1 June - Manila
2 June - Singapore
3 June - Jakarta
4 June - Murung Raya, Central Borneo
14 June - Jakarta
28 June - Osaka
29 June - Kobe
1 July - Manila
2 July - Baguio
11 July - Hongkong
12 July - Osaka
13 July - Kobe
16 July - Taipei
17 July - Manila
18 July - Baguio
28 July - Taipei
2 Aug - Tokyo
6 Aug - Manila
13 Aug - Boracay (!!!)
15 Aug - Manila

It's 3:59am, and I was supposed to have my shut eye hours ago because we'll be having breakfast today in celebration of Mothers Day.  It was a choice between going to Fortune Hongkong Seafood Restaurant for dinner, or breakfast at the Manor, Camp John Hay Baguio City (my hometown).

Yes, I am in my hometown, in between workshops/concerts overseas.  The schedule last month was so crazy, I was in Singapore as one of the jury in their National Youth Festival where I wrote the contest pieces for Secondary Schools and Junior Colleges.  AND during a sandwiched weekend I had to fly to Japan to give a workshop of my music and conduct a performance of 200 children singing my music.  THEN returned to Singapore on a Monday morning, back in time for adjudicating in the festival.  After a few days, I flew to Taipei for some meetings and workshops of my new music.  Believe me, this kind of travelling is not fun at all!

Anyway, while in Japan I was with the University of the Philippines (Manila) and the Woodrose Chorale, both participating at the international Chorus Messe in Osaka where I am one of the advisers.  It was the first time to invite foreign choirs to the festival, and the two Filipino choirs made me so proud because of their heartfelt performances which showcased the beauty, talent, and charm of the Filipino.  They left the Japanese audience in tears.

from the Philippine Daily Inquirer

Love letter to Filipinos 11:39 pm | Sunday, February 17th, 2013

I am writing to thank Filipinos for the way you have treated me here, and to pass on a lesson I learned from observing the differences between your culture and mine over the years.

I am an expatriate worker. I refer to myself as an OAW, an overseas American worker, as a bad joke. The work I do involves a lot of traveling and changing locations, and I do it alone, without family. I have been in 21 countries now, not including my own. It was fun at first.  Now, many years later, I am getting tired. The Philippines remains my favorite country of all, though, and I’d like to tell you why before I have to go away again.

I have lived for short periods here, traveled here, and have family and friends here. My own family of origin in the United States is like that of many Americans—not much of a family. Americans do not stay very close to their families, geographically or emotionally, and that is a major mistake. I have long been looking for a home and a family, and the Philippines is the only place I have lived where people honestly seem to understand how important their families are.

I am American and hard-headed. I am a teacher, but it takes me a long time to learn some things. But I’ve been trying, and your culture has been patient in trying to teach me.

In the countries where I’ve lived and worked, all over the Middle East and Asia, it is Filipinos who do all the work and make everything happen. When I am working in a new company abroad, I seek out the Filipino staff when I need help getting something done, and done right. Your international reputation as employees is that you work hard, don’t complain, and are very capable. If all the Filipinos were to go home from the Middle East, the world would stop. Oil is the lifeblood of the world, but without Filipinos, the oil will not come from the ground, it will not be loaded onto the ships, and the ships will not sail.  The offices that make the deals and collect the payments will not even open in the morning. The schools will not have teachers, and, of course, the hospitals will have no staff.

What I have seen, that many of you have not seen, is how your family members, the ones who are overseas Filipino workers, do not tell you much about how hard their lives actually are. OFWs are very often mistreated in other countries, at work and in their personal lives. You probably have not heard much about how they do all the work but are severely underpaid, because they know that the money they are earning must be sent home to you, who depend on them.  The OFWs are very strong people, perhaps the strongest I have ever seen. They have their pictures taken in front of nice shops and locations to post on Facebook so that you won’t worry about them. But every Pinoy I have ever met abroad misses his/her family very, very much.

I often pity those of you who go to America. You see pictures of their houses and cars, but not what it took to get those things. We have nice things, too many things, in America, but we take on an incredible debt to get them, and the debt is lifelong.  America’s economy is based on debt. Very rarely is a house, car, nice piece of clothing, electronic appliance, and often even food, paid for.  We get them with credit, and this debt will take all of our lifetime to pay. That burden is true for anyone in America—the OFWs, those who are married to Americans, and the Americans themselves.

Most of us allow the American Dream to become the American Trap. Some of you who go there make it back home, but you give up most of your lives before you do. Some of you who go there learn the very bad American habits of wanting too many things in your hands, and the result is that you live only to work, instead of working only to live. The things we own actually own us. That is the great mistake we Americans make in our lives. We live only to work, and we work only to buy more things that we don’t need.  We lose our lives in the process.

I have sometimes tried to explain it like this: In America, our hands are full, but our hearts are empty.

