Tinatamasa ni Gerard Salonga ngayon ang kasikatan bilang versatile musical director, arranger, at conductor sa Pilipinas. Kaya may mga nagsasabing siya na ang susunod sa yapak ni Maestro Ryan Cayabyab. Gayunpaman, tila ayaw ni Gerard na patawag bilang "the next Ryan Cayabyab."
"I would say it wouldn't be right to say that I'm the next Ryan Cayabyab because there's always gonna be one Ryan Cayabyab. There's never gonna be another one. I would much rather be known as the best student that Ryan Cayabyab ever had. He's my teacher. So, rather than be known as the next Ryan Cayabyab, I'd rather much be known as Ryan Cayabyab's best student," paliwanag ni Gerard.
Nakausap ng PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) at iba pang press si Gerard sa presscon na ginanap sa Annabel's restaurant kahapon, January 25, para sa upcoming concert series ng FILharmoniKa, kung saan artistic director at chief conductor si Gerard.
Ano ang feeling niya na ang taas ng respeto na ibinibigay sa kanya sa music industry?
"Siyempre, it feels good. Pero the reason I do it is not to gain that respect. I think that's the side effect. The reason I do it is because I love music and I want to make music, perform my music to the best of my ability. If by doing that I gain the respect of people, peers, whoever, I welcome that and I appreciate it."
Nakikita niya ba ang pagiging musician bilang lifetime career?
"Of course, I will be a musician until I die."
NOT JUST LEA'S BROTHER. Dati-rati ay tinatawag si Gerard na "the brother of Lea Salonga" tuwing ipakikilala siya. Pero nang lumaon ay nakagawa na rin siya ng sarili niyang pangalan sa industriya. Ano ang feeling niya about this?
"Well, I'll be very honest about it. It's a rewarding feeling. But I'm very proud to be Lea's brother. For me, it's the greatest thing in the world. She has done so much for our country. She brought so much honor, pride and joy to us, our family. So, being Lea's brother is something that I don't mind to be. But being recognized for what I'm doing, the stuff I'm doing on my own, is also very rewarding. It feels good," sagot niya.
Proud ba si Lea sa achievements niya?
"She's always proud of me. She writes it in her column. She posts it in her Facebook account. She has always been a good big sister."
Kapag silang dalawa lang ni Lea ang magkasama, ano ang madalas nilang pag-usapan?
"Music," mabilis na tugon ni Gerard. "Even in our private conversations, it's all about music, like the show that she saw or a singer. And of course, we talk about our families."
May room ba para sa professional jealousy sa pagitan nilang magkapatid?
"May nagtanong kasi sa akin, as a child before, do I get insecure with her? Of course, kasi ganun ka-achiever ang ate mo. That happened when I was a kid. And if that translated into a professional jealousy? No, because ang trabaho namin magkaiba, number one.
"Number two, kailangan ng isang tulad niya ang tulad ko at kailangan ng isang tulad ko ang tulad niya. So, jealousy... if we end up in the same job, if I became a stage actor, yun, baka puwede pa. But since I'm a musician, conductor, arranger and she's a singer, performer, actress... kailangan ko siya, kailangan niya ako sa work. So, there's no room for professional jealousy. It's a very symbiotic relationship that we have," saad niya.
NOT EXCLUSIVE TO ABS-CBN. As a musical arranger, ang most recent project ni Gerard ay ang theme song ng top-rating primetime soap ng ABS-CBN na Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo, na kinanta ni Gary Valenciano. Does he feel good na yung ginawa niya is now a hit kasabay ng pagiging hit ng soap mismo?
"Siyempre, so many people get to hear my work and get to hear the orchestra, FILharmoniKA is playing on it. It's great that so many people can hear it, na tinablan sila ng music. It always starts out as a job. But actually, it's more than that. It's not just a job, it's something that brings joy to people. I mean, you hope that with your music and the things that you do, you can help people with the 30 minutes or five minutes that you're listening to the song to forget their problems for a while with the power of music."
Dahil sa dami ng trabaho ni Gerard ay hindi pa raw siya nakakapanood ng Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo. Napapanood na lang daw niya ang music video nito sa late night bago mag-sign off ang ABS-CBN.
