MANILA, Philippines - A mere 45 minutes away from Manila without traffic is the newly built concert hall on the campus of the Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Pampanga. It is a 900-seater theater divided into orchestra and balcony sections.

In the hall recently, pianist Oliver Salonga tried the brand-new Kawai upright (a brand-new Bosendorfer will arrive from Vienna in three weeks).

Rosario Licad, mother of Cecile, noted that the Holy Angel University Auditorium had excellent acoustics at par with those of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Philamlife Theater.

Flutist Ray Sison, who heads the ROS Music Center in Manila (it sells musical instruments and is slowly venturing into concert productions and consultancy in theater design) has something to do with the acoustics. He provided the inputs to the architect and other designers.

On all corners of the theater, from the orchestra to the balcony sections, the sound of the piano is crystal-clear. Even as the hall has more seats than the CCP Little Theater and the Philamlife, the sound is very intimate. The theater is perfect for solo and chamber music.

Just behind the balcony section is the reception hall for artists, which is equal to the CCP?s Silangan Hall. The lobby is even more impressive, with tasteful paintings of musical instruments.

The audience of Oliver Salonga consisted of first-year high-school students watching a piano recital for the first time. They swooned over Haydn, and were entranced by Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin and Scarlatti.

After the last notes of Rachmaninoff?s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 26, the young audience gave Salonga a rousing standing ovation.

But I honestly told the young audience that they could not fully appreciate classical music or fall in love with it in just one sitting. I told them that after their first exposure, they should watch more concerts and listen to more on CDs.

Of course, I saw a section of the audience yawning, another trying to suppress giggles when the pianist looked in a trance in Ravel?s ?La Valse.? But the thing is, the Oliver Salonga recital gave them an idea that classical music was not just for senior citizens; it could be played by young artists with the temperament and soaring tones of
seasoned artists anywhere in the world. The high-school audience was generally well-behaved.

The audience included Holy Angel University officials led by president Arlyn Villanueva and administrator Robby Tantingco.

The success of the concert was due in large measure to the superb acoustics. The hall has nothing to fear from Silliman University?s Luce Auditorium and Ayala-Alabang?s Insular Life Auditorium. Its acoustics is superior to Meralco Theater?s.