The Manila Symphony Orchestra has spent most of 2026 honoring its past. Its centennial season opened in January with a replay of the first piece its founder, the Austrian conductor Alexander Lippay, led in 1926, and the concerts since have come with archival photos, revived repertoire, and tributes to the musicians who kept it going through a world war. On Tuesday afternoon, October 6, the orchestra opened a new home for the MSO Music Academy at One Ayala, the mixed-use complex and transport hub at the corner of EDSA and Ayala Avenue in Makati.

The MSO is a private institution, and it has stayed alive on private money. At the start of the centennial year, executive director Jeffrey Solares told reporters that private individuals and a small number of corporations carried the orchestra to 100, and that funding remains a constant struggle. The state-backed Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, based at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, works from a different budget altogether. The new academy was paid for the way the MSO has always been paid for.

Ten Years of Backing the MSO

The One Ayala branch was made possible by Standard Insurance, a major MSO sponsor, and by its group chair, Ernesto “Judes” Echauz, who fully funded the construction. At the opening, Echauz said supporting the MSO for the past 10 years has been a pleasure.

He was quick to talk up the orchestra’s record abroad. The MSO keeps winning internationally, he said, and “we are very proud of it.” He believes in the talent of Filipino musicians: “They are world class.” He also credited the MSO Foundation’s unusual setup for the orchestra still existing after more than 100 years.

Echauz has known MSO Foundation president Maan Hontiveros for over six decades, since high school. With her leadership and the academy now open, he said, he is confident the MSO will keep honing more Filipino talent.

“It Takes a Whole Village to Raise an Orchestra”

Hontiveros opened by thanking One Ayala for the space and for friendly rates, and Standard Insurance for its generous sponsorship. Then she explained what the studios are for. “It takes a whole village to raise an orchestra,” she said. “This is the beginning of where we find the materials for the orchestra.”

She is sure the space “will give us a lot of joy, a lot of great successes in the future because here is where we find and nurture young talents. Diamonds in the rocks will get polished here, they’d be given every opportunity to grow, and to discover the artists in them, and hopefully, they can reach their full potential.” Some of the girls who performed at the recital started as young as three. They are God-given talents, Hontiveros said, but it is up to adults to nurture and encourage them.

The academy matters just as much to the MSO’s own artists, many of whom also teach there. Hontiveros said it helps them “earn a decent livelihood and raise their families from their passion,” part of a wider aim to “professionalize orchestra playing so that it doesn’t become just a side gig.”

Six Studios and a Permanent Address

Fr. Benny Tuazon of Manila Bahay Pari at San Carlos Seminary blessed the rooms. Hontiveros cut the ribbon with One Ayala general manager Khen Akot and Marife Pineda, who represented Standard Insurance. Christopher Varlez of Varlez Pianos supplied the pianos for the studios, and Mariana Zobel Aboitiz gave the academy its space, with help from MSO trustee John Silva.

The academy already runs a studio at Ayala Malls Circuit, also in Makati, and keeps it. One Ayala adds a permanent address. It has six regular studios, each with a piano, for lessons in voice, piano, violin, viola, cello, guitar, flute, trumpet, saxophone, harp, and other instruments, plus a larger room for group classes, workshops, masterclasses, and small recitals. Students range from young children to adults, some preparing for competitions or applying for the academy’s scholarships, others simply wanting to learn an instrument. The MSO also runs the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra, part of its purpose of training young players from the start.

The Opening Recital

Students and faculty played a short recital after the ribbon cutting. Sara Maria Gonzales (violin) and Amansinaya Añonuevo (guitar) opened with Paganini’s Cantabile, a lyrical piece the violinist wrote with guitar in mind. Julia Reanna Aquino and Endrei Joashu Lejano shared one piano for “Katakataka,” the Filipino standard, in a four-hands arrangement by choral composer Augusto Espino.

Soprano Eina Lejano sang