Bass-baritone Rainier Arthur P. Cruz will be performing a scene from the opera, “L’Elisir d’Amore,” by Gaetano Donizetti, as Dulcamara, in the graduation recital of his student, Elijah John Marquez, at the Dalisay Aldaba Hall, University of the Philippines (UP), Diliman, Quezon City.
Cruz is an assistant professor at the Voice, Music Theater and Dance Department of the UP College of Music.
He finished Diploma in Creative and Performing Musical Arts (DCPMA) Major in Voice, Bachelor of Music (BM), Major in Voice, and Master of Music (MM), Major in Voice, minor in Musicology, at UP.
Last Nov. 8, he celebrated his 10th year of teaching with the concert, “Grazie (Thanks),” at the GT Toyota Auditorium, UP Asian Center. He performed “Lord God of Abraham” from “Elijah,” “Ang Langit sa Lupa,” and “If Ever I Would Leave You.”
Last Aug. 8, Cruz performed with internationally acclaimed Japanese musicians—sopranos Satsuki Hayashida and Ayano Kumada, pianist Naoko Matsuoka, and folk artist Tatsuya Hosono—in “Bridge to the Future: The Philippines and Japan Friendship Concert,” at the UP Abelardo Hall Auditorium.
Cruz performed Japanese folk songs “Kojo no Tsuki” by Rentaro Taki (with Matsuoka); “Oboro Zukiyo” by Teiichi Okano (with Matsuoka); “Fujisan” (with Kumada and Matsuoka); and “Nanatsu no Ko” by Nagayo Motoori (with Kumada and Matsuoka); and Filipino songs “Nasaan Ka Irog” (with Cheng); “Bituing Marikit” (with Cheng); “ Pobreng Alidahaw” (with Hayashida and Cheng); “Anak Dalita” (with Hayashida and Cheng); and “Minamahal Kita.”
On April 3, 2009, Cruz performed the title role in the Philippine premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Attila” for his Master of Music Major in Voice graduation recital. He was joined by his colleague Reuel Tica.
He has also portrayed Dulcamara in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore,” for which he was commended by a review from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and in the Christmas Gala Concert of the UP College of Music from 2003 to 2010. Cruz has also done notable performances of the works of George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, and Gioachino Rossini.