QUESTION, maestro: What is the difference between European classical music and Filipino classical music?

?European music is more disciplined,? says concert pianist Abelardo Galang II. ?And Filipino music has more soul, more emotion. So of course it would be different interpreting the music.?

Galang spoke in a recent press conference at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to announce the concert ?Three Grand: A Piano Celebration? with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under Chino Toledo. The ?three grand? title refers to the three concert pianists who will be featured: Galang himself, José Artemio Panganiban III and Pia Diño Balasico.

The presscon was held way ahead of the concert?scheduled on Jan. 9, 8 p.m. at the CCP?because Panganiban, who is based in New York, is often abroad.

?This is the first time three pianists will be performing with the PPO,? said CCP president Nestor O. Jardin. ?They will be performing some of the great classics as well as Filipino works.? The repertoire includes a sonata by Francois Poulenc and Filipino folk songs arranged in a classical style.

The three pianists are armed with impressive credentials. Panganiban, for one, was a consistent honor student at the Ateneo de Manila and the UP College of Music, won an award at an international piano competition in Japan, pursued further studies in Germany, and later earned three degrees (including a Ph.D) on engineering-economic systems & operations research from Stanford University, USA. He is now a vice president at Citigroup, New York.

Galang has chalked up a clutch of degrees in music from the Philippines (UP), Japan, Bulgaria and Germany. He opened the International Concert Series in Hannover, Germany last year and has recorded the works of Schumann and Chopin in Germany. A second recording in Germany is a collection of Philippine art songs (?Kundiman?) with bass-baritone Jonathan Zaens, and mostly arranged by composer Ryan Cayabyab.

A homegrown talent, Diño-Balasico was a child prodigy, won an honorable mention at the National Music Competition for Young Artists (Namcya) at the age of six, and came charging back five years later to win first prize in the prestigious competition. She won more awards later in piano competitions, has performed as featured soloist and collaborating artist in many recitals and concerts, and is now an assistant professor at the UP College of Music (where she graduated Magna cum Laude).

During the presscon, the three pianists gave a solo sample of their musical wares, performing with intensity as well as lyricism showpiece compositions: Chopin?s Ballade No. 4 (Balasico); Scherzo No. 2 in B Flat Minor (Panganiban); and Shubert?s ?Serenade,? as arranged by Liszt (Galang).

?Each of us has his own style,? said Galang, referring to their playing during rehearsals. ?So we will just have to melt the three into one style.?