With her signature eye patch, soprano Joscephine Gomez is one of our country's better known singers of opera and kundiman. This Saturday, March 2, 2019, she has decided to stage a solo show which will deviate from her usual classical repertoire to sing more popular music in a show she calls "The Voice of Love" to be held at the Quezon Hall of the Orchid Garden Suites in Manila.
This concert will feature Ms. Gomez singing OPM (like "Ikaw" and "Sana'y Isang Saglit"), jazz standards (like "Autumn Leaves" and "No Other Love"), Broadway/West End songs (like "Think of Me" from "Phantom of the Opera" and "Memory" from "Cats"), as well as movie theme songs (like "Se" from "Cinema Paradiso" and "Il Mio Cuore Va" from "Titanic"). She will also be singing popular European classics like "La Vie en Rose," "Eres Tu" and "Historia de un Amor."
Ms. Gomez had invited some guests to sing with her on this show. Mezzo-soprano Maricris Joaquin-Wertz, a frequent collaborator with Ms. Gomez, will have featured solos and duets, as well as her Belgian husband, singer Jean Marc Wertz. I was surprised to learn that one of my mentors in the field of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Dr. Gil M. Vicente, whom I had never really heard sing formally in public before, will also be rendering a couple of solos. He is one of Ms. Gomez's closest friends, and was the one who introduced her to me. There will still be other surprise guests, whose names are not on the poster.
Me, I am an ENT surgeon by profession, but for some reason, Ms. Gomez beleived that I had enough singing talent in my raw, limited baritone voice to share the stage with a classically-trained singer like her. It was way back in September 2012 when Ms. Gomez first invited me to sing with her and Ms. Joaquin in an intimate concert held in the Doctors Lounge in St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City. I am not sure in what occasion she had heard me sing before that, but she extended the invitation, and I hesitatingly accepted.
Now, seven long years later, I accepted again, even if I had not sung in public for very long. I will be singing two Josh Groban songs that I had never sung for an audience before. Being older now, memorizing lyrics is not exactly getting easier. With busier, more hectic schedules in the clinic and hospital, on top of family obligations, rehearsal time with Ms. Gomez (who generously gave performance tips) and the pianists is also very limited.
To keep my voice in at least good condition, I had to practice everything I had been advising to my patients as a specialist in vocal health -- no abusive voice behaviors, keep hydrated, no sweet, spicy nor acidic food and drinks, observe precautions against respiratory tract infections. These things are all easier said than done, but I knew I needed to strictly obey my own advice, well at least until this concert is done. This renews my awe for the sacrifice and discipline professional singers endure for the sake of their precious vocal instrument.
With the more elaborate concept Ms. Gomez had for this new show -- with two top-notch in-demand pianists (Prof. Jun Cadiz and Barry Dampor), a narrator (actor Dr. Philip Tan-Gatue), a lighting designer (Joseph Matheu) and a stage director (renowned director Joey Nombres) -- this is a very far cry from that first simple concert I had with her in 2012. This promises to be a bigger and more serious show than anything I had sung in before.
Just looking at that poster, with my name so prominently billed on it, is already giving me butterflies in my stomach as early as now. As the days count down to March 2, less than five days away, the pressure further mounts for me to perform my best, as I continue to pray for fortitude, confidence and divine guidance as I embark on this formidable challenge for me as an amateur singer.
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THE VOICE OF LOVE will be held on March 2, 2019 at the Quezon Hall of the Orchid Garden Suites on Vito Cruz St., Malate, Manila. This is beside Fo Guang Shan Temple and across Century Park Hotel. Ms Gomez's gown is by Jan Garcia. Ramon David Miroy designed a special eyepiece combined with an earpiece. Sponsors are YAMAHA and ParaĊaque Ngayon. You may text 0923-5880327 for inquiries and to order/ reserve tickets.
