The Virgin Labfest XX Writing Fellowship Program opens its doors to aspiring playwrights, while the 40th concert season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra is coming to a grand close.
So far, it’s been an eventful 2025 for the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) as it continues to mount various programs to foster the next generation of Filipino artists across various fields. It recently announced the opening of its Virgin Labfest XX Writing Fellowship Program, encouraging aspiring playwrights to apply for a two-week mentorship program on the study and practice of dramatic writing for the stage. Meanwhile, the institution’s resident symphony orchestra, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), will be concluding its 40th concert season, Forte, with a masterful flourish.
There’s still plenty more to look forward to from the CCP, but here’s a rundown of these latest developments for those who want to be in the know.
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Virgin Labfest XX Writing Fellowship Program: Nurturing Playwriting Visionaries
Young aspiring playwrights can now apply for the Virgin Labfest XX Writing Fellowship Program (VLF XX WFP) until April 30, 2025. The CCP, through its Artist Training Division, spearheads a two-week mentorship program, which is open to applicants from 18 to 29 years of age. The Virgin Labfest is an annual festival of unpublished, unstaged, untried, and untested works of playwrights, directors, and actors produced by the CCP, Tanghalang Pilipino, and the Writer’s Bloc.
Applicants are required to be college students or young professionals; they must not have been involved or won in any professional playwriting and screenwriting platform; and they should be able to commit to whole days throughout the entire duration of the program, rehearsals, and performance for the Culminating Showcase.
Chosen Writing Fellows will settle a minimal registration fee of ₱2,500.
Interested applicants must submit a duly accomplished application form that can be downloaded at bit.ly/VLF20WFPFellowshipApplication, and one to two samples of their stage plays (maximum of 10 pages total) in .pdf format written in either Filipino or English. They may submit these requirements through ccp.vlfwfp@gmail.com with the subject heading “VLF 20 WFP – <Surname>” until 11 PM of April 30.
The CCP will be announcing the accepted applicants on May 20, 2025. Fellows will partake in a series of lectures, discussions, and workshops about playwriting and script critiquing; and will be presented with perks such as tickets to festival plays, opportunities to participate in talkbacks with known playwrights and directors, and a chance to exhibit their newly-acquired writing skills in the Virgin Labfest XX Writing Fellowship Program Showcase on June 29, 2025.
The Fellowship will run from June 17 to 29, 2025, and will mobilize through a hybrid set-up with online sessions via Zoom and onsite meetings at the CCP. Full details of the program can be viewed on the CCP Arts Education Program Facebook page.
For inquiries on the Fellowship Program, applicants may contact the CCP Artist Training Division via landline through 8832 1125 loc. 1605 and look for Ms. AJ Jara, or send an email to ccp.vlfwfp@gmail.com.
Forte: Jeffrey Ching and Andrea Obiso Gear Up For A Thrilling Finale To PPO’s 40th Concert Season
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) will be masterfully closing its 40th concert season, dubbed Forte, with a new concerto from internationally-acclaimed soloist Andrea Obiso and a new concerto from composer-in-residence Jeffrey Ching. The concert will take place on April 11, 2025, at 730 PM at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati City.
Jeffrey Ching: The Composer
The PPO Concert VII: Finale commences with composer Jeffrey Ching’s “Concerto for Orchestra,” a newly commissioned work by the orchestra. At the invitation of Maestro Nowak, Ching became the PPO’s first composer-in-residence.
Having studied Music, Sinology, and Philosophy at Harvard, Cambridge, and London, Ching was the composer-in-residence at the Tongyeong International Music Festival (2010), the Singapore International Festival of Music (2016), and the Mendigorría International Music Festival in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2023.
With a fondness for historical narratives, Ching has written over 300 compositions throughout his career. In 2010, his opera “Das Waisenkind” won the Theater Erfurt Audience Prize in Germany. It was also nominated for the Kyoto Prize, praised for blending Eastern and Western traditions through music. One of his operas, “Before Brabant,” was first staged at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2013. Under the direction of multi-nominated Alberto Rodriguez, it received premier animation and lighting effects, and was showcased at the CCP Children’s Biennale in Manila in November 2024.
Andrea Obiso: The Violinist
Meanwhile, Italian violinist Andrea Obiso joins PPO Concert VII: Finale for a night of dreamy melodies. Obiso toured extensively across Europe, Asia, and the USA as a distinguished soloist. With technical skills helmed by masters Boris Belkin and Midori Goto, his repertoire spans over 30 violin concertos.
Since 2020, he has served as Concertmaster of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He has performed with top orchestras, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphonie Orchester. Obiso will also be carrying 284 years of musical history in every performance as he plays with an exquisite Joseph Guarneri del Gesù violin crafted in 1741.
Audiences of the PPO Concert VII: Finale can expect Obiso’s luminous interpretation of Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Violin Concerto No. 3.” Saint-Saëns was already 45 years old when he finished writing the composition, integrating virtuosity in three parts as he demonstrated refined musicality in the piece.
The staccato rhythm of Saint-Saëns’ piece will continue with Spanish flavor through Georges Bizet’s “Carmen Suite.” Derived from Bizet’s operatic masterpiece Carmen, the atmospheric composition includes five instrumental sections that depict the titular character’s fiery love for freedom—the score, which bursts with passion, will certainly be a fitting conclusion to the concert.
But the momentous closing of the orchestra’s 40th season only signals a remarkable new beginning as PPO prepares for a nine-concert tour in the United Kingdom in May.
Tickets for PPO Concert VII: Finale are now available at TicketWorld. For more information, email salesandpromotions@culturalcenter.gov.ph or call the CCP Box Office at +63931-033-0880.
Check out the CCP website https://culturalcenter.gov.ph/ and its official Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for more updates and information on its latest programs and activities.
Photos courtesy of the CCP.
