IT was one of those evenings rarely experienced in Manila.

Children on their mommies? laps swayed to well-loved Disney tunes, while the adults tapped their feet to the familiar beat. This wasn?t in a cinema, however, but at the Rockwell Tent in Makati last weekend, where 62 young music prodigies of the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band performed (PYSB) in a concert of pop interpretations of well-loved children?s songs.

?Laro! Child?s Play!? featured new arrangements of traditional Filipino folk songs by Ria
Osorio, JD Villanueva and Nonong Buencamino, including ?Sitsiritsit,? ?Tongtongtongtong Pakitongkitong? and ?Leron Leron Sinta,? with vocals sung by the vocalist May Bayot.

The Disney medley, with themes from ?Little Mermaid,? ?Beauty and the Beast? and ?Aladdin,? was a hit with half the audience that decidedly had very short attention span. For about six minutes there, the young folk were entranced.

One of the highlights of the evening was a trumpet solo by an eight-year-old named John Philip Sta. Ana, who earned loud screams of ?Bravo!? for his performance. The boy had learned to play only a year before.

Later, conductor Romeo San José also relinquished his baton to a youngster named Andrew Constantino.

PYSB was founded in 1978 and is now being revitalized by the Young Musicians Development Organization. Irene M. Araneta chairs the board of trustees and Maja Olivares-Co is the executive director. At the concert, YMDO released a four-track CD sampler of the highlights of ?Laro! Child?s Play!?

Auction

For the second year, YMDO also conducted an auction to support the training of PYSB scholars. During intermission, eight collectible children?s and pet furniture went up the auctioneer Tessa Prieto Valdes? gavel.

Original designs by Ivy Almario, Ann Pamintuan, Anton Mendoza, Joey Yupangco, Sonia Santiago-Olivares, Ramon de los Reyes, Milo Naval and Maja Olivares-Co, went on the block to raise a total of P118,500. It included a pair of pink-and-green floral teacup stools by Almario; a baby version of Pamintuan?s award-winning Cocoon Chair; a narra kneeler with an animal-print upholster by Olivares-Co. For pampered pooches, there were the stainless steel-and-leather Pet Corbu bed by Mendoza; the plush Empire dog bed with pillows by Naval; a curved chaise by De los Reyes; a nifty bed cum pillow cum toy organizer by Yupangco; and a grand domed bed with rolling wheels by Santiago-Olivares, which fetched P25,000.

PYSB trains children as young as 7 years old in intensive, live-in summer music camps. It provides an opportunity for underprivileged children with musical talents to nurture and hone their skills, and inspire others.