MANILA, Philippines — In line with the celebration of Women’s Month this March, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) performs under the baton of a female conductor, Dr. Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng, at the CCP@The Metropolitan Theater.
The performace last March 17, at 8 p.m. was the seventh installment of the 38th concert season and featured pieces by female composers, such as Marie Jocelyn Marfil’s "Pyagsawitan (Wedding and Harvest)," National Artist for Music Lucresia R. Kasilag’s "Festival from Philippine Scenes," and Denise Santos’ "The Light of Extreme Darkness."
During the program, PPO also performed Ralph Vaughan Williams’ "Serenade to Music," accompanied by a 16-voice choir, as well as Ludwig van Beethoven’s "Symphony Number 7 in A Major, Op. 92."
Guest conductor Dr. Shangkuan-Cheng is the incumbent president of the Philippine Choral Directors Association and the artistic director of the Las Piñas International Bamboo Organ Festival. She works as an associate professor at the University of the Philippines’ College of Music, where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate music students the art of conducting. She is at the same time the Philippine representative to the Asia Pacific Choral Council and the Asia Choral Association.
Dr. Shangkuan-Cheng earned her degree in music from the University of the Philippines. She also has a master’s from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, plus a doctorate degree in musical arts from the University of Michigan.
As a conductor, she has performed with various international orchestras in South Africa, Germany, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Spain, Vietnam, Portugal, and Singapore.
Through the years, Dr. Shangkuan-Cheng has received several awards, including the Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Award from the Yale School of Music, the Margot Fassler Award, and the Hugh Giles Prize from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music for her conducting, first prize at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Graduate Conducting Competition. She has participated as a fellow at the Levi Barbour Fellowship of the University of Michigan.
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