Concert to Benefit Filipino Typhoon Victims

Update: Organizers have announced that the event will now be free but a $20 donation is suggested.

A concert this Saturday featuring a top tier orchestra will connect two communities that are thousands of miles apart as a 17-year-old local musician and the City of Cerritos host the Philippine Typhoon Relief Concert at the community center in Cerritos Park East. 

When Typhoon Sendong hit the island nation of the Philippines last December, it left in its wake mass devastation that affected tens of thousands of families.

According to the Filipino National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the typhoon took the lives of more than 1,200 people, displaced more than 340,000 people, and destroyed some 14,000 homes.

Seeing videos of the destruction and the survivors of the typhoon, local Artesia-born musician Matthew John Ignacio knew he needed to find a way to help. 

"The Youtube videos about the typhoon victims are heartbreaking-- Hundreds of dead children being cradled in the laps of their shocked mothers. I felt their cries with my heart," said Ignacio. "I had so much emotion that I couldn't describe how I felt about it. How could I ignore something like this?," he explained.

At first, Ignacio said he wanted to travel to the Philippines and play his cello at the funerals for victims of the disaster but an expired passport prevented him from travelling internationally. 

Working in his own community, Ignacio instead came up with the idea of gathering musicians and singers for a local benefit concert. 

"The best thing about being a musician is playing for benefit concerts that
connect people of different cultures and religious backgrounds. Musicians have the universal power to unite us as one human race," explained Ignacio, who holds an associate’s degree in music from Cerritos College

"Compassion can change us, and we can be the change that we want to
see in the world," he said.

Ignacio was successful with his appeal as the Colburn Chamber Orchestra of the Colburn School--where Ignacio currently plays the cello-- and the orchestra's conductor, Maxim Eshkenazy, unanimously agreed to donate their time to perform at the event. 

The Colburn Orchestra is the most advanced of the the ensembles at a school considered to be one of the most comprehensive and intense pre-college level music learning experience of any music school in North America.

The benefit will also feature performances by the Immaculate Heart of Mary Children’s Choir and other vocalists. 

"They reminded me that we may have different skin colors and religions, but we are all from the same race, the human race," said Ignacio.  "For all of our differences, we are full of decency and goodness, love and kindness," he said.

Proceeds from the event will benefit ABS-CBN Foundation International’s Sagip Kapamilya Program which assists survivors of Typhoon Sendong. 

Tickets for the event are free but a $20 donation is suggested. For more information call the City’s Recreation Services Division at (562) 916-1254.

Donations will also be accepted at the event and are tax deductible.

The Details:

WHEN: Saturday, February 25th, 6:00 p.m.

WHERE: Community Center, Cerritos Park East, 13234 E. 166th Street, Cerritos.

COST: Free, $20 suggested donation, General Admission Seating