May feedback na ba siya sa original composer-singer ng kanta na si Rey Valera tungkol sa ginawa niyang bagong arrangement?
"No feedback yet from Rey Valera about it. But I love to hear his feedback. Good or bad, whatever it might be, I wanna hear it."
Bukod sa Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo, ang iba pang naging projects ni Gerard for ABS-CBN ay bagong arrangement ng theme song ng Star Cinema movie na And I Love You So, at ang pag-arrange at pag-produce ng single na "Nariyan Ka," sung by Juris for the May Bukas Pa soundtrack album.
Dahil sa madalas niyang pagtatrabaho for ABS-CBN, hindi tuloy maiwasang itanong kay Gerard kung exclusive ba siya sa Kapamilya Network.
"No, I have no exclusivity to any television network. It just so happens that ABS-CBN gets me for the job. But I'm very glad to be involved in their projects."
FIRST ANIMATED 3-D FILM. Bukod sa trabaho niya sa soaps, may offer din ng Star Cinema para mag-compose at mag-conduct si Gerard ng orchestra score para sa gagawing animated film.
"It's a collaboration with Ambient Media, it's called RPG [movie title]. It's coming out later this year. So, as early as now, I'm starting to prepare all the scores. It's a long film, almost two hours long. It's the first 3-D animated film ever done in the Philippines. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on that movie."
Nilinaw naman ni Gerard na ang ginagawa nilang ito ay iba sa ginagawa ng Disney na musical animation.
"Hindi po siya katulad ng Disney na may kantahan. It's an action-fantasy film. There's lot of adventure. It's really going to be heavy on musical scoring. Kung may wall-to-wall carpet, it's going to be a wall-to-wall music," paglalarawan niya.
NEXT IN LINE. Nakatrabaho na ni Gerard ang ilan sa sikat na artists sa buong Asya gaya nina Regine Velasquez, Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Elisa Chan, Wang Leehom, at siyempre ang kapatid niyang world-class artist na si Lea.
Sino pa bang artists ang gusto niyang makatrabaho?
"Charice Pempengco, I have not worked with her yet. She's amazingly talented. Of course, Arnel Pineda."
Nagkatrabaho na rin ba sila ni Sarah Geronimo?
"With Sarah, I've worked with her in very short things, nothing major yet. She's also amazing and I really admire her on how she handled her rise to fame. Such a level-headed, good kid, di ba?"
Ipinahabol din ni Gerard na isa pang gusto niyang makatrabaho ay si Aiza Seguerra.
FILHARMONIKA'S CONCERT SERIES. Samantala, bukod sa kanyang mga TV at movie projects, higit ngang nakatutok si Gerard ngayon upang pangunahan ang most in-demand orchestra na FILharmoniKA para sa kanilang first symphonic season at concert series.
"This is the first concert of FILharmoniKA's symphonic season. For the last five years, we were orchestra for hire. We played for gigs, shows, concerts. Kung saan may bayad, doon tutugtog. This year, we decided to be a real orchestra. A real orchestra has a beautiful concert where they really play beautiful music. Walang microphones, unamplified concert.
"We'll be playing at the PhilAm Life Theater. Right now, we have a five-concert schedule through out the year. Hopefully, there will be more. Our first one is on February 19. It will be our kickoff concert for the season. There will be a lot of different kinds of music, film scores, classical music, pop and Filipino classical music. So, I hope people will come and enjoy," paanyaya ni Gerard.
Bukod sa kanilang first concert sa February 19 sa PhilAm Life Theater, masusundan pa ito sa April 17 para sa Dvorak's Cello Concerto, kung saan makakasama nila ang world's greatest cellists na si Richard Bamping. Sa July 2 and 3 naman makakasama nila ang internationally-renowned pianist na si Cecille Licad para sa Gershwin's Piano Concerto.
Ang Game On concert naman nila sa October 16 ay magtatampok sa sumisikat na ngayong video games music. Sa November 13 concert entitled Magnificent 7 ay tampok naman ang film music ng pitong great composers. Lahat ng concerts na ito ng FILharmoniKa ay iko-cover at ipalalabas sa telebisyon ng Net25.