DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental -- A renowned pianist will play the century-old pipe organ in the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish in Bacong, Negros Oriental this month in a fund-raising concert for elderly Catholic priests and Protestant pastors.
Msgr. Julius Heruela, the parish priest of Bacong, on Monday said the activity is a joint endeavor with Silliman University, and they have invited Professor Armando Salazar to a concert dubbed “Laudamos Dominum: A Night of Sacred Music.”
“Professor Armando Salazar is the one playing the (famed) pipe organ in Las Piñas,” he noted.
“This is a concert for a cause. Proceeds from the concert will be for senior clergy and senior pastors (in) Negros,” said Heruela.
This is one of a kind in the Diocese of Dumaguete and in Negros because of the century-old pipe organ that was previously restored with national government funding, he added.
The concert will show what “the pipe organ can do” other than just play songs during Sunday mass, the priest said noting Salazar will play classic religious songs.
The pipe organ in Bacong, Negros Oriental is one of a few pipe organs originally made in Spain and brought to the Philippines, added Heruela.
It was the first of the pipe organs in the country to be restored.
It was acquired on March 28, 1894, was disassembled in December 2008, and brought to Las Piñas in Metro Manila for restoration works after an agreement between the St. Augustine Parish, the Diego Cera Organ builders and the municipality of Bacong.
The full restoration and return to its original church in Bacong was in October 2009.
After its restoration, the pipe organ is played every first Sunday of the month and on special occasions only. But it needs to be played regularly to protect the new pigskin airbag to prevent it from becoming brittle.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts declared it as a National Cultural Treasure.
The concert will be held on May 11 at the St. Augustine Hippo Church at 6 p.m. (PNA)
