About the Event
The University of the Philippines College of Music presents Aries Caces in a full-length piano solo concert entitled “Dances for the Piano” at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium on Wednesday, 17 February 2016, 6:30 pm.
In his early years, Aries Caces was trained by Feliza Custodio and Ernestina Crisologo, who (like Aries in his college years) studied under Bernardino Custodio. Mr. Custodio was a UP Music alumnus who studied composition under the Viennese-trained conductor Alexander Lippay in the late 1920s. Custodio would later became Associate Conductor of the Manila Symphony Orchestra before WWII.
Among the pieces based on dance rhythms that Mr. Caces will play in the concert are Bach-Busoni’s Chaconne, Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major, op 53 (Heroic), and Gruenfeld’s Soirée de Vienne. Caces will also interpret Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op 27/2(Moonlight), Scriabin’s Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand, op. 9, and Liszt Funerailles. The highlight of the evening will be the piano pieces by Bernardino Custodio such as Ritual Dance, op 2/4, Pauli-uli (Passacaglia), and The Juggler, op 2/2. These pieces were written after 1960s but reveal sophisticated styles that Custodio learnt from Lippay in late 1920s when they were at the UP Conservatory of Music.
Caces is currently a permanent senior lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. He is on sabbatical for a month-long stay at UP College of Music as Visiting Artist and has been editing Custodio piano music for publication this year.
Admission ticket to the concert is Php 300 with discounts for students and senior citizens.