mel villena
Just Some Updates (a.k.a. Why I Haven't Been Updating my Blog)
05 Dec 2009 08:12 PM
I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last wrote
a blog post! Bad blogger...
Just so you know I’m not merely being a lazy blogger, here’s what I’ve been up to the past weeks.
1. Writing for the Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestra.
The piece I wrote for their Christmas concert features the HKPO with the 70+ piece Hong Kong Philharmonic Children’s Choir. This will be the first time that none of my arranger teammates will be present for an HKPO concert that we have written for. In the past 2 years that we’ve been arranging for HKPO, Gerard Salonga usually conducted the HKPO’s concerts where our arrangements were involved. There was also one concert where JD and I were able to watch them, which was Lee Hom Wang’s Christmas concert last year. HKPO is a bunch of really superb musicians.
2. Writing for Jeremy Monteiro’s big band Christmas special concert at The Esplanade, Singapore.
Jeremy Monteiro is one of the leading jazz artists in Asia. I was very fortunate to have been selected for this project, which features top artists from all over Asia! From the Philippines, we have our own Tots Tolentino and Eddie Sangcap in the saxophone section. Visit this site to view details about the concert, as well as the featured guests. Here’s a current favorite tune of mine, from one of Jeremy Monteiro’s various groups, Asiana. (Tots Tolentino is part of said group)
3. Writing for Lea Salonga Your Songs Concert
This is the concert where Lea is singing all the most requested songs. Since July 2009, requests have been sent, and from those requests, the production team selected the most popular tunes. So this is Lea as you haven’t seen before! FILharmoniKA will be accompanying her, conducted by Gerard Salonga. I’ll be playing second keyboard in this concert as well. FILharmoniKA is currently becoming one of the most in-demand orchestras in the Philippines. I feel I’ve grown a lot during these past years because of their musicianship, and because of the opportunities for me to write for them, and also the guidance/tips from Gerard and the rest of our team of arrangers.
4. Various playing gigs
Flow, the big band/acrobat/musical special of PAGCOR, has been going strong. Last November, I played in ten shows. I’m not actually the main pianist for this show, but Nikko Rivera, a very talented virtuoso.. I’m supposed to be his alternate, but I guess that’s how busy he is, that I get to play in that show a lot! Even though I’m already up to my neck in arranging deadlines, I still try to squeeze in some time to play keyboards. Especially for Flow, since I get a kick out of participating in two worlds (many times, on the same day) - Orchestra in Carmel House studio during the day and Big Band at night. Oh, and not to mention, I get to see my father too - Mel Villena, who leads the 22-piece band. He wrote most of the music for the show.
Aside from this, I was also able to play in some FILharmoniKA shows, and some shows with Lea Salonga. It’s a nice break from writing, and sitting in my computer chair for 10-14 hours in a day. (It’s also the only social life I have at this point, aside from Facebook and the occasional mountain-bike ride with buddies).
Just so you know I’m not merely being a lazy blogger, here’s what I’ve been up to the past weeks.
1. Writing for the Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestra.
The piece I wrote for their Christmas concert features the HKPO with the 70+ piece Hong Kong Philharmonic Children’s Choir. This will be the first time that none of my arranger teammates will be present for an HKPO concert that we have written for. In the past 2 years that we’ve been arranging for HKPO, Gerard Salonga usually conducted the HKPO’s concerts where our arrangements were involved. There was also one concert where JD and I were able to watch them, which was Lee Hom Wang’s Christmas concert last year. HKPO is a bunch of really superb musicians.
2. Writing for Jeremy Monteiro’s big band Christmas special concert at The Esplanade, Singapore.
Jeremy Monteiro is one of the leading jazz artists in Asia. I was very fortunate to have been selected for this project, which features top artists from all over Asia! From the Philippines, we have our own Tots Tolentino and Eddie Sangcap in the saxophone section. Visit this site to view details about the concert, as well as the featured guests. Here’s a current favorite tune of mine, from one of Jeremy Monteiro’s various groups, Asiana. (Tots Tolentino is part of said group)
3. Writing for Lea Salonga Your Songs Concert
This is the concert where Lea is singing all the most requested songs. Since July 2009, requests have been sent, and from those requests, the production team selected the most popular tunes. So this is Lea as you haven’t seen before! FILharmoniKA will be accompanying her, conducted by Gerard Salonga. I’ll be playing second keyboard in this concert as well. FILharmoniKA is currently becoming one of the most in-demand orchestras in the Philippines. I feel I’ve grown a lot during these past years because of their musicianship, and because of the opportunities for me to write for them, and also the guidance/tips from Gerard and the rest of our team of arrangers.
