98.7 DZFE | The Master's Touch

Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. — Westminster Shorter Catechism 1 Journey with Pastor James Chu through the Westminster Shorter Catechism in HOLY & HAPPY. This weekly series is presented by Pilgrim Community Church and 98.7 DZFE.

Pianist Aidan Baracol capped a year of competitions with two wins: second prize in the International Clara Schumann Competition, and silver in the World Classical Music Awards. Joining DZFE’s Daniel, he shares his experiences joining those events, and talks about his winning pieces: Brahms’ Intermezzo, Op. 118/2, and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. We also hear Baracol performing those works on...

It is difficult to overstate Tagumpay de Leon’s influence as a champion of rondalla music in the United States. Over the decades, he has performed with various ensembles, co-founded the Rondalla Club of Los Angeles, and taught at the University of California, Riverside. All of this work came to a head last year when he was named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts. An...

Performing in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, soprano Ena Maria Aldecoa says that she was, at times, speechless. Two years on, and the experience remains just as vivid: with DZFE’s Daniel, she revisits that 2019 performance in Hofheim am Taunus, and tells us more about Bach’s celestial Christmas Oratorio. We also hear excerpts from that recording on this edition of MAESTRO FILI...

Comfort, hope, and healing—these are the themes of John Rutter’s Christmas Music, an online concert featuring Alejandro Consolacion II and flautist Crystal Concepcion in Rutter’s Suite Antique and Christmas piano music. On MAESTRO FILIPINO, Consolacion joins DZFE’s Daniel to tell us more about his years-long relationship with Rutter’s compositions; rekindling old friendships onstage; and the quali...

This MAESTRO FILIPINO, DZFE's Tiffany returns to the vibrant sound world of Nilo Alcala's choral music. The composer talks about his compositional tool box, the landscape of Filipino music, and the Filipino composer's mission. We also listen to three of his characteristically evocative works.  MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's program on the Philippine classical music scene. All music on...

In the upcoming MAESTRO FILIPINO, DZFE's Tiffany is in conversation with the exuberant composer Nilo Alcala, whose work — particularly choral music — has been on the ascent among Filipino ensembles, and has also been performed abroad. Part 1 of our two-week feature on his choral music ventures into the texturally and thematically diverse world of his album /Onomatopoeia/ with the Philippine Ma...

The Vidmar-Tiro-Tiro Trio brings music—and color—into Giulio Antamoro’s 1911 silent film, Pinocchio. Pinocchio was featured in the 15th International Silent Film Festival Manila, courtesy of the Embassy of Italy and the Philippine Italian Association in the 140th year of Carlos Coloddi’s Le avventure di Pinocchio. Joining DZFE’s Daniel on MAESTRO FILIPINO, violinist Tullio Vidmar, composer and pia...

Will there really be a morning? That was the question posed, and answered, earlier this year in soprano Anna Migallos’ eponymous recital for Manila Pianos Artist Series. As the year begins to wind down, we look back to the songs of hope featured in that event, and forward to the morning to come. Soprano Anna Migallos joins DZFE’s Daniel on this program of MAESTRO FILIPINO. MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE...

This year, the FEU Marching Band Festival is Braving Boundaries—going from parade ground to virtual stage, the festival made up for last year’s hiatus by featuring both past and recent recordings, as well as marching bands from both here and abroad. Joining DZFE’s Daniel are FEU Center for the Arts Director Martin Lopez, and FEU Drum and Bugle Corps Artistic Director Illumar Togado. We also hear p...

Range is just one of the numerous strengths of OperaJuan. Celebrating its members’ love for all of music theater, the group caps this concert season with Seeing Double—a two-part recital featuring both classical art songs and musical numbers, mounted in collaboration with Manila Pianos Artist Series. Joining DZFE’s Daniel on MAESTRO FILIPINO are artistic director, baritone Red Cruz, tenors Nathan...

Julio Nakpil: His stately funeral marches and his longest work, a patriotic masterpiece for large orchestra, belong to Vol. 4 of the recordings of the Julio Nakpil Music Project. Musicologist and project head Dr. Sandy Iñigo Chua joins DZFE's Tiffany to talk about the composer-revolutionary's music for symphonic band and orchestra this MAESTRO FILIPINO. MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's progr...

The stage may be closed, but the virtual piano classroom is thriving, thanks in large part to the Piano Teachers' Guild of the Philippines Foundation, Inc. In part 2 of the MAESTRO FILIPINO spotlight on PTGPFI’s Beethoven and Beyond, Guild president Anthony Say and competition chair Carolyn Cheng tell us more about how the Guild has been helping to sustain—and advance—the piano teaching profes...

