Ingrid Sala Santamaria was in town for a breather and more, brimming with anticipation about 2012 being her 50th year as a concert pianist. She and sister-in-law Susan Montenegro Sala gathered media friends for lunch at Casino Español to share the news and reminisce about events in 1962.
All ears and eyes (there was an album of photo memories) were Nelia Neri, Chinggay Utzurrum, Cookie Newman, Mila Espina, Flor Ynclino, Joe Recio and Honey Loop. As one may imagine, it was quite a gabfest and not just about pianistic achievements, though it is on the latter that we will delve in.
Ingrid was a golden-haired girl of 10 in 1951 when she gave her premier piano recital in Cebu. For years, she had studied at the family-run Battig Piano School with her mother Pilar Blanco Sala, an excellent pedagogue and concertist herself.
In 1955 she had her Music Teachers’ Certificate solo piano recital, and in 1957, her Bachelor of Music degree solo recital. In 1958-59 she was in New York at the famous Juilliard Music School. In 1960-1962 she worked for her Master of Music degree under Aida S. Gonzalez.
Things happened so fast in 1962, she recalled. On February 18 Ingrid played the Schumann Concerto with the Filipino Youth Orchestra conducted by maestro Luis Valencia. Venue was the auditorium of Santa Isabel College in Manila.
Two days later, on February 20, she gave a solo piano recital at Fleur de Lis auditorium of St. Paul’s College in Manila, presented by Jeunesse Musicale of the Philippines. Ingrid had won First Prize in their “Search for a Talent” music competition.
A month afterward, on March 20, Ingrid performed the Beethoven Emperor Concerto as soloist with the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Redentor Romero at Philamlife auditorium, in Manila.
Two months from then, on May 19-20, Ingrid played Franck’s “Symphonic Variations” as soloist with the Quezon City Philharmonic Orchestra. Guest conductor was British maestro Dudley Simpson in a two-night ballet event starring Dame Margot Fonteyn and the Royal Ballet at Rizal Theater in Makati.
Ingrid glowed as she remembered these four glorious events that came in the span of three months. “Now, let’s fast forward to 2006,” she said. This is the year she hatched the novel idea of performing the great piano concertos accompanied by a string quartet in lieu of a full orchestra.
For that she commissioned professor Jeffrey Solares to make the arrangements for a program of concertos from composers of the Romantic Era (1800-1900). Her first performance in this unique genre was in 2006 with the Manila-based string quartet from Peace Philharmonic of the Philippines. The occasion was the Diamond Jubilee of Santa Isabel College, held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
2012 concert in Manila
For her 50th anniversary performances in 2012, Ingrid will utilize this genre. She has scheduled a Manila Concert in the Park for Sept. 16. The PPP string quartet will be composed of Professor Solares (viola), Gerry Gonzalez (cello), Brian Cimafranca and Sara Gonzalez (violins).
“Maybe I’ll have a quintet for the Cebu performance,” Ingrid remarked. It will be sometime in September, with date and venue to be announced later.
US-based pianist Reynaldo Reyes was one of Ingrid’s first mentors (1962-65) along with Benjamin Tupas and José Contreras. In 2001 Ingrid and Reynaldo embarked on twice-a-year “Romantic Piano Concerto Journey Tours” as an outreach educational program.
They have logged more than 400 performances with these tours which have taken them all over the Philippines and to key cities in Asia and the United States. “We’re doing one in 2012, all over Luzon, but we still have to finalize the schedule,” Ingrid confided.
Ingrid Sala Santamaria gave Cebu its golden decade of music in 1991-2000. With her as founding chair and Susan M. Sala as president of the Salvador and Pilar Sala Foundation, the 10-year Music Education Development Program was launched.
The project touched talented and deserving youth from Cebu and neighboring provinces on a completely scholarship basis program, totally unprecedented in the country. By 1995 there was the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra which, by 2000, metamorphosed into the Peace Philharmonic.
In the past 50 years Ingrid has received numerous awards. Three of them are transcendentally significant. In 2000, she was cited as one of the Most Notable Cebuanos. In 2004, French President Jacques Chirac granted her the Order of National Merit with the rank of “Chevalier.” In 2006, De La Salle College in Manila conferred on Ingrid the degree of Doctor in Music Education honoris causa.