Profile of Violinist Jeffrey Solares (19th July Concert)

Jeffrey Solares formal training in music started when he was accepted as a scholar in the Philippine High School for the Arts, a special school for young artists based in Mount Makiling, Laguna, where he graduated in 1990 at the top of his class. He pursued a Bachelor of Music degree at the St. Scholastica’s College under Prof. Basilio Manalo and Prof. Arturo Molina. Under their tutelage he joined and won major prizes at the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA). 

Upon graduation he was asked to go to Cebu to help establish and develop the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra. There he discovered his passion for teaching and developed an excellent batch of Cebuano violinists who are now active professional musicians. He also gained experience in managing artistic organizations which was further honed when he took up the Managing the Arts Program in the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in 2003.

In 2005 he returned to Manila and for a time was the Resident Conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra(PPO) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He became a faculty member of the University of Santo Tomas, St. Scholastica’s College and the Philippine High School for the Arts. He pursued formal training in the Suzuki Method, a specialized approach to teaching music for young children.

At present he is the executive director of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO), one of the first orchestras established in Asia (established in 1926). His major responsibility is to develop a network of support for this orchestra and help it reach higher levels of artistic excellence and community engagement. He occasionally conducts this orchestra in special concerts featuring young soloists and also in collaborative performances with the Ballet Philippines where he conducted the MSO in major ballet productions of Copellia (2009), Sleeping Beauty (2011) and Rama Hari (2012).

Because of his experience, Jeffrey Solares will be involved in outreach program for the kids on 19 July morning and the workshop for the exchange program from 1pm to 4pm in the afternoon.   In the evening, he will join in with the rest of the group as one of the soloists for the "Evening with Bach" concert at 7.30pm at the Sabah Art Gallery with the JPO String Orchestra.