From Aleppo to Manila: Music of War and Love
A very sparse auditorium greeted Sally Pinkas for her spring concert. I heard someone say only 90 seats sold. It really seemed like the wrong venue for the show.
The first piece was a modern one by a Syrian composer Kareem Roustom. I liked the first and fifth movements in particular. The second piece was a modern sonata by Frank Bridge that I sat through – sigh.
For the second half, rugs and chairs had been set up on the stage. Sally wanted to recreate the feeling of a salon in turn of the century Manila, where there was a thriving arts culture. She invited the audience to come up and sit around her, and so I did, on the yellow sofa just to her left. This half of the program was really delightful. It was a series of short melodic pieces by Filipino composers. They are not in Spotify by the way.