Cultural concert topbills Bayang Barrios and Russian singer Rumiya Niyazova

The spellbinding ethnic music of Russia and the Philippines will be showcased in an exciting concert this Sunday, January 22 at the Asia Pacific College Auditorium in Magallanes, Makati City.

Dubbed Beyond Borders: A Cultural Dialogue of Music, the concert is being presented by the Nadezhda Foundation and JB Music. It brings together Russian singer Rumiya Niyazova and various Filipino ethnic music performers led by Agusan del Sur-based singer Bayang Barrios and her band Naliyagan, guitarist Jerome Rico, String Fusion, and the Binan Folkloric Dance Troupe.

Ms. Rumiya Niyazova is flying in from Moscow upon the invitation of NADEZHDA Foundation and the support of the Russian Embassy in the Philippines. She’s an accomplished singer and theater actress and is a resident performer at the LDM Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia. For three years now she has been playing major roles in the theatre’s musical productions. 

She was also in the cast of The Sure Thing, a television series aired on RenTV. She currently anchors a travel show aired by the Russian Travel Guide channel. Rumiya was a three-time winner of the International Tatar Song Festival.

Rumiya completed her studies at the Moscow Institute of Culture and the Arts. For this concert, the sultry-looking singer will perform the music of Tatarstan, an autonomous republic situated within Russia where the largest ethnic groups are the Tatars. Their traditional music is a mixture of Turkic, Mongolic ad Finno-Ugric elements that bridge Mongolian and Hungarian music. Secular songs and sacred music are all part of Tatar music.

Award-winning singer/songwriter Bayang Barrios is a 35-year veteran and lead singer of the band Naliyagan. Named after the Manobo word, meaning “the chosen,” Naliyagan’s musicians include Bayang’s husband Andrew Barrios who plays the guitar and hegalong (an indigenous two-stringed lute), Yan Bagay Cruz on bass, Budeths Casinto on percussions, Jape Bongat on keyboards and kulintang (small tuned gongs played with mallets), and Matt Bravante on drums and bamboo percussions.

A proud Manobo from Agusan del Sur, Bayang Barrios early in her career joined Joey Ayala’s band, the iconic Ang Bagong Lumad. This band has been famous for using indigenous musical instruments and giving ethnic music a more contemporary sound. She stayed with Ang Bagong Lumad for almost 20 years performing in various countries around the world. Prior to being the lead vocal of Naliyagan, Bayang performed as a solo artist. She also became a social activist whose advocacy is championing the rights of the indigenous people.

It was in 1997 when Barrios became the recipient of the Lorenzo Ruiz Award given by the Catholic Mass Media Awards. Six years later she won the Metropop Music Festival for the song she composed, “Malayo Man, Malapit Din.”

Born in Bataan, guitarist Jerome Rico has made a name for himself for performing romantic standards and the hit songs from the 1980s. His debut album Guitar Shop was released by Warner Music Philippines. The album’s lead track is a cover of Astrud Gilberto’s “Agua de Beber.” It features backup vocals by bossa nova singer Sitti.

Jerome Rico’s musical inspiration includes jazz instrumentalists Tuck Andres, George Benson, Lee Ritenour, and David Benoit. At age 16 he started playing the guitar and focused on the music he enjoys, particularly the standards and the recordings of his favorite jazz artists.

The String Fusion band is composed of six musicians; Maze Lim on the violin, Irish Glenn Portugal on cello, Marloe Maruyama on bass, Migs Raneses on guitar, Rafael del Rosario on piano, and Alan Abdula on drums. The band’s repertoire is diverse. They perform OPM hits, the standards, jazz, and popular movie and TV series themes.

Established in 2016, the Binan Folkloric Dance Troupe is composed of 39 dancers, all of whom were trained by the group’s resident choreographer Jordan B. Sarcia with the assistance of Arvin J. Bongon.

They’ve been a fixture in major cultural events and its own concerts in Laguna and in various cities around the country, including Metro Manila.

Beyond orders: A Cultural Dialogue of Music is produced by Sandra Lim Viray with Faye Miravite of Nadezhda Foundation, and Tony Alcasid. The show starts at 7 pm. Tickets are priced at P1, 500 (free seating with cocktails served at 6 pm). For ticket inquiries, visit www.ticketmax.ph or call or text 09154979909.