The 50th International Bamboo Organ Festival is proud to present the Vespro della Beata Vergine by Claudio Monteverdi , considered the “Father of the Opera” and one of the greatest composers in the history of music.

The influence of the opera is recognizable from the beginning till the end of the work, starting with the powerful opening of “Deus, in adiutorium meum intende”.

Dr. David Francis Urrows was educated at Brandeis University (A.B, magna cum laude, 1978, the University of Edinburgh M.Mus. 1980) and Boston University (D.M.A.,1987). He currently teaches music history and music theory and analysis. He has also taught composition, 20th cent. music history, aesthetics and orchestration at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

"When I arrived in Hong Kong in 1989, a colleague stopped by my office to ask if I knew anything about a bamboo organ in Shanghai. I had heard about the Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas but never heard about a similar instrument in China. The challenge was too great to be refused, and so I started to catalog the historical organs of China, all, alas, now destroyed." That was Dr. Urrows's introduction of an article he wrote in January 25, 2005 under the title: "Pipe Organ Building and the Jesuits in China".

Celebrating the millennial anniversary of the foundation of the Abbey of Montserrat in 2025 is an excellent occasion to showcase the organ music produced by generations of monks over the centuries. The Benedictine monks of Montserrat founded what is today the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat (University of San Beda) in Manila.

Organist Prunés will feature at the Bamboo Organ the music of the Baroque period by contemporaries of Diego Cera, the builder of the Bamboo Organ, such as Miguel López, Benet Juliàa and Antonio Soler. Pieces of the 19th and 20th century will be played on the Johann Trummer Organ at the SJA Auditorium.

This concert is sponsored by the Spanish Embassy in Manila.

This will be the 10th recital that Guy Bovet will present at the Bamboo Organ Festival. His first Bamboo Organ recital was in 1985. His greatest gift to the Philippine organ culture has been his recording of 6 Historic Organs of the Philippines (from Loay in Bohol, Loboc in Bohol, Baclayon in Bohol, Bacong in Negros Oriental, San Agustin and Bamboo Organ), putting the Philippine organ patrimony in the musical world map.

Guy will perform part one of his recital at the Bamboo Organ and the second part at the Johann Trummer Organ in St. Joseph's Academy, adjacent to the St. Joseph Bamboo Organ Church.

This evening will feature the works for choir and organ composed by Franz Joseph Haydn, Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, Brahms, Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten.

During the festival week, one concert night is dedicated to local popular music called "Night of my Favorites" as a treat to parishioners, where popular artists are invited to perform.