search is open to guitar players aged 13 to 25 who are currently not under professional management contract or signed by any music label.
The grand winner will receive P100,000 cash, while the second and third place winners will receive P50,000 and P35,000, respectively. A consolation prize of P5,000 will be given to twelve finalists.
The competition aims to revitalize the age-old tradition of musical performance and to honor Filipino heritage through musical creativity.
According to Jerry Acuzar, chairman of New San Jose Builders, Inc., the property developer of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, the competition is a cultural expression that trains the spotlight on guitar, not only as a fretted musical instrument but also as a cultural symbol that transcends generations.
“The sound emanating from the guitar gives one a feel of the bygone days of our younger years and is now becoming unpopular due to the advent of digitally produced music,” said Acuzar, a known advocate of Filipino culture and heritage. “We want to
keep it alive and support its longevity.”
“Himig ng Panahon” winners will be chosen by a panel of judges that includes noted composer Ric Mercado, six-string master Noel Manalo Mendrez, and classical guitar professor Lester Demetillo.
Mercado is a musical director and arranger and is regarded as one of the best acoustic and electric guitarists in the country. He appears in ABS-CBN’s “ASAP,” and has performed and recorded albums with OPM icons Martin Nievera, Gary V., Lani Misalucha, Sarah Geronimo and Aiza Seguerra, to name a few.
Mendez, on the other hand, is a seasoned session guitarist who has been in the business for more than three decades now. He has collaborated with local artists Kuh Ledesma, Regine Velasquez, Jay-R, Francis Magalona, Ogie Alcasid, and Lea Salonga, among others. He has also performed alongside foreign acts Fra Lippo Lippi, Michel LeGrand, David Pomeranz and Patty Austin.
Meanwhile, Demitillo, a respected name in the academe, is a classical guitar professor at the University of the Philippines College of Music. He is the founder of the much-awarded University of the Philippines Guitar Orchestra, composed of outstanding students majoring in Guitar in UP.
The finals will be staged on Nov. 18 in one of the performance venues of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. The winner will be chosen based on his dynamics and style (30%), clarity and intonation (25%), timing and tone quality (25%) and stage presence (20%).
For details, please contact Live Artist Production, Inc. at 920-2643 or 926-0556.
Las Casas Filipinos de Acuzar is a project of New San Jose Builders, Inc. in consultancy with Asian Grand Legacy.
