Pianist Jovianney Cruz at ManilaPianos

Posted on October 4th, 2015

Pianist Jovianney Cruz at ManilaPianos  http://www.pianos.ph

Pianist Jovianney Cruz at ManilaPianos for the semi finals of 2015 NAMCYA Piano Semi-Finals Competition on Saturday, Oct. 17 

Jovianney Cruz was the first Filipino to be invited as Juror in the First ASEAN International Chopin Piano Competition held in Kuala Lumpur and twice the adjudicator in the Hong Kong School of Music Festival’s several years of existence. In 1996, President Fidel V. Ramos conferred on Mr. Cruz The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Music, for his contribution to the Arts. The Philippine Daily Inquirer has dubbed Mr. Cruz as “…one of the greatest pianists the country has ever produced!”^[2]

Awards/Honors[edit]

School[edit]

• Young Artists Foundation of the Philippines Scholar, 1980–1989
• The Elva Van Gelder Memorial Scholarship, 1980–1984
• Laureate, The Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division Concerto Competition, 1983
• The Anne-McDermott Memorial Scholarship for Chamber Music, 1984
• Full Merit Scholarships, Manhattan School of Music, 1984–1991
• Laureate, The Manhattan School of Music College Division Concerto Competition, 1985
• The Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation Scholarships, 1987–1991
• The Harold Bauer Award, 1989

Competitions[edit]

• Gold Medal, The Queens Symphony Soloists Competition, 1984
• First Prize, New York State Music Teachers Association State Collegiate Artist Competition, 1984
• First Prize, Five Towns Music and Art Solo Competition, 1985
• First Prize, The Port Washington Piano Competition, 1985
• First Prize, The Great Neck Symphony Piano Competition, 1985
• Third Prize, Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, 1985
• First Prize, The Bergen Philharmonic Piano Soloists Competition, 1988
• First Prize, The Haddonfield Symphony Piano Soloists Competition, 1988
• Third Prize, Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition, 1988
• Third Prize, Maria Canals International Piano Competition, 1990
• Prizewinner, Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition, 1990
• Third Prize, Pilar Bayona Piano Competition, 1992
• Finalist, International Piano Competition of Jaen, 1993
• Second Prize, International Competition for Piano and Orchestra in Sicily, 1994

Other awards[edit]

• The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM), 1996
• The Filipino World Class Achiever, 1999
• The City of Manila Award for Arts & Culture, 2008

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NAMCYA piano competition

Posted on October 4th, 2015

NAMCYA piano competition,  NAMCYA Piano Semi-Finals Competition  2015 on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Manila PIANOS. Open for the public. see our facebook page for more info. 

The NAMCYA  has been a principal instrument in discovering major music talents from all over the country. Its project involves some 1 million musicians, trainers and administrations, in along and tedious process of selecting the best among them from all seventeen regions, annually.

The Regional Center II Competitions for semi-finalists from Metro Manila and Regions 3, 4-A, 4-B, 5 will be held this October 3 and 10 at the UP College of Music in Quezon City, and on October 17 at Manila Pianos in Makati City.

Competition schedule is as follows:

October 3 (UP College of Music, Diliman, Quezon City)
Voice Category B – 10:00 AM, Mini-hall
Rondalla Category B – 10:00 AM, Auditorium
Banduria & Octavina Category A – 2:00 PM, Mini-hall

October 10 (UP College of Music, Diliman, Quezon City)
Choir Category A – 11:00 AM, Auditorium
Choir Category C – 1:00 PM, Auditorium
Woodwinds Category C – 1:00 PM, Mini-hall
Violin & Lower Strings Category C – 4:00 PM, Mini-hall

October 17 (Manila Pianos, 2nd fl Home Depot, 2248 Chino Roces, Makati City)
Piano Category C – 11:00 AM & 2:00 PM

The Semi-Final Competitions are free and open to the public.

List of Semi-final qualifiers can be found in this link: http://www.namcya.org/news/2015-semi-finals-qualifiers-released

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Miss World Philippines 2015

Posted on October 4th, 2015

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Piano brands Philippines

Posted on October 3rd, 2015

Piano brands Philippines

Having been to several trade shows, you start to quickly realize that the world has become a very small place. The chart above contains the approximately 60 piano brands featured on Piano Price Point. Why present this? I believe it is always helpful to know who the significant players are at a glance. It doesn’t need to be overwhelming to find out what brands are connected. I was speaking with someone this last week who had most certainly heard of Steinway but had never heard the name Essex before. If you look on the chart, you’ll see that Steinway has 3 levels of price points having Essex as their most affordable. The goal is to simply educate and to inform. If you’re a teacher and your student mentions that they’re interested in a piano you’ve never heard of before and they’re looking for advice, this chart should hopefully shed some light on who’s who. If you’re a technician, these will all be familiar names and will again hopefully act as a quick reminder of piano connections.

Historically, the Pierce Piano Atlas names 12,000 names of pianos. Twelve Thousand!! On Piano Price Point you’ll find approximately 60 brands which represents an estimated 95% of piano brands sold in North America. What has happened over the last 150 years? I’ve often said that the piano was the entertainment center for families in the early 1900’s. Instead of gathering around television or radio and now even computer or mobile devices, the piano was one of the major focal points in every home. It seems that everyone had to have one. Subsequently, there was a great demand for piano builders. With limited transportation, pianos were sourced locally and in every medium sized city, there were quite often several piano makers. As the focus of the piano shifted to more media driven activities within the home, this myriad of makers decimated. Over the last half century, we’ve seen globalization and consolidation to the point where now we have both mega piano manufacturers and niche boutique makers. With the advent of computerization for accuracy working together with designers, we’re now experiencing the best era of pianos in tone and touch with remarkable consistency. Mass produced pianos even within the last decade have seen extensive changes while the boutique makers continue to offer artisan pianos with even more refined features. These are exciting times in new piano manufacturing.

Just a word about groupings: the size of the circles do not indicate size of the company but rather (pragmatically) one needs a bit more space to fit in 5 names rather than 2 and so the circles are adjusted accordingly. They are not listed by importance or quality but simply alphabetically by ownership. And finally, wherever possible, where there are multiple names in one circle they are ordered by price top to bottom. These piano connections, by the way, are publicly available. Simply look on each of their websites and you’ll be able to see their brands located there.

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