Against the backdrop of calamity caused by “Yolanda,” The Peninsula Manila and its partners Stores Specialists Inc., Citibank and Philippine Tatler, in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, ring in the holiday season filled with hope.

“Celebrations: 31 Years of Christmas Concert at the Pen” will be staged Dec. 13,   5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Part of the concert proceeds will benefit The Peninsula Hotel’s Hope for the Philippines fund.

Last September, The Peninsula Manila broke ground for the construction of the Hope for the Philippines The Peninsula- Gawad Kalinga Village in Maribi, Tanauan, in Leyte.

The village will house 100 families in the coastal town of San Roque who lost their homes when Supertyphoon “Yolanda/Haiyan” struck.

The construction will use the $900,000 fund raised from The Peninsula Hotel’s Hope for the Philippines campaign.

The village will include 100 new housing units, a health center, a community playground and 10,000-square meter multi-purpose hall.

“We are committed to the long-term recovery of the communities devastated by Yolanda/Haiyan,” says The Peninsula Manila general manager Sonja Vodusek.

“A year after the typhoon hit our shores, we have started developing our build site, but we intend to go beyond just building homes—we want to give the people of our chosen community a better future. We will assist in the schooling of the community’s children as well as share the collective knowledge of our engineering, finance, food and beverage and housekeeping teams in skills training and livelihood seminars. We will also establish cooperatives and other long-term income-generating projects. But sustaining these efforts requires additional funding.”

Concert-goers are asked to contribute a P1,500 consumable fee (exclusive of taxes and with selections from a special merienda menu), with 25 percent of the proceeds going to the Hope for the Philippines fund.

Maestro Ruggero Barbieri will team up with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO).

Joining them onstage are Lani Misalucha, mezzo soprano Camile Lopez-Molina, soprano Ena Maria Aldecoa and a 50-voice choir composed of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers and the University of Santo Tomas Singers.

Freddie Santos is concert’s director.

The repertoire includes musical classics like Gounod’s “Jewel Song” from Faust, Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dance” and Verdi’s “Va Pensiero” from Nabucco, all-time Christmas hits such as “Joy to the World” and Ryan Cayabyab’s “Isang Taong Lumipas.”

Vodusek says, “In the aftermath of something so terrible and devastating your generosity will go a long way in helping our kababayans in the Visayas. It’s important to warm people’s hearts, to inspire them and get them to dream again.”

For details, The Peninsula Manila at tel. 8872888 loc. 6671 or 6694.