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FILIPINA ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE IN SPAIN DONATES PAINTINGS OF DR. JOSÉ RIZAL AND JOSÉ MARTÍ IN CASA MUSEO LEÓN Y CASTILLO

28 July 2014 - Ms. Isabel Echevarría, a Filipina artist-in-residence of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain, donated the portraits of Dr. José Rizal of the Philippines  and José Martí of Cuba at the Casa Museo León y Castillo in Telde, Gran Canaria on July 9.  The paintings will be part of the permanent collection of the Museum.

The event was presided by Mr. Larry Álvarez Cadera, Councilor for Culture, National Heritage and Museum of the City Council of Gran Canaria (Cabildo de Gran Canaria).  The two portraits were received by Casa Museo León y Castillo Director, Mr.  Antonio Gonzaléz Padrón of Telde. 

The two paintings which were done in acrylic and oil on canvass by Ms. Echevarría, will be displayed alongside the important historical figure of Telde, Mr. Fernando León y Castillo.

The Museum was established in 1954 to honor to Juan and Fernando León y Castillo, brothers born to a noble family in Gran Canaria who have dedicated their lives to solidarity and harmony, one as engineer and the other as a politician and diplomat, respectively.   

During the ceremony, famous literary works written by both heroes were presented.  The “Yugo y Estrella” of José Marti was read by Mr. Juan Francisco Gonzalez Diaz, a Cuban poet and narrator, while the “Mi Ultimo Adios” of Dr. José Rizal was read by Ms.  Rosario Valcárcel, also  a poet and narrator.  

Ms. Echevarría expressed that it was an honor for her to bring together important historical figures of the past through her paintings.  Both personalities were of great influence in the history of not only the Philippines and Cuba, but also of Spain. 

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TRIPLE FRET HOLDS CLASSIC GUITAR CONCERT IN MADRID

28 July 2014 – The group Triple Fret, an all-girl classical-contemporary guitar trio from the Philippines held a successful concert and was warmly received by both Filipino and Spanish audience on July 22 at the Anfiteatro Gabriela Mistral of the Casa de America.

Before presenting the Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos C. Salinas, Casa de America Director General Tomás Poveda welcomed the audience and said that he is honored to have the Philippine Embassy´s concert held in Casa de America.

In his message, Ambassador Salinas thanked the audience for coming to the concert and to enjoy an afternoon of wonderful music to be rendered by the only all girl classic guitarist trio from the Philippines.

He mentioned that Ms. Marga Abejo, Ms, Iqui Vinculado and Ms. Jenny de Vera, the trio composing Triple Fret are graduates of the Conservatory of Music of the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas. The trio began in 2011 and have been performing all over the Philippines with their own brand of music, performance and love for the classical guitar.

Triple Fret performed 16 renditions of some traditional Filipinos songs like Leron Leron Sinta, Manang Biday, Sa Ugoy ng Duyan; classical music such as Concierto in D, Songs without Words; and pop songs like Hotel California, and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Triple Fret was invited in Spain to participate in the guitar festival in Valencia from July 18 to 20 and in Sigüenza from July 24 to 26.  Another concert in Sevilla towards the end of the month is also scheduled.

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ANDORRA ISSUES STAMPS IN HONOR OF FILIPINO POPULATION IN SPAIN

About 90,000 pieces of stamps were printed in €92 cents denomination. Andorra´s postal service is operated by Spain and France whose postal administrations issue their own postage stamps for use in Andorra only.

As of 2013, there are about 800 Filipinos in Andorra, majority of them work as engineers, sales agent, and hotel and restaurant workers. Most of them remain Filipino citizens, as it takes at least 25 years´ residency for a foreigner to be eligible for Andorran citizenship.