2015 marks the 25th anniversary of Stairway Foundation, which was celebrated on June 5 with a large, classical concert in Manila. Two orchestras – The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra – played for more than 700 people in The Fine Arts Theatre at the International School in Manila, a perfect venue for the occasion.
The idea of a symphonic concert had arisen as a result of Stairway’s long collaboration with Harvard University, in which several students from the renowned university have visited Mindoro to be part of Stairway’s Youth for Change Camps. The overall objective of the concert was to bring together all of Stairway’s partners and supporters, old friends and new friends, to celebrate shared accomplishments and to commit to our continued collaboration in protecting and promoting children’s rights.
Insights from Søren H. Sorensen, President of Stairway Denmark
Children, officials and ambassadors
The approximately 700 spectators at the concert counted senior members of the Philippine government, the police, social service people, children from partner institutions, nuns, all of Stairway’s employees, and of course the boys, who currently reside at the foundation Family Home. There were also several young men to be found in the audience, who graduated from Stairway several years ago.
The Danish community in Manila was particularly well represented. June 5 is the Danish Constitution Day, and the Danish Embassy in Manila had extended their support of Stairway to hold their celebration of this National Day at the same venue, only a couple of hours earlier than the concert. This meant that the approximately 150 participants at the reception could join Ambassador Jan Top Christensen and go directly to the concert right after the reception.
Brahms, Dvorak and Led Zeppelin
The first piece in the official program was Johannes Brahms, Tragic Overture Op 81 with Arturo Molina of the Manila Symphony Orchestra conducting. Federico Cortese of the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra took over the podium and we enjoyed all four movements of Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in b minor Op 104, with the only 21-year-old Sasha Scolnik-Brower as soloist. In my opinion, this was the evening’s absolute highlight of musical expression and virtuosity.
As a conclusion and a surprise on this glorious evening the orchestra played “Stairway to Heaven”, originally a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin dating back to 1971. To hear the great symphony orchestra play this track with full rhythm section was a touching and wonderful conclusion to an amazing evening, which was acknowledged with a huge applause for both the orchestra and Stairway.
Excellent amateurs
Both the HRO and the MSO are amateur orchestras, but they all played like they were professionals. Since I had the opportunity to attend the first orchestral rehearsal with the 2 orchestras coming together, I could appreciate seeing how quickly the two orchestras functioned as one tight unit. Very impressive indeed!
Huge Process
To host a group of 35 people and set up an event like this require plenty of planning and organization. Prior to the Manila concert, the Harvard orchestra gave a concert at Stairway on June 2nd, which was attended by approximately 200 people from the local community. Stairway did not hire any external help during this whole process, but there was competent help from volunteers Kristina Theisen and Anne Smed, who invested an abundance of time and energy to help make sure that the entire event went like clockwork. Anne Smed was coordinating with the press to make sure the event would lend new attention to the situation of children living on the streets, and Kristina Theisen was the overall coordinator organizing everything from sales of tickets to the necessary corporate sponsorships, which secured that the event could happen with a small profit for the program. Amongst the supporters were Grundfos, NNIT, Glorietta and Greenbelt Malls.
From Stairway’s home team, Susan Serafico did a great job with coordination and logistics. It is impressive that a small organization like Stairway can lift such a big task and set up an event of such scope and quality.
Bodes well for the future
For me, it was a great pleasure and honor to be able to participate in this wonderful event, which was a milestone in Stairway’s 25 years of work for some of the world’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. This celebration bodes well for what is to come over the coming years in our continued pursuit to see the UN Convention on children’s rights manifested amongst children all over the world.