Chamber Music 2026 Concert No. 3 by Sibol Guitar Octet

Another month, another amazing guitar concert. Sibol Guitar Octet of the UST Conservatory of Music had another concert at Manila Pianos in Makati. The last time they played at this venue, they performed together with other students and professors. This time around, it was a solo concert. Naturally, my family watched to support my nephew who is part of this amazing and very talented group.

Their repertoire included many of the same pieces they had played in their past shows. Naturally, these included their standards. They started the evening by playing all eight movements of Ronald Dyens' Suite Polymorphe. I have to say, in just a month since they last performed this during their Poly-Sonus Poly-Ritmus Polymorphe concert, you could tell that they had already gotten a lot more comfortable and adept at playing this very difficult and challenging suite. They also played Luigi Boccherini's Introduction and Fandango (arranged by Jeremy Sparks). 

I was also really excited to hear them play the three Filipino songs they performed in their last concert: Minamahal Kita, Ang Pipit, and Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak. I absolutely loved hearing them perform this a month ago so it was an absolute treat to hear them play it again.

One new piece they played was Hex by Agustin Castilla-Avila. It was supposedly performed first during Guitarra 2010, the first international guitar festival of UST. This was another very incredibly difficult piece to play and it was very impressive seeing Sibol perform it so deftly.

Here's their full repertoire:

I. Suite Polymorphe (Roland Dyens)
   i. Larghissimo, pesante
   ii. Con spirito
   iii. Slowy, gently rocking
   iv. Molto preciso
   v. Con calma
   vi. Vigoroso, danzante
   vii. Malinconico, semplice, sempre rubato
   viii. Allegro giocoso
II. "Dirait-on" from Les Chanson des Roses (Morten Lauridsen, Arr. A. Mesa)
III. Three Filipino Songs
   i. Minamahal Kita (Miguel Velarde, arr A. Mesa)
   ii. Ang Pipit (Levi Celerio, arr. R. Carpio)
   iii. Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak (Leopoldo Silos, arr A. Mesa)
IV. "Hex" (Agustin Castilla-Avila)
   i. Un poco Tranquillo
   ii. Piu mosso
V. "Introduction and Fandango" from Quintet no. 4 in D, G.445 (Luigi Boccherini, arr. A. Mesa) 

As the show came to a close, they treated the audience to an encore. The played two movements from Celso Machado's Danças Populares Brasileiras: Frevo and Ponteio. These two pieces are really very catchy and upbeat and are guaranteed ways to liven up any audience.

One new thing I did during this concert is to take videos of all their performances. Normally, I just focus fully on the show and enjoy the music and the octet's talent. However, I also realized that it is important to take videos so that we have something to rewatch in the future. Interestingly enough, the organizers - Double Pentagon Concerts - also took videos of the entire concert. You can check it out the full concert here.

Congratulations to my nephew and the Sibol Guitar Octet for another successful show.