MANILA, Philippines?You can get your culture fix and contribute to a cause all at once when you catch ?MP3: Musikang Pinoy Plus, Palabas!? at Philamlife Insurance Company?s Philamlife Theater on Oct. 26 at 3 p.m. (e-mail mp3benefit@gmail.com). The concert is a celebration of Filipino music and talent, featuring kundiman classics and major works by Filipino composers like Nicanor Abelardo, Lucio San Pedro and Felipe de Leon.

The concert?s performers are a mix of well-known and upcoming talents, including renowned violinist, Alfonso ?Coke? Bolipata and cellist Renato Lucas. Bolipata, accompanied by acclaimed pianist Jonathan Arevalo Coo, will play Abelardo?s ?Cavatina? and Antonio Molina?s ?Hatinggabi.?

Movie themes

Also gracing the show are sopranos, Naomi Sison and Alexis Edralin; tenor Dondi Conrad Ong; guitarist Segundo Vasquez; flutist Jay Gomez, and pianists, Greg Zuniega, Miguel Castro, Gemma Malicdem and Harold Galang, with a repertoire of Filipino music?from old favorites to movie themes.

Presented by the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) Ibarang Alumni Association and PHSA Class of 1994, ?MP3? is a benefit concert whose proceeds will be used to establish an Alumni Assistance Fund. Performers who are PHSA alumni include Coo, Gomez, Sison, Malicdem, Castro and Galang, who is the Dean of the Philippine Women?s University?s College of Music.

The show will be livened up further by the presence of the Anino Shadowplay Collective, whose artistry is sure to enchant and intrigue audiences of all ages. Composed of multimedia artists with a mission to develop and popularize the art of shadowplay, the group was established by members of the PHSA community in 1992.

Anino holds performances and workshops throughout the country and has participated in international festivals, including the First International Marionettes Festival in Hanoi early this year.