Arts & Culture (04/15/26)

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PPO concludes 41st season

THE Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) is staging a grand finale for its 41st season, titled Concert VIII: Coda, on April 17, 7:20 p.m., at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila. Under the baton of music director and principal conductor Grzegorz Nowak, the concert season finale will feature Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s Carnival Overture, Op. 92; French musical prodigy Camille Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Romantic era Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet, and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird: Suite (1919). It will also have the world premiere of PPO composer Jeffrey Ching’s Paganini and the Time Machine as well as his Fiesta Contrapuntística. Acclaimed Filipino violinist Diomedes Saraza, Jr. will be the guest soloist. PPO concert tickets are priced from P1,500 to P3,000, available at TicketWorld, with discounts for senior citizens, PWD, government and military personnel, and athletes. PPO season subscribers get an exclusive 20% discount.

NCCA Gallery opens April exhibition

AT THE National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Gallery, abstract ideas take tangible form in In-Sight, an exhibition by the SeekArt Collective running from April 13 to 30 in Intramuros, Manila. It showcases how artists transform observation and reflection into compelling “visual field notes” that invite viewers to see, think, and rethink the world. The participating artists are John Merick Eupalao, Flaviano Lucas, Jr., John Michael P. Oarga, Eleanore Fern B. Pagaduan, Susanne Therese D. Tolentino, and Jared Yokte.

Two exhibits at Silverlens this April

AT Silverlens Manila, a group exhibition and a solo exhibition are ongoing. The former, Play, features the works of Jennifer K Wofford, Jake Verzosa, and Aze Ong, which investigates the transformation of space into place, centrally evoked in the ubiquitous site and spatiality of the basketball court. Meanwhile, Is Jumalon’s Topography of Seeing presents a new series of works where the artist paints an interface and an inheritance. Both exhibits run until May 16.

MSO to mount Mozart, Mahler concert

LED by Venezuelan conductor Joshua Dos Santos, the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will continue its Centennial Season with a program centered on the works of Mozart and Mahler. The evening opens with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E-flat, K. 364 for violin and viola, a work celebrated for its technical precision. The piece features rising Filipino artists Emanuel John Villarin (violin) and Christian Wrona (viola). The program culminates in Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, a work that demands expressive depth, where the MSO will be joined by selected members of the UST Symphony Orchestra in a side-by-side performance. Tickets, priced from P1,500 to P5,000, are available at TicketWorld, with a 20% off special early bird offer valid until May 1 with the code MOZARTMAHLEREB20.

Karylle to star in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

THE international tour of Broadway musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming to Manila this July. For its Manila stop, Filipino multi-awarded performer Karylle will star as the loving and resilient Mrs. Bucket. Following a sold-out run at Shanghai Culture Square in November, the musical will go to The Theater at Solaire. It is based on Roald Dahl’s globally beloved novel and runs from July 8 to 26.

Morissette to star in The Notebook

THEATRE GROUP ASIA (TGA) has announced the casting of singer Morissette as Middle Allie in its upcoming production of The Notebook: The Musical, opening in September at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater. The production will serve as the musical’s international premiere, opening TGA’s 2026-27 season. The Notebook: The Musical is a stage adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel, featuring music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and a Tony-nominated book by Bekah Brunstetter.