You have many problems here, I understand that. Americans worry about having new cars, Filipinos worry about having enough food to eat. That’s an enormous difference. But do not envy us, because we should learn something from you. What I see is that even when your hands are empty, your hearts remain full.

I have many privileges in the countries where I work, because I am an expat. I do not deserve these things, but I have them. However, in every country I visit, I see that you are there also, taking care of your families, friends, bosses, and coworkers first, and yourselves last. And you have always taken care of me, in this country and in every other place where I have been.

These are places where I have been very alone, very tired, very hungry, and very worried, but there have always been Filipinos in my offices, in the shops, in the restaurants, in the hospitals, everywhere, who smile at and take good care of me. I always try to let you know that I have lived and traveled in the Philippines and how much I like your country. I know that behind those smiles of yours, here and abroad, are many worries and problems.

Please know that at least one of us expats has seen what you do for others and understands that you have a story behind your smiles. Know that at least one of us admires you, respects you, and thanks you for your sacrifices. Salamat po. Ingat lagi. Mahal ko kayong lahat.

David H. Harwell, PhD, is a former professor and assistant dean in the United States who now travels and works abroad designing language training programs. He is a published author and a son of a retired news editor.

To the American who wrote Filipinos a love letter

this is how i feel after being in vacation for more than 5 weeks now.

i will start spinning again in october with the ff schedule:

1 oct frankfurt
3 oct rimini italy
8 oct moscow
10 oct st petersburg russia
11 oct amsterdam
14 oct stockholm
18 oct frankfurt
19 oct barcelona
22 oct manila
23 oct singapore
27 oct kuala lumpur
29 oct tolosa, spain
6 nov manila
13 nov singapore

2013 at a glance:

April - Chorus Messe Japan
April - Jury, Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging for Choirs
June - Guest conductor, Cologne University mixed choirs, Germany
July - Guest conductor, Kobe University mixed choirs, Japan
July - Jury, Cape Town International Choral Festival, South Africa
Aug - recording Pamintuan CD, Stellenbosch University Choir, South Africa
Nov - Jury and clinician, CroPatria, Split Croatia

Here is my schedule for summer (Asia and America):

April 17-20 Workshop on Voice and Composition, Malaysian Institute of Art, Kuala Lumpur
April 21-23 World Premiere of Credo, Chorus Messe, Osaka
May 1-2 Workshop with University of Baguio Voices
May 11-18 Workshop in Manado, Indonesia
May 28-30 World premiere of Balinesia, Singapore
May 31- June 3 Dithyrambic Singers, Malaysia
June 7-12 Guest artist, Japan Choral Directors Association, Tokyo
July 5 Choral Spices Workshop, World Choir Games Cincinnati
July 4-14 Jury at the World Choir Games Cincinnati
July 18-20 Workshop with Takarazuka Choral Association, Japan
July 21-22 Jury at the Takarazuka International Chamber Choir Contest
July 23-31 Workshop with Panasonic Choir, Osaka and Hamoru Kobe, Japan

And my schedule during the Japan Choral Directors Association Festival in Hokutopia (Tokyo):

9th (Sat):

10:45 am to 11:30 am:     Lesson to Mixed Chorus "Kikuka"
11:45 am to 12:30 pm:     Lesson to Female Choir "Pure Heart"

12:30 am to 13:30 pm:    lunch and rest

13:30 pm to 14:30 pm:    Rehearsal of "Nihon no tame no Inori" by choirs from Tohoku region conducted by Mr. Pamintuan

14:30 am to 15:00 pm:    rest

15:00 pm to 16:00 pm:     Lesson on vocal technique for all choirs
16:15 pm to 17:00 pm:     Lesson to "Natural Voices"
17:05 pm to 17:50 pm:     Lesson to Mixed Chorus "Lab"

18:00 pm:                    Opening of "Wish upon Songs - Earthquake
Disaster Reconstruction Supporting Concert"
20:00 pm (provisional)    Performance of "Nihon no tame no Inori"


10th (Sun):

10:30 am to 12:00 pm:    Rehearsal of Tsuru University Choir by Mr. Pamintuan
Song Titles: Pater Noster, UMMAH, SALLIH, BUWA-BUWA NI UTU

12:00 am to 13:45 pm:    lunch and rest

14:00 pm to 15:30 pm:     Lecture by Mr. Pamintuan on Traditional Music
and Contemporary Choral Music of the Philippines

15:30 pm to 16:30 pm:     Rehearsal for "Nihon no tame no Inori" and
"Mata aeru" by Mr. Pamintuan

16:30 pm to 17:30 pm:    rest

17:30 pm:                    Closing concert "J. Pamintuan"

18:30 pm (provisional):   Performance by Tsuru University Choir
conducted by Mr. Pamintuan

20:00 pm (Provisional):   Performance of "Nihon no tame no Inori" and
"Mata aeru" conducted by Mr. Pamintuan