The Manila Symphony Orchestra is turning its upcoming concert into a literal time machine. On 4 July 2026, the orchestra returns to its historic artistic home at the Manila Metropolitan Theater to celebrate its centennial season and mark 80 years of Filipino-American cultural ties. Under the baton of Jose Reyna Jr., this gala performance honors the deep, decades-long artistic exchange between the two nations, making it an essential event for music lovers who appreciate history told through sound.
The program bridges classical milestones and jazz-infused orchestral showstoppers, focusing heavily on historic institutional ties. The evening opens with Col. Antonino Buenaventura’s "Youth," an energetic piece that portrays the vigor of a nation emerging from war, which originally premiered during the MSO’s landmark 1946 independence gala. In a beautiful nod to the ongoing legacy of the Juilliard School, the orchestra will also perform Lucio San Pedro’s "Concerto in D Minor"—the very first complete violin concerto written by a Filipino composer, created as his final output for Juilliard in 1948. Bringing the connection full circle, the piece will be performed by violinist Jeanne Marquez, herself a recent Juilliard graduate.
The American side of the ledger shifts the energy toward the symphonic jazz tradition. Jeanne’s older brother, Jason Marquez—a Filipino-American principal clarinetist active in Michigan and Texas—takes center stage for Artie Shaw’s dazzling "Concerto for Clarinet." The celebration rounds out with Robert Russell Bennett’s sweeping arrangement of George Gershwin’s "Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture for orchestra." For anyone invested in the development of classical music in the Philippines, it is a rare chance to hear how homegrown genius and American modernism shaped each other across eight decades.
