SOPRANO Stefanie Quintin and classical guitarist Anton Luis Avila have been sweethearts since their high-school years in Baguio City. The way the romance began depends on who’s telling the story.
Avila said they met during the National Music Competition for Young Artists in 2005. “I was competing in the Category B Guitar Competition. She was part of her school choir for the Category B Choral Competition. It’s a long story from there, but that’s how Stef first fell for me.”
Quintin protested: “I did not notice Anton back then until my friends started having a big crush on him. Having a crush on a guitarist was inevitable. So there, we became high-school sweethearts and eventually became colleagues. We have been performing together since 2007.”
The two plan to make their chemistry evident on June 5 in “Acoustic Adagietto,” a dinner concert production of the Cultural Arts Events Organizer (CAEO) as part of the Baguio Summer Music Festival at Hill Station on Upper Session Road, Baguio City. Dinner starts at 6 p.m., concert at 8 p.m.
Free lecture
Quintin, with Avila as accompanist, will also give a free lecture-demo-cum-mini-recital on June 4 on “The Miracle of the Human Voice” at 3 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church at No. 1 Palispis (formerly Marcos) Highway, Baguio.
Quintin has degrees in Vocal Pedagogy and Vocal Performance from the University of the Philippines. She trained with Fides Cuyugan Asensio and Rica Nepomuceno.
After earning his degree in Applied Mathematics from Ateneo, Avila studied guitar at UP under another legend, Lester Demetillo.
He found a corporate job, but, he said: “The cyclical life in the corporate setting drained me. So my dream of studying music came knocking again.”
After he convinced his parents for support, he entered the UP College of Music as a student.
He said: “I was relatively successful as a guitarist during my stint there. There were realities to accept. I wanted to stay, but after discerning, I realized that getting a degree in Music wasn’t for me. While my pursuit for a degree was put on a halt, being a musician, being a student of music, never stopped.”
Brazilian music
Asked why they chose Brazilian music, particularly bossa nova, for the second part of their June 5 program, Avila said he “was intrigued with the syncopations and harmonies of South-American music.”
“This comes from a deep love for the classical-guitar repertoire, built largely on Spanish and South-American music,” he added.
“The reality is, some music, like those of Juan Carlos Jobim and Laurindo Almeida, are now considered standard repertoire for classical musicians. Thus, they’re here to stay.”
For tickets and inquiries, visit Hill Station, call (074) 4242734, 0915-8292166, or e-mail [email protected]; or contact CAEO at 0906-5267241, 0920-9540053, 0918-3473027 or (074) 9979483.
The Baguio Summer Music Festival and “Acoustic Adagietto” are supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Smart Telecommunications.
