'Autumn Serenade' featuring
Wilfredo Cariaso Pasamba

November 20, 2004
77 p.m.
St. Philip the Apostle Church
725 Diamond and 25th Streets
Mission District

November 21, 2004
7 p.m.
St. Augustine Church
3700 Callan Avenue
South San Francisco

THE FILIPINO American Council of San Francisco proudly announces its collaboration with the Hallelujah Chorale in producing "Autumn Serenade" featuring world-acclaimed Filipino-American cellist, Wilfredo Cariaso Pasamba, and his equally accomplished mother, composer, arranger and conductor, Angelita Cariaso Pasamba, who will accompany him on the piano.

The concert will be held in two venues. The first will be at the St. Philip the Apostle Church on 725 Diamond and 25th Streets at the Mission District on Saturday, November 20 at seven in the evening. The second will be held at the St. Augustine Church on 3700 Callan Avenue in South San Francisco on Sunday, November 21 at seven in the evening.

Wilfredo Pasamba finished his degrees at the Moscow Conservatory, Juilliard School in New York and Ithaca College. He has won several plum international competitions in the past and has quickly emerged as one of the most outstanding concert artists from the Philippines. His playing is characterized by lyricism and eloquent virtuosity. He has been hailed by the New York Times for his audacity and brilliance.

Pasamba has done solo recitals at Merkin Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Cornell University, including a concert debut at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall. He received full scholarships to attend the Tanglewood Music Center, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, Ithaca Violoncello Institute and most recently a conducting fellowship grantee to the Conductors Institute of South Carolina. Pasamba has performed in cello masterclasses of Colin Carr, Bonnie Hampton, Aldo Parisot, Bion Tsang, Lawrence Lesser, Michael Grebanier, Carter Brey as well as orchestral conducting with Donald Portnoy. He was trained by master cellists Natalia Shakhovskaya, Carter Enyeart, Einar Holm and Fred Sherry.

He was an assistant professor of Music and chairman of the String Department of St. Scholastica's College School of Music, a senior lecturer and conductor of UP Chamber Orchestra at the University of the Philippines College of Music, and associate conductor of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He presently he resides in Kansas City, Missouri.

His repertoire will consist of pieces by Cassado, Kreisler-Dvorak, Cenizal, Abelardo, Haydn, among others. Pasamba performs on a cello made in 2001 by Bronek Cison from the William Harris Lee Workshop in Chicago.

The Hallelujah Chorale was founded in 2003 under the able directorship of Angelita Cariaso Pasamba. It has since been regaling residents at convalescent homes, special events, and sings at churches with no choir. This roving singing group is composed mainly of professionals whose common bond is their love for good music, fellowship and rendering of religious, contemporary, Broadway and Filipino songs.

Proceeds for this concert will benefit seniors, newly arrived immigrants and the unemployed. The FilAm Council has been serving the community for the past thirty-five years with its Senior Opportunity Services on 19th Street. Daily hot lunches are served from Monday to Friday at subsidized rates.

Meanwhile, the training center on 16th Street in San Francisco offers computer classes and provides leads to jobs and new careers. The FilAm Council has been a haven for newly arrived immigrants who long for Filipino friendship, and guidance in finding their place in their new homeland. As a non-profit organization, all donations are tax-free. Tickets are at $15 and $10 for seniors and students.

For more information, please contact Josie or Norma at +415 626 1608 or +650 278 0256.