Sounds Familiar
Arne Lubasan
Music has its own way of doing a very charitable and worthy cause.
Take for example a dinner concert entitled Sounds Familiar with proceeds going to the Jaro Adventist Elementary School Endowment Fund. Indeed, musicians and memories fuse to give one enchanted night of familiar songs, mostly renditions of classical Broadway songs and pop, for the benefit of kids who are underprivileged to take a decent education.
It was one night where the main artists, notable Ilonggo singers Liesil Pearl Tuburan-Sausa and Rofel John Parreño treated a select crowd of music-lovers to an array of melodious pieces. The former sang It's a Grand Night for Singing, Tell Him (a duet with Iloilo's local songbird Wynn Natividad), All I Ask of You (also a duet with Ilonggo tenor Charlie Castor), Can't Help Loving that Man, among others. Among the latter's songs that suited well to his baritone voice are Fallin', Tonight, Home to Stay, Don't Rain on May Parade, and a boy band rendition a la The Temptations of My Girl with selected male members of the well-renowned USA Troubadours. Accompanying on the piano was USA Troubadours maestro Arne Lubasan who is the mentor of the two singers.
Liesil Pearl Tuburan-sausa and Rofel John Parreño
The night ended with a powerful juxtaposed arrangement of Tonight and It's a Grand Night for Singing sung by the two main artists. Indeed, it was a learning experience, too, for most of the audience as the history or a description of each song being flashed on the flat screen on either sides of the stage.
Sounds Familiar has created another benchmark for local and classical concert in the city that featured a fine crop of local musicians with promising and world-class talent.