FILIPINA Soprano Rachelle Gerodias, who sung the role of Liu (?Turandot?) in Vienna and Singapore, capped her list of international engagements as soloist of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra when it held its New Year concert last Dec. 31 at the National Theater of Bosnia.

?This year has been one of the most fulfilling years for me as an opera singer,? the soprano told the Inquirer during her rehearsal with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. ?After my two ?Turandots? in Vienna and Singapore, one ?Fledermaus? and a couple of one-act operas of Mozart and Menotti in Manila, I was also in Spain and Czech Republic for concerts. I sang with Paul Potts in Manila and Taiwan and I am excited that I will close the year with an engagement with the Sarajevo Philharmonic.?

Sarajevo, with a population of four million, is the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina which has recovered from a devastating 1992-1995 war which accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early ?90s. It is now an independent state with three main ethnic groups?the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Croats (Catholics) and Serbs (Orthodox).

Gerodias, who also graced several Christmas concerts in Manila, flew to the Bosnian capital right after Christmas for rehearsals under conductor Uros Lajovic who first heard her in the ?Turandot? auditions in Vienna.

For the Bosnia New Year concert, she sang ?Adele?s Laughing Song? from ?Die Fledermaus,? the Susanna aria from ?Le Nozze di Figaro? and ?Juliette?s Waltz? and ?Vilia Song? from Lehar?s ?The Merry Widow.?

The soprano said her Volksoper Wien debut in Vienna as Liu in ?Turandot? was her most memorable for 2008. ?I think I made history by becoming the first Filipina to sing a lead role in that theater,? she said.

She added she had almost given up auditioning in Europe, but Filipino tenor Otoniel Gonzaga encouraged her to go back and do more auditions. ?He said I should be heard by the director of the Volksoper. He was positive that I would get the job. So I auditioned again and after a month, I got an invitation to perform Liu in ?Turandot.??

Gerodias said she had dreamed of performing with Gonzaga after hearing him sing at the Cultural Center of the Philippines when she was still a student at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. ?That dream was fulfilled when I shared the same stage with him in a PPO (Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra) concert with Lea Salonga under conductor Julian Quirit.?

Gonzaga together with conductor-pianist Ariel Caces gave her free coaching lessons to prepare for her Vienna auditions. Another Vienna-based Filipino tenor, Abdul Candao, also helped her by giving her free voice lessons and hosting her in the tenor?s Vienna home for almost a month.

Needless to say, she felt twice blessed after her Vienna debut. ?Performing at the Volksoper was beyond a dream come true for me as I am never really that ambitious a singer. I never dreamed of being able to perform in a major opera house in Europe. I was just content admiring other Filipino singers like Gonzaga and Andion Fernandez making it in Europe.?

The soprano is aware that the world-wide economic crisis will likely affect performing artists anywhere in the world. ?With the raging economic crunch, this means it will be more difficult to find sponsors for concerts or opera and producers will be cutting down on costs and that will translate into less jobs for us singers.?

What?s her wish for 2009?

?I do hope there will be more opera productions that will set a higher standard for classical performers and I hope more music teachers, students and audiences will appreciate this genre and I hope there will be more venues for classical artists.?