It has been the tradition of the Piano Teachers' Guild of the Philippines Foundation, Inc. to hold a piano festival and a piano concert every year. 2020 was the exception, when the celebrations of Beethoven’s life and music had to be postponed to a later date—that is, early 2021, when the Guild held Beethoven and Beyond online. MAESTRO FILIPINO features music from that event, as well as Guild...

Music is not an end in itself, but a celebration of life. Take it from cellist Renato Lucas, who, with pianist Dingdong Fiel, presents "Love in the Time of Pandemic" — a birthday offering to "all the people we carry in our heart". Music and life are, aptly, the topic of conversation this MAESTRO FILIPINO, in which the cellist and Secretary General of NAMCYA joins DZFE's Tiffany...

The Kuwerdas Filipinas Symphonic Rondalla has launched its debut album. Released exactly three years after the group’s inaugural concert, the album features original works for the rondalla, all previously performed at past festivals of the Strings of Unity, and brought together to uphold the purpose of Kuwerdas Filipinas: to establish the rondalla as a serious music-making force, and to explore it...

From Bugs Bunny cartoons to the highs and lows of romance—pianist Inna Montesclaros brought these together in the latest installment of the Sunshine Classics online series, Nostalgia. Joining DZFE’s Daniel on MAESTRO FILIPINO, she tells us more about the program and the pieces she performed, as well as how she has been expanding her repertoire beyond music. MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's program o...

Manila Pianos Artist Series shines the spotlight on The Viola: joining DZFE’s Daniel, featured musician Joven Aquisap tells us more about the viola repertoire—larger than many might expect—and his upcoming online concert with pianist Dingdong Fiel. We also hear excerpts from their recordings of Schubert and Forsyth on today’s edition of MAESTRO FILIPINO MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's program on th...

Guitarist Rafael Ronquillo had long wanted to add more modern pieces to his repertoire. With concert schedules largely emptied by the pandemic, he grabbed the opportunity to cross that item off his list. Now he presents the fruits of his labor in the concert, La Guitarra Moderna—a celebration of guitar music from the 20th and 21st centuries, and the next event in Manila Pianos’ Artist Series. Join...

After completing a music degree, what next? The answer, for composer Ryle Custódio, is law school. It is naturally the next step on the path to becoming a composer who writes music for the cause of the downtrodden. Along the way, Custodio also managed to win first prize in the recent Busan Choral Festival and Competition. On MAESTRO FILIPINO, he joins DZFE’s Daniel to talk about that, his ideas ab...

From a parlor pianist to purveyor of deeply-felt funeral marches: The shift becomes palpable in the vocal and chamber music of Julio Nakpil, subject of the third volume of the Nakpil Music Project, into which we get a glimpse this MAESTRO FILIPINO. Heading the project, Dr. Sandy Iñigo-Chua returns for more conversation with DZFE's Tiffany. MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's program on the Philippi...

French hornist Deiniel Sanchez takes his audience Beyond the Common in more ways than one—as well as featuring Hindemith’s Horn Sonata which he performs with pianist Dingdong Fiel, the event is also Sanchez’s first solo recital. Join us on MAESTRO FILIPINO where he and DZFE’s Daniel talk about exploring his own personal sound, his experiences as a conservatory student in the online classroom, and...

Jude and Maria Theresa Roldan renew the call to Sing as One. Recently, the Roldans, at the head of the Young Voices of the Philippines, once more brought together an international ensemble of choristers, this time to premiere Lumen fidei. The work bears a message of hope to both listeners and performers, and is evidence of the Roldans’ work to keep chorale performance alive in the pandemic. Join t...

Mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa recently made the news for graduating summa cum laude—for the second time. Just as important is her rediscovery of music’s purpose following some of the darkest days of the pandemic. Now, as she prepares to embark on her post-graduate studies, Mariposa extends an Invitation to Voyage: a send-off recital where she invites her audience to look both inward, and toward...

Before flying overseas, flautist Zach Tad-y recorded a Manila Pianos Artist Series recital entitled Mystique. Joining DZFE’s Daniel, he gives us a sneak peek of his performance, and tells us more about his musical journey from piano student, to choir singer, to flautist, to music teacher, to graduate student in Queens, New York. Join us on MAESTRO FILIPINO. MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's program o...