There is a lesson learned from the recently held Celebrate: Josie De Leon concert last October 10 at the Chinese Cultural Center.
And this I hope should be heeded by people who promotes local community concerts featuring our Filipino-Canadian talents and artists and of course those “imported ones “ from the Philippines.
The lesson is: if a project is well planned, well executed and professionally done, we don’t see any reason why the community should not patronize it. The trouble is, many of these concerts are haphazardly conceptualized and are the result of a “making a fast buck “effort.
Some of them and perhaps majority of them don’t have any experience in launching such endeavours and what we call the “fly by nights “promoters.
In Celebrate! we have seen the results of solid, yet painstaking preparations that took almost a year in the making .
Best-set design, an eye for details in terms of props and a well-oiled promotion and publicity team (they even timed the launching of an entertainment magazine with the same name as the concert which is of course celebrate).
The choice of front acts and guest artists, the concert venue (which has excellent acoustics, sound equipment and stage facilities ) all contributed to an atmosphere of professionalism and boosted the morale of the performers.
It’s no wonder, that this major concert of Josie De Leon has further cemented her position as a leading star of the Toronto Filipino community concert scene. Could it be that she is now the emerging “Concert Queen ? “.
If her Celebrate concert is of any gauge, I must say definitely she is the top contender for the title.
From her opening piece of Richard Harris’ “MacArthur Park “ , to the end, she held the audience with her sustained energy and virtuosity in the different musical genre, whether Broadway or hip hop or rock.
The surprise of the evening, though was her duet with Consul-General Alejandro Mosquera of the father and daughter classic song of Nat King “ Cole and Natalie Cole
“Unforgettable “ and the kundiman composition of Josefino Cenizal’s “Hindi Kita Malimot “.
The duet was though ruined by the lack of melody from the accompanying live band that
seemed to be groping for the keys of the two songs. Instead of relying on the keyboards,
a smattering twang of the electric guitar can be heard chirping the accompaniment, a clear attempt, I think to dominate or grandstand with the instrument.
In Hindi Kita Malimot, one was supposed to use an acoustic guitar to emphasize or approximate the “harana effect “ of a “guitarista “ but still, a lead electric guitar was insisted. Result: the romance of the two songs was lost.
And I’m still shaking my head why the keyboard did not play a major role in those two songs.
But the best part of the night was the Broadway portion featuring “Miss Saigon “ singer Leander Mendoza who together with Josie sang excerpts from the “:Phantom of the Opera “ such as “Music of the Night “ and “All I ask of You “.
This is the first time I heard Josie did Broadway songs and it did suited her voice and style. This is where I think she can exploit and explore that potential.
Given this very first major concert and the receptiveness of the audience, we will see more of Ms.De Leon in future concerts although someone from one of my colleagues has told me that Ms.De Leon has been lately “overexposed ” owing to her many commitments and appearances most of them “gratis et amore “.
But the persona of the singer that is Josie is also much more than a performer or a nightingale (by the way she’s a nursing graduate)but a compassionate human being
who has lended herself in the service of Gawad Kalinga (GK) and other humanitarian causes through her singing. And that maybe , defines her as a compleat artist.