PHILIPPINE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA VERSATILE: PPO 41st Concert Season Concert II “Le Retour”

PRESENTED BY:
The Cultural Center of the Philippines

DATE / TIME / VENUE:
September 19, 2025 | 7:30 PM
CCP @ Samsung Performing Arts Theater

DESCRIPTION:
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) continues its 41st Concert Season, Versatile, with Concert II: Le Retour, bringing home the music of its successful recently-concluded concert tour of the UK. Under the baton of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak, the PPO performs Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite: Waltz, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

Featured in The Lark Ascending is PPO’s concertmaster and artist-in-residence, Diomedes Saraza, Jr. A Juilliard-trained musician and NAMCYA first prize winner, Saraza has graced international stages, including a celebrated performance with the PPO at Carnegie Hall.

PROGRAM:
Georges Bizet Carmen Suite No. 1
Ralph Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Diomedes Saraza Jr., violin
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Suite: Waltz
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony no. 5, op.67, C minor

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra
Grzegorz Nowak, conductor

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ABOUT THE PHILIPPINE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA:
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra is the country’s leading orchestra. It was established in 1973 as the CCP Philharmonic Orchestra, which was originally intended to accompany performing artists at the CCP Main Theater. In 1979, it was reorganized through the efforts of former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos together with Maestro Oscar C. Yatco. The PPO has since collaborated with renowned Filipino and foreign artists either as soloists or conductors. It continues to promote music appreciation among Filipinos through its regional outreach concerts and workshops. The PPO is now headed by its new Music Director and Principal Conductor, Maestro Grzegorz Nowak.

ABOUT THE CONDUCTOR:

GRZEGORZ NOWAK
Music Director and Principal Conductor
Polish conductor Grzegorz Nowak is the new Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. A much-sought-after conductor with a long career in opera and concerts, Maestro Nowak is a highly-esteemed Permanent Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He was the music director of the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, Poland, from 2017 to 2020, and other orchestras in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA. For years, he was able to record orchestral music in over 80 CDs that have received awards and 5-star ratings.

Grzegorz Nowak’s career propelled to international level after he won various prestigious awards and prizes. He has performed alongside many of the most widely respected soloists of our time, including Martha Argerich, Yefim Bronfman, Nigel Kennedy, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Gil Shaham and Krystian Zimerman, and has worked with such singers as Janet Baker, Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Gwyneth Jones, Sherrill Milnes and Anja Silja.

ABOUT THE SOLOIST:

DIOMEDES SARAZA, JR. violin
PPO 40th Concert Season Concertmaster & Artist-in-Residence
Diomedes Saraza, Jr. started playing the violin at the age of three. He gained attention and became a prominent violinist in the Philippines after winning first place at the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA) in 2002.

He became the youngest member of the Manila Symphony Orchestra at age 13. Saraza received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School in 2015. One of his notable concert engagements the performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in the historic concert of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in New York’s Carnegie Hall, under the baton of Olivier Ochanine. Diomedes Saraza currently serves as the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s concertmaster and artist-in-residence.