Residents can support local musicians at the Guam Philharmonic Foundation, Inc. 2023-24 season finale concert on Sunday at the Crystal Ballroom in the Lotte Hotel Guam.
The concert will feature the new GPF Choir, the 2024 Tumon Bay Music Festival Sweepstakes Award Winner –STRINGSTARS (a violin ensemble), and the award-winning Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra.
They will be performing the works of Beethoven, Dvorak, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saens, Williams, Powell and more.
A new venue for choir enthusiasts
In partnership with the music ministry of the Episcopal Church of Saint John the Divine, the GPF established the GPF Choir late last fall to provide a venue for choir enthusiasts of all ages to meet regularly and present choral concerts. The new choir made their first appearance at St. John’s Advent Lessons and Carols last December.
They have since been growing more active and have appeared in public a few times over the holiday season, performed with the TBYO for the New Year’s Concert and was showcased at the 2024 Tumon Bay Music Festival this past March. They will be opening the April 21 concert.
For interested singers, choir rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings at the Saint John’s Church in Upper Tumon. For more information on the choir, email choir@guamphilharmonic.org
The concert will also feature an encore performance by STRINGSTARS, a violin ensemble co-direct by Yi Wang and Ao Zhang. They managed to score the coveted Sweepstakes Award at the 2024 Tumon Bay Music Festival with their riveting performance of Rachmaninoff’s Hungarian Dance Opus 6, number 2.
The concert will also feature three graduating seniors from Harvest Christian Academy.
French horn player, Kangsan Yoon will be performing Morceau de Concert, Opus 94 by Saint-Saens. Award-winning pianist Claire Yi, will be featured with the TBYO performing the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s beloved Piano Concerto number 2.
TBYO’s award-winning concertmaster, Elizabeth Mamczarz will be featured performing last movement of the Violin Concerto number 2 by Wieniawski.
TBYO is grateful to HCA’s orchestra director Kelly Schlarb who has been teaching at Harvest for over 20 years. Her efforts over the decades have made it possible for the establishment of the TBYO in 2018.
TBYO in Vienna this summer
In the summer of 2019, the then newly formed TBYO travelled with the Guam Territorial Band – official band of Guam to represent Guam at the Australian International Music Festival which included a performance at the famous Sydney Opera House. Both groups rated well bring back two gold awards for Guam.
In July 2024, both the GTB and TBYO will travel together once again, but this time to Vienna, Austria, to be the first groups from Guam to participate in the prestigious Summa Cum Laude Festival.
The festival activities include music workshops at the University of Music, Vienna and performances at prestigious concert venues such as Golden Hall of the Musikverein (home of the Vienna Philharmonic) and Konzerthaus (home of the Vienna Symphony, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Wiener Singakademie and the Klangforum Wien).
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The Guam delegation will include over 80 young musicians from Guam, Saipan, and will be joined by alumni who are currently working or attending school abroad.
The April 21 concert will feature some of the repertoire that TBYO will be performing in Vienna.
Early fundraising efforts
The GPF established the Saint Cecilia Fund to provide an opportunity for those in our community to pay it forward and provide funding support towards current programming and future projects.
This past November, the Guam Philharmonic Foundation featured the Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra and a few music friends in the 2nd Saint Cecilia Music Gala held on November 20 at the Guam Plaza Resort.
The concert featured the Guam premier of Joe Hisaishi’s beautiful film score from the Oscar winning animated film Spirited Away. Several companies and individuals have donated to the Foundation’s SAINT CECILIA FUND as sponsors of the concert. The generous financial gifts have assisted with expenses for Foundation’s current musical season, establishing of the new GPF Choir, the 2024 Tumon Bay Music Festival, and helped with providing scholarships to young artists for the upcoming Vienna Tour in July.
Additional assistance needed
With a majority of Team Guam able to raise enough funds through the support of their friends and family to participate on the Vienna Tour, TBYO is still in need of additional funds to ensure Guam is well-represented musically and that all of Team Guam gets to travel.
With a price tag of $4,500 per participant, the delegation is in need to an additional $45,000 to ensure all youth musicians who have been practicing with both the GTB and TBYO can make the tour.
Additionally, weeks ago, the organizers of the Summa Cum Laude Music Festival, who are expecting close to 3,000 participants from across the globe announced that they anticipate a shortage of music stands required to properly field all the simultaneous performances that will occur during the festival.
With this unanticipated additional expense, Team Guam needs $6,500 to purchase portable folding music stands that each musician will pack in their luggage to mitigate the music stand shortage in Vienna.
Finally, the TBYO is in need of a rare musical instrument. The bassoon is a double reed instrument that is part of the woodwind family that creates a unique timbre that when combined rounds out the full orchestra’s sound.
Normally over $12K for a brand-new instrument, TBYO was able to find a used bassoon for $4,000 from Japan but requires it to be paid in full before it can be used on the tour. The instrument is necessary to properly perform the works of Beethoven and Dvorak n the touring group’s repertoire.
The Guam Philharmonic Foundation, Incorporated is a 501c 3, nonprofit recognized federally by the Internal Revenue Service and locally by the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation.
Concert ticket purchases, financial and in-kind contributions to the Guam Philharmonic Foundation may be tax deductible to the extended permitted by law. Companies and/or individuals interested in assisting with the Foundation’s current $55,000+ needs, please contact info@guamphilharmonic.org
For more information about the April 21 concert or TBYO’s upcoming tour in Vienna, Austria, email info@guamphilharmonic.org.
