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FEATURES Bernado Soler Soler's Love Song To The Classical Guitar TEXT BY IVAN LIM May 13 2024 
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It’s good to be versatile. It’s great to be able to perform to the classical purist as well as the ordinary music lover. Classical guitar music is more serious and requires you to be fluent in everything you do, to perform with your best interpretations of the music. Modern music is more about groove and feel, this is why more people listen to modern music. Philippine-born Australian classical guitarist Bernado Soler will perform in Singapore on June 28 and 29. He will also conduct a day camp for classical guitarists of various levels on June 29. His concert, which he has dubbed, Echoes of the World, will include the music of Latin America, Spain, Japan and of course, the Philippines.
“I plan to introduce the music of the Philippines to the whole world as a standard for classical guitar repertoire,” says Soler, who represented the Philippines in various international guitar festivals in his youth, before moving to Australia. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE “Philippine music has Kundiman and Harana,” says Soler. “Kundiman is the classic form of the Filipino love song – or so it seemed to colonialist forces in the Philippines. In fact, in Kundiman, the singer who expresses undying love for his beloved is actually singing for love of country. Harana, meanwhile, is a Filipino word meaning “to serenade”, explains Soler. “However, in this sense, it is not about the form of a piece, but the act of serenading. Harana is an old tradition of courtship in the pre-colonial and colonial days of the Philippines. Harana and Kundiman are stylistically different. Whereas Harana is in 2/4 time signature, Kundiman is in 3/4.” Here’s a Kundiman and here’s a Harana. Whether the music signifies one’s love for country or expresses one’s love for one’s sweetheart, Soler is confident that the audience would love it. “I am sure the audience would love to listen to this Philippine music,” says Soler. In between the performances over two nights at Snow Dance Studio at The Adelphi, Soler will conduct a day camp for classical guitarists during which he will provide helpful advice on such matters as how to warm up before playing, finger exercises, scales, how to play a piece with feelings and even choosing one’s repertoire. TEEN PRODIGY Soler, who first started on the guitar when his older brother taught him as a child, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music majoring in classical guitar from the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music in Manila, the Philippines. As a teenager, he won the First Prize in the Concurso de Guitarra from the Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Espana in Celebration of La Semana de Hispanidad in 1981 – a guitar competition in the Philippines sponsored by the Spanish Embassy, and a month later, won first prize in the National Music Competition for Young Artist, the Philippines. He was 15. The following year, he was the Grand Prix Winner at the 6th Philippine Guitar Competition and took second prize in the Southeast Asian Guitar Competition held in Jakarta, Indonesia, that year. He went on to represent the Philippines in guitar festivals in Chile and Paraguay and has performed concerts in the Philippines, Indonesia, Chile, Paraguay, the United States and Australia. His upcoming show in Singapore will be his debut in the city-state. As a musician, he finds himself teaching and performing, and while enjoying both, is aware of the challenges each presents. “I like both teaching and performing. Teaching is the best way to improve your musicianship. Dealing with students is difficult – there are some students who pick up so quickly on what you teach them while others progress more slowly. Also, different students have different learning styles – some prefer a relaxed approach, so I emphasise creativity and exploration for these. For those preferring a more structured approach, I focus on technique and discipline. “As a performer, you need to develop your guitar skills, build repertoire and have a good presentation on stage.” 
Soler speaking to John Williams at the Agustin Barrios Festival in Paraguay
A VERSATILE PERFORMER He enjoys performing both classical and modern music (pop, jazz and Latin), which is great as he finds being versatile very useful to reaching a bigger audience. “For me, it’s good to be versatile. It’s great to be able to perform to the classical purist as well as the ordinary music lover. Classical guitar music is more serious and requires you to be fluent in everything you do, to perform with your best interpretations of the music. Modern music is more about groove and feel, this is why more people listen to modern music,” explains Soler. He performs more modern music in Australia because the demand is greater, he adds. Nevertheless, he struggles to make ends meet as a musician. He even has a full-time job as a patient service assistant working in hospitals and nursing homes. And he calls the guitar his “part-time hobby”. NO ECHO OF REGRET “It is hard to make a living as a full-time classical guitarist, especially when you have a family to feed,” says Soler, who has three children – two sons on the autism spectrum and a daughter who is completing her studies in cyber-security. He manages to get in at least an hour of practice daily to keep his fingers nimble and his technique sharp. Still, it must be frustrating, but you won’t hear any resentment echoing in his music. “I will have more time with music next year when my daughter completes her studies and is able to support herself. Meanwhile, the classical guitar is my passion and I will not give up,” he declares cheerfully. Kudiman or Harana, or any music from any part of the world, this is Soler’s own serenade to the classical guitar. ECHOES OF THE WORLD Music of Spain, Latin America, Japan and the Philippines by Classical Guitarist Bernado Soler (Philippines/Australia) Date: June 28 & 29, 2024, 7pm Venue: Snow Dance Studio – #02-47 The Adelphi Tickets: S$28 (contact Andrew Wee on 85000346) DAY CAMP FOR CLASSICAL GUITARISTS WITH BERNARDO SOLER Date: June 29, 2024, 10am - 5pm Venue: Snow Dance Studio, #02-47 The Adelphi Tickets: S$45 (contact Andrew Wee on 85000346) |