4. Various playing gigs
Flow, the big band/acrobat/musical special of PAGCOR, has been going strong. Last November, I played in ten shows. I’m not actually the main pianist for this show, but Nikko Rivera, a very talented virtuoso.. I’m supposed to be his alternate, but I guess that’s how busy he is, that I get to play in that show a lot! Even though I’m already up to my neck in arranging deadlines, I still try to squeeze in some time to play keyboards. Especially for Flow, since I get a kick out of participating in two worlds (many times, on the same day) - Orchestra in Carmel House studio during the day and Big Band at night. Oh, and not to mention, I get to see my father too - Mel Villena, who leads the 22-piece band. He wrote most of the music for the show.
Aside from this, I was also able to play in some FILharmoniKA shows, and some shows with Lea Salonga. It’s a nice break from writing, and sitting in my computer chair for 10-14 hours in a day. (It’s also the only social life I have at this point, aside from Facebook and the occasional mountain-bike ride with buddies).
|
The First Thing My Dad Ever Taught Me
11 Sep 2008 01:49 AM
Way before riding a bike, swimming and diving, and
even reading notes and playing the piano, the first
thing my Dad ever taught me was...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Hehehehehe! I'm kidding, of course! But we do like San Miguel beer a lot...
I had thought to post about my dad today because it was his birthday yesterday (September 10).
My dad Mel Villena is one of the finest musicians out there, but even more than that, he is really the most wonderful father.
Cheers!
Related posts:
This Week's Tasks, Plus Some Tidbits About My Dad
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Hehehehehe! I'm kidding, of course! But we do like San Miguel beer a lot...
I had thought to post about my dad today because it was his birthday yesterday (September 10).
My dad Mel Villena is one of the finest musicians out there, but even more than that, he is really the most wonderful father.
Cheers!
Related posts:
This Week's Tasks, Plus Some Tidbits About My Dad
This Week's Tasks, Plus Some Tidbits About My Dad
19 Jul 2008 01:36 PM
1.) 37 Final Countdown plus 7 Showdown
numbers for Singing Bee - due on Monday, July 21
Been writing transcriptions for Singing Bee for 2+ months now. For some reason, the load got doubled this weekend. It's probably because my dad, who is the musical director of the show, is doing other shows this month. My dad is the type to farm out his work to other arrangers when he wants to focus on certain projects, to churn out quality arrangements. He is heavily involved in the planning, writing, and of course, music, for Dolphy's show. He's the perfect choice for that show because he's a natural comedian.
(Sometimes I regret that I didn't inherit his showmanship or sense of humor, or ability to command the attention of whatever room he is in, with the least amount of effort. I'm more of my mom in personality, and many of my strengths are different from his, I think.)
My dad, Mel Villena, the Singing Bee Maestro, with the Bandble Bee. Photo taken from http://bumbleaidz.multiply.com/photos/album/34/Singing_Bee#3
2.) 1 big band arrangement for The CompanY's album - due on Wednesday, July 23
This gives me two days to write it... Hope I do it well despite the time crunch! A big band arrangement is always a dream project for me - even if I do still struggle with the medium sometimes, what with me not being a wind player - but neither was Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Angel Pena, Michael Giacchino, and a host of other arrangers I truly admire, who write for big band. In other words, no one should use that excuse to explain shortcomings in writing for wind instruments (that he/she isn't a wind player), he he.
The CompanY is coming out with an exciting album! I'll post more details as soon as the project is well under way (I don't want to post spoilers).
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a video of The CompanY performing an arrangement of mine - A Night in Tunisia for Big Band. (I wrote for the big band while The CompanY arranged all vocal parts)
3.) 2 medleys for Dolphy's upcoming show - due on Friday, July 25
I also have two days to do these numbers. Yeeee! Good luck to me.
