From Musician To Politician, Letter For Music

Heto yung letter ni Maestro Olivier para kay President Aquino.

I have to quote him and it goes ...




Dear President Aquino,

As Music Director/Principal Conductor of the Filipinos’ leading orchestra, I can say that it was a momentous occasion for us, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), to have performed for your inauguration on June 30, 2010 and to have helped welcome you as the next President; it is equally a great pleasure for us to honor your mother, Ms. Corazon Aquino, for the one-year anniversary of her passing.

We look forward to proudly representing the Philippines and doing our part in promoting the arts in the country and abroad in times to come, as the PPO has done now for several decades. As you know, a country’s strong standing within the international realm depends on a plethora of successes, which you have already been working hard to ensure.

One aspect of a country’s growth depends also on its cultural components – this includes the arts, which in your country are yearning to be shared by Filipinos with fellow Filipinos but also with the rest of the world. The amount of talent in this country is impressive.

Nevertheless, due to recent changes in the preceding administration, funding for the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which is the top exponent of cultural promotion in the country, was drastically cut. This has caused an enormous burden on the individual constituents, in which are included, among others, the PPO.

President Aquino, without music and arts, life would be quite dull – not only for professional musicians, but for the thousands of Filipinos we reach each year by way of bringing music to them. As an example, think of your inauguration without the PPO; it would still have been a great inauguration and your speech to the Filipino people would still have been as moving as it was. But the event itself might have lacked a certain special quality which music brings through its universal reach.

Filipinos are optimistic about many things in light of your recent inauguration, albeit realizing that you are very busy in ascertaining the country is headed again on the right path. I am also optimistic that you will understand the economic plights that are facing the arts, and in particular the CCP and Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Therefore, I have written you today to welcome you at any of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s upcoming performances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as well as to any of the other wonderful cultural events that the CCP is proud to present to the Filipino people. I would be happy to give a detailed listing of these events to you or to your cultural attaché.

Maraming salamat po for your time, and I hope to be able to interest you in some of our productions. We wish you the very best as our new President!

Sincerely,

Olivier Ochanine
Music Director/Principal Conductor
Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra