The ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra is a Filipino radio orchestra based in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. It was founded in 2012 with financial support from

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

and First Philippine Holdings. It is composed of 40 instrumentalists. The orchestra's musical director and conductor is Gerard Salonga.

History

The official debut of ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra was on July 20, 2012 in a concert held at the Dolphy theater. The orchestra played some classical pieces and some musical scores of Filipino films. Its first major public debut was on the "Icons at the Arena" concert at the

SM Mall of Asia Arena The SM Mall of Asia Arena, also known as the Mall of Asia Arena or the MoA Arena, is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It has a seating capacity of 15,000 for sporting events, an ...

on July 16, 2012. The orchestra played some of the most recognized film scores of the American composer

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

in its first solo concert, "The Magic of John Williams" on September 2, 2012 at the

Meralco Theater Meralco Theater is a theater located at the compound of Meralco, Ortigas Avenue in Pasig, Philippines. It used to be known as the Meralco Auditorium. It seats over 1,000 people and is a popular venue for various concerts, plays, musicals and eve ...

. In 2013, due to public demand, the orchestra repeated their concert "The Magic of John Williams" on February 23 held also at the Meralco Theatre. The orchestra has played alongside

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

, Idina Menzel,

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyin ...

Lisa Macuja Lisa Teresita Pacheco Macuja-Elizalde (born October 3, 1964) is a Filipino prima ballerina. In 1984, she became the first foreign soloist to ever join the Kirov Ballet. In the Philippines, she is the Artistic Director and CEO of Ballet Manila a ...

Ballet Philippines Ballet Philippines (BP) is a ballet company in the Philippines founded in 1969 by Alice Reyes with the support of Eddie Elejar and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Proficient in both ballet and modern dance,Jacinto, J. 2007. The Ballet Com ...

Ballet Manila Ballet Manila is a classical ballet institution and dance company in the Philippines. It currently highlights more than fifty highly trained dancers in the highly rigorous Russian (Vaganova) method of classical ballet. Locally the company has pe ...

Joanna Ampil Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom. Career Joanna is a stage actress. She played Kim in ''Miss Saigon'' (London, original Australian production, original United Kingdom and Ireland Tour a ...

Jose Mari Chan Jose Mari Lim Chan (; born March 11, 1945) is a Filipino singer, TV host, songwriter and businessman in the sugar industry. He is currently chairman and CEO of Binalbagan Isabela Sugar Company, Inc. (BISCOM) in Negros Occidental and A. Chan Su ...

, Ogie Alcasid,

Martin Nievera Martin Ramon Razon Nievera (; born February5, 1962) is a Filipino-American singer and television host. In his career spanning more than three decades, Nievera has garnered eighteen platinum, five double platinum, three triple platinum, and one ...

, Pilita Corrales,

Louie Ocampo Louie Ocampo (born Jose Luis Ocampo on June 21, 1960) is a Filipino composer and arranger best known for his association with Martin Nievera. His numerous hits, mostly collaborations, include ''Tell Me'', ''Kahit Isang Saglit'', and ''You Are My ...

, Ryan Cayabyab,

Basil Valdez Basil Salvador Valdez (; born 8 November 1951) is a Filipino singer. He has received several Tinig Awards and the 1991 Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from Ateneo de Manila University. Biography Like many Filipino singers in the 1970s, Basil S. Valdez st ...

Rey Valera Reynaldo Valera Guardiano, better known as Rey Valera (born 4 May 1954), is a Filipino singer, songwriter, music director, film scorer and television host. He wrote and produced songs that were recorded by various singers, most notably Sharon Cu ...

Christian Bautista Christian Joseph Morata Bautista (born October 19, 1981) is a Filipino singer, actor, host, and model. He was a finalist of ''Star in a Million'', a Philippine reality show aired on ABS-CBN channel, winning 4th place in the competition in 2003. ...

, Janella Salvador,

Jona Jona may refer to: * Jona, Switzerland, a village of the municipality Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland * Jona (river), in the cantons of Zürich and St. Gallen in Switzerland * Jona (album), ''Jona'' (album), an album by Jona Viray People with the giv ...

, and Xian Lim among many others.

Film scores

ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra has scored several films including ''Debosyon'' (2013), '' Ignacio de Loyola'' (2016), and ''

Ang Larawan ''Ang Larawan'', internationally released as , is a 2017 Philippine musical film directed by Loy Arcenas. Based on the 1997 stage play, ''Larawan'' which in turn was based on the 1950 literary play ''A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino'' by Nati ...

'' (2017). The orchestra also provided the musical score for the Agila: The EKsperience attraction of Enchanted Kingdom.

References

External links

ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra website
{{authority control ABS-CBN Corporation Filipino orchestras Star Music artists Radio and television orchestras Musical groups established in 2012 2012 establishments in the Philippines Assets owned by ABS-CBN Corporation