Pressure is good, in some ways.
My dad will be musical director of this show. Do we smell some nepotism with regard to my current gigs? He he. Well, in defense of his choice of arrangers, I do believe I've earned a bit of experience to be considered his "colleague" (a newbie in comparison to him, maybe, but a colleague nevertheless). He did wait for me to get hired by other people as an arranger, before he decided to hire me in some of his projects, and before he started referring me to his contacts. I got lots of stories and funny incidents related to being the daughter of a well-known and accomplished musical director and arranger here in the Philippines. But I will save those for other posts.
The current onslaught of arranging gigs given to me by my dad - those that aren't related to Singing Bee - may be due in part to shared tastes in music. I grew up listening to his sounds around the house. We both love big band, jazz, world music, and any kind of pop which has some quirkiness to it - mixing genres, experimenting. He is particularly good at big band, soul, show tunes, and novelty or arrangements with a lot of character. His arrangements, more often than not, show an original and highly imaginative mind. He confesses to not being the most mainstream arranger, because his music often has more quirkiness to it to be really considered mainstream, but I'd say he's in a very good niche which not many people are in, and thus the jobs still flow freely. (But of course the real reason is God's providence, behind it all... )
Been writing transcriptions for Singing Bee for 2+ months now. For some reason, the load got doubled this weekend. It's probably because my dad, who is the musical director of the show, is doing other shows this month. My dad is the type to farm out his work to other arrangers when he wants to focus on certain projects, to churn out quality arrangements. He is heavily involved in the planning, writing, and of course, music, for Dolphy's show. He's the perfect choice for that show because he's a natural comedian.
(Sometimes I regret that I didn't inherit his showmanship or sense of humor, or ability to command the attention of whatever room he is in, with the least amount of effort. I'm more of my mom in personality, and many of my strengths are different from his, I think.)
My dad, Mel Villena, the Singing Bee Maestro, with the Bandble Bee. Photo taken from http://bumbleaidz.multiply.com/photos/album/34/Singing_Bee#3
2.) 1 big band arrangement for The CompanY's album - due on Wednesday, July 23
This gives me two days to write it... Hope I do it well despite the time crunch! A big band arrangement is always a dream project for me - even if I do still struggle with the medium sometimes, what with me not being a wind player - but neither was Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Angel Pena, Michael Giacchino, and a host of other arrangers I truly admire, who write for big band. In other words, no one should use that excuse to explain shortcomings in writing for wind instruments (that he/she isn't a wind player), he he.
The CompanY is coming out with an exciting album! I'll post more details as soon as the project is well under way (I don't want to post spoilers).
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a video of The CompanY performing an arrangement of mine - A Night in Tunisia for Big Band. (I wrote for the big band while The CompanY arranged all vocal parts)
3.) 2 medleys for Dolphy's upcoming show - due on Friday, July 25
I also have two days to do these numbers. Yeeee! Good luck to me.
Pressure is good, in some ways.
My dad will be musical director of this show. Do we smell some nepotism with regard to my current gigs? He he. Well, in defense of his choice of arrangers, I do believe I've earned a bit of experience to be considered his "colleague" (a newbie in comparison to him, maybe, but a colleague nevertheless). He did wait for me to get hired by other people as an arranger, before he decided to hire me in some of his projects, and before he started referring me to his contacts. I got lots of stories and funny incidents related to being the daughter of a well-known and accomplished musical director and arranger here in the Philippines. But I will save those for other posts.
The current onslaught of arranging gigs given to me by my dad - those that aren't related to Singing Bee - may be due in part to shared tastes in music. I grew up listening to his sounds around the house. We both love big band, jazz, world music, and any kind of pop which has some quirkiness to it - mixing genres, experimenting. He is particularly good at big band, soul, show tunes, and novelty or arrangements with a lot of character. His arrangements, more often than not, show an original and highly imaginative mind. He confesses to not being the most mainstream arranger, because his music often has more quirkiness to it to be really considered mainstream, but I'd say he's in a very good niche which not many people are in, and thus the jobs still flow freely. (But of course the real reason is God's providence, behind it all... )