PH CONSULATE JOINS SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS CHORUS AT WORLD PREMIERE OF “TOMORROW’S MEMORIES”, A FIL-AM INSPIRED OPERA WITH AN ALL-POC ARTISTIC TEAM
SAN FRANCISCO, USA – The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco attended the world premiere of “Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary,” a choral-opera commissioned by the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC), at the Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture in San Francisco on 16 June 2023.
Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Ferrer and Madam Miriam Ferrer led the Consulate in attending the premiere of “Tomorrow’s Memories”—which was based on the diary of Filipino immigrant Angeles Monrayo, written as a young girl from 1924 to 1928.
Monrayo’s family migrated from Romblon to the U.S. and saw the struggles of Filipinos who were part of that wave of migration and labor movements in Waipahu and Honolulu in Hawaii, and in Stockton, California where they eventually settled in the “Little Manila” neighborhood.
In his remarks at the post-show reception, Consul General Ferrer praised the SFGC for the world premiere of “Tomorrow’s Memories,” which came on the heels of the week’s celebration of Independence Day—the 125th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence.
Consul General Ferrer said that while the first republic in Asia lasted for only two years in light of the U.S. colonization of the Philippines, it also marked the start of Filipino migration to the U.S., with Filipinos working mostly as farmers in the fields of Hawaii (then a U.S. territory) and California.
“Fast forward to today, Philippines-U.S. relations are anchored on the four million Filipinos and Filipino Americans whose contributions in the fields of business, technology, and healthcare, among others, are creating a positive impact on the American society,” Consul General Ferrer said.
The Philippine Consul General thanked the SFGC and Magic Theatre for their impressive rendering of “Tomorrow’s Memories,” and expressed his hope that the choral-opera will be staged in other U.S. cities as well.
The Consulate also met with SFGC Board of Directors President Ann Gray Miller, SFGC Artistic Director and “Tomorrow’s Memories” conductor Valerie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC Executive Director Adriana Marcial, “Tomorrow’s Memories” composer Matthew Welch, and Fil-Am “Tomorrow’s Memories” guitarist Florante Aguilar.
According to the choral-opera’s composer Welch: “My approach to the libretto was to select threads from Angeles’s eloquent personal reflections and anecdotes to weave a young woman’s coming-of-age story and tale of immigration to the U.S. from the Philippines during the American-Philippine Colonial Era.”
“Though this is not a Filipino production of this historic Filipino diary, ‘Tomorrow’s Memories’ is led by an all-‘person of color’ artistic team, with all the resonances of our immigrant lineage, migrant past, and ‘power to the people’ ethos and beliefs,” the choral-opera’s Stage Director Sean San Jose shared.
“Tomorrow’s Memories” ran as the SFGC’s final production for its 2022-2023 Season, with four shows from 16 to 18 June 2023. END
