Gilopez Kabayao with his wife, Corazon, and their children Gilberto, Sicilienne and Farida* Corazon Kabayao FB page photo
A celebration of the music and life of Negrense violin virtuoso and musical crusader Gilopez Kabayao will be held at the Central Philippine University Church in Jaro, Iloilo City, 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Kabayao, 94, passed away at the St. Paul’s Hospital in Iloilo on Saturday after briefly suffering from pneumonia, his wife pianist Corazon Pineda Kabayao told DIGICAST NEGROS.
He had a bad fall three weeks ago and underwent surgery on his left hip, which was a success and he was beginning to walk, but he caught pneumonia, she said.
She said on Saturday a celebration of his life filled with music will be held prior to his internment at the Iloilo Memorial Park.
The Manila Symphony Orchestra, in a statement on its Facebook page, said it joins the entire nation in mourning the passing as well as celebrating the life and legacy of Maestro Gilopez Kabayao who for a time was music director and conductor of the MSO in the 1970s.
“His legacy as an artist of the Filipino people, built upon those numerous concerts he did all over the Philippines is a constant inspiration to all of us who believe in the transformative power of music as a catalyst for nation building,” the MSO said.
“His arrangements of Filipino folksongs remain a gold standard in how to utilize our native resources to develop works of universal artistic merit that we can be proud to put forward as a representative of what Filipino artistry is all about,” it added.
The Cultural Center of the Philippines earlier said Kabayao’s “remarkable talent and lifelong dedication to music have inspired countless Filipinos and enriched our cultural heritage”.
His wife said last year the Gilopez Kabayao Foundation sponsored the whole Requiem Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a 100-voice choir at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo.
Part of the choir will sing at least three songs from the Requiem at the celebration of life on Saturday. while various artists will also play the Stradivarius violin of Gilopez, she said.
Corazon and their children Sicilienne, Farida and Gilberto will also perform.
The wake of Kabayao, who was born in Hacienda Faraon, Cadiz City in Negros Occidental, is at the Gegato-Abecia Memorial Homes in Tanza, Iloilo.*