Daily Tribune

SOCIAL SET

Echoes of cinema

Luis Espiritu · Jun 20, 2026, 11:17 PM

INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed French pianist Maxime Zecchini. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati

The Writers Bar at Raffles Makati still breathes with the lingering ghosts of a mid-June Sunday, where the keys of a piano dissolved time under the masterly hands of Maxime Zecchini. Celebrating Fête de la Musique through a shared vision by the Alliance Française de Manille and the French Embassy, the afternoon mutated into an auditory canvas of pure emotion. Zecchini did not merely play; he painted the room in rich, symphonic hues, transforming the intimate space into a vessel charting his cinematic voyage, Voyage dans les musiques de film.

Under his virtuosic touch, the air swelled with the sweeping, heart-aching landscapes of Ennio Morricone, drifted into the whimsical, nostalgic daydreams of Joe Hisaishi, and thundered with the epic grandeur of Hans Zimmer. Every chord struck was a brushstroke of auditory wonder, leaving an indelible imprint of timeless elegance on a privileged audience. It was a magnificent tapestry where high cinema met classical mastery, permanently altering the acoustic memory of Raffles Makati.

FRENCH Embassy Culture Attaché Martin Macalintal. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
RODICK Batan and Noe Fuentes. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
ALLIANCE Française de Manille’s Meg Alvarado and Valentina Carbone. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
DIRECTOR of Marketing Communications Ronie Marie Reyes and Omar Rahmouni, assistant director of Sales of Raffles. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
STEFANIA Dina and Minh Hoang Pham. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
ALLIANCE Française de Manille’s executive director Olivier Dintinger, French concert pianist Maxime Zecchini, Cluster general manager Bernd Schneider of Raffles & Fairmont Makati. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
MELS Timan, Claudia Santander and Sylvia Ernest. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati
KATHERINE Palomera her grandchildren Maya and Luna, and Raffles Residences manager Kathrine Artienda. — PHOTOGRAPHS courtesy of Raffles Makati