Philippine Youth Symphonic Band: Surprise performance of 2025

In a month filled with concerts and music events, the concert of the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band (PYSB) last December 13 was a rare feat—62 youngsters (most of them still in school) from various regions, the collective product of rigorous music camps and training—performed popular classics and the season’s melodies before a small audience that no doubt went off the beaten track, all the way to Maybank Performing Arts Theater in BGC, in this holiday season of traffic.

The audience, for a change, most likely wanted to experience the symphonic music of woodwind, brass, percussion, in a repertoire that ranged from the classics to jazz. The PYSB is an old, enduring institution, formed in 1978  and rooted in the marching bands of Rizal. Continuing the initiative of its founder, Dr. Rufino Achacoso, the Young Musicians Development Organization (YMDO) revitalized it in 2004 to discover and train young Filipino musicians from all over the country in intensive live-in camps that, its brochure states, hold classes in sight-reading, musicianship, harmony, solo instrument and ensemble play. Its followers have come to look forward to its annual Christmas concert, such as the one last December 13.

“We’re not producing Cecile Licads, but we’re trying to elevate the standards of music making and helping the young with better job opportunities by training them to be at the top tier of their craft,” said PYSB executive director Maja Olivares-Co, the leading interior designer.

For decades now, its chairperson has been Irene Marcos-Araneta, espousing the advocacy of music education and livelihood opportunity. The band’s composition is very young; its solo flutist started at eight years old, if Olivares-Co remembers right.

“Irene is a stickler for learning the classics before a kid could shift to jazz,” explained Olivares-Co. “Nothing like a good solid education in the classics before one can break the rules and start improvising with jazz. We lost our musical director and conductor of 21 years, Romy San Jose, after our Christmas concert last year. He was awesome. He was one of the original members of PYSB under Dr. Achacoso in 1978. He and the others came to us 21 years ago to revive PYSB. We want to continue even with Romy gone.”

The Pasko Na Ulit concert last December 13 easily left the audience wanting for more. The repertoire covered a good range of masterpieces that showcased the band’s versatility, technical proficiency, and polish, young as they are, but most important, it put the audience in a cheery Christmas mood at a time when it’s so needed.

Under conductors Techie Bong S. J. Ramirez and Arnaldo N. Custodio, the first part opened with the Arsenal Concert March by Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost and Fate of the Gods by the American conductor Steven Reineke—both mood setters that at once drew in the audience to the vibrant energy of brass and percussion. To an audience regularly exposed to string orchestra, this was a welcome, different experience. 

American composer Leroy Anderson’s Syncopated Clock, a jaunty, catchy number, emphasized how different the night would be, followed by the crowd’s favorite, Vittorio Monti’s Czardas, the Hungarian folk dance melody featuring Rich Rhydeen Galang, a 15-year-old flutist. Then the repertoire went truly popular with super hero music from The Incredibles—an instant cinematic connection with the kids (there were) in the audience. 

The first part concluded with Noche Buena composed by National Artist Felipe de Leon, Sr., arranged by Ryan Cayabyab, driving home to the audience the joy and warmth of a Filipino Christmas.

The second part featured singers Janilynne Magadia and Alyn Magadia-de la Cruz, and conductor Michael Mark Guevarra with Serapio Y. Ramos’ Himig Pasko arranged by Michael Mark Guevarra, and Felix Bernard’s Winter Wonderland. Olivares-Co was beaming with pride at how the band could do these jazz numbers: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Baby It’s Cold Outside, and the PYSB Christmas Medley arranged by Guevarra.

The audience gave these very young musicians a truly deserved standing ovation. The PYSB showed a versatility and polish way beyond their youth—a feat achieved only through a seasoned selection of talent from all over the country, the rigor of training, the commitment to the craft. 

Marcos-Araneta summed up for TheDiarist.ph what all that takes: “Auditions, listening skills, instrument skills, exposure to good music, consistency in practice. We rehearse weekly at the National Museum, where we have been artists in residence for about 18 years. We hold an annual music camp for intense training at the National Arts Center in Makiling. The camp is three weeks.”

This has been going on for 21 years. The PYSB is a hidden happy melody in the country. We hope it gets a bigger stage and spotlight in 2026.