Welcome to my Music Blog!

I've finally created a new blog! Thank you for supporting my first blog Musicalfan Loves Minerals, which was all about the kikay side of me. I won't be ignoring my blog (because let's face it, I am very kikay) but after some pondering, I think I'm ready to write about my me and my music. So let me introduce myself.

My name is Crystal. My mom played the piano in her youth, and she wanted me to learn music as well. At the age of five, my mom signed me up for music lessons at the Yamaha School of Music. I don't remember much about those years, but I know that I learned how to read, write and listen to music because of those classes. After that I took organ lessons, but then I stopped. I was without music for a few years, but then, as fate would have it, I was reunited with music when I was in grade five. It's that time in every Filipino's life when children are required to learn the bamboo flute in school. The day I bought my bamboo flute, I found that I could already play tunes (since I've been playing by ear for a very long time). My mom, who has always been supportive of her children's talents, asked if I wanted to play the flute (not the bamboo one) and I said yes! Little did I know that that was the beginning of my music career.

Around that time, my best friend lent me a VHS tape of the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert. I was so amazed by the singing and the music that I became hooked! Pretty soon I started discovering other musicals! I was mesmerized by the mega-musicals of the 80's and 90's. I discovered Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar, and all the smash hits!

Shortly after that, it was time for me to enter high school. My mom encouraged me to lug my flute up Mt. Makiling and audition for the Philippine High School for the Arts. By that time, I was only playing for a year and thought that I had no chance, but by some divine intervention, I passed! I spent my high school life being immersed in art and nature that it seemed like a no-brainer for me to continue my music-making in college. 

I continued my studies in UP Diliman after my high school. I got immersed in classical music, yet I never forgot my first love, musical theater. No, I can't act nor can I sing, but there's really something about the combination of theater, singing and orchestra that gets me high like no other.

Anyway, I'm digressing again, since I am supposed to be introducing myself. So now, it's been two years since I graduated from college as a flute major, and I make my living by doing gigs, playing in concerts and teaching kids how to play flute and piano (I'm also a makeup artist on the side, but I cover that aspect of my life in my other blog). So yes, music is a big part of my life. 

So there. Here's me from my solo concert that I just did at Paco Park Presents last May 20 (just to give you an idea).

What do you expect from this blog? This blog will be mostly about music, reviews on concerts/recitals, musical theater, and a bit of my personal life. Yes, this blog is definitely more personal. I hope you will follow me as I open a new door in my life.

SO, will I be watching The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber when it comes here to the Philippines? Probably not. A concert by various artists is not so much my thing, but I DESPERATELY want to go to London this October for the 25th Anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera, or at the very least, go to Australia to watch Love Never Dies.