The Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Cebu proudly presented pianist par excellence Ingrid Sala Santamaria in a performance celebrating her 50 years as a concert pianist. The hotel’s ballroom was filled with an elegant crowd, many of them young students, come to render tribute and applause to Ingrid.
Ingrid was born in Cebu and learned to play the piano at home. She says her parents, Salvador and Pilar Sala, were most supportive, but never forced her. Her mother, a renowned pianist and pedagogue, was inspiration personified.
Anticipation for this concert had mounted for months, ever since Ingrid came to Cebu as house guest of pianist and teacher Tina Ebrada. Ingrid met the press and mentioned her plan to give an intimate performance to mark her golden jubilee.
How about the Marco Polo? Someone suggested. There they went. “A function room?” reacted a wide-eyed general manager Hans Hauri. “I’ll give you the grand ballroom!” Then and there they chose the day and time—Sept. 7, 8 p.m.
Posters were all over town and so were ads in all the local papers, prompting Ingrid to say this was the first time she appeared in a poster. One more item for the memorabilia, a friend said about the poster. For indeed, panels of Ingrid’s memorabilia were set up at the Marco Polo prior to the concert date. Amor Hernando, Ingrid’s close friend, took care of the press releases.
On this great occasion, Ingrid was surrounded by all her children and grandchildren. She made a grand entrance into the ballroom and so did they. The voice-over to introduce them was by Ingrid’s son, Joey Santamaria. In they came:
Crispy (née Santamaria) and Arsenic Laurel’s Jay, Matt, Carlos, Dan and Mia; Cecile Santamaria Nubla’s Cristina, Anton, Javy and Bianca; Joey and Kathy Santamaria’s Sam (Ingrid Jr.), Jaime, Sophia and Brian; and Cathy Santamaria Escaño’s Ignacio, Rocio and Natalia.
The stage for the evening’s performance had been set in the middle of the ballroom, beneath one of the chandeliers. Ingrid promenaded around the dais before settling at the piano, surrounded by the chamber quintet from the Peace Philharmonic of the Philippines (PPP), which rendered the orchestral accompaniment.
Unique and pioneering
It was explained that the arrangements had been commissioned from professor Jeffrey Solares, erstwhile music director of the Salvador & Pilar Sala Foundation, whose music development program gave Cebu a youth symphony orchestra which eventually became the PPP.
It is a unique and pioneering genre of which Ingrid is most enthusiastic. Clad in black and sporting sparkling gold bow ties were Marc Hamlet Mercado and Rey Abellana, violins; Christian Abaiz, clarinet; Ariel Perez, bassoon; and Christopher Mañus, double bass.
Arsenic Laurel, onstage, acknowledged Hans and Bo Hauri for their help in making the concert possible.
The spotlight also rested on Joy Cristobal, president of Lyric Piano and Organ Co., for shipping the gleaming Shigeru Kawai parlor grand piano for Ingrid to play on. The buzz was that the handcrafted instrument costs a cool P2.6 million.
The audience sat in rapt attention as Ingrid played Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, through its dreamily romantic movements: Allegro Maestoso; Romance-Larghetto; and Rondo-Vivace
There was no intermission as Ingrid went on with the next number, Mendelssohn’s Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, and its forceful movements: Molto Allegro con Fouco; Andante; and Presto.
When it ended, the audience sprang up their feet for a standing ovation plus shouts of “Bravo” and “More, More!” Ingrid obliged with an encore, also a part of her romantic repertoire. It was Rachmaninoff at this best, as in “Full Moon and Empty Arms.”
As the deafening applause subsided, Ingrid was asked to remain onstage for the presentation of awards. First was Alice Canonoy Morada with a plaque from Ingrid’s alma mater, St. Theresa’s College-Cebu Alumnae, of which Alice is president.
Another was a certificate of recognition from the Cebu City Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission (CHAC), duly signed by Mayor Michael Rama and Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, CHAC chairperson. Arrangements are underway to put up Ingrid’s memorabilia at the Cebu City Museum.
Ingrid admitted being overwhelmed and most grateful to STC and CHAC, whose awards had been kept as last-minute surprises. But Ingrid had to be told since they had been inevitably woven into the script’s flow.
“The artist will be onstage for photo ops,” said the voice-over. First up were children and grandchildren who had presented Ingrid with white roses at the end of the encore. Then came Ingrid’s siblings:
Chona (née Sala) and Antonio Montinola; Juan and Josie Sala with children Ivan and Leanne; Honorary Consul of Sweden Jose and Susan Sala with daughter Carinna; and Gemma Sala. More family up there included aunt Fe Sala Villarica with daughter Maia V. Franco, and aunt Rosebud Sala.
Ingrid Sala Santamaria will play the same repertoire today, Sept. 16, in Manila at Concert in the Park, accompanied by the Manila Symphony Orchestra, conducted by professor Arturo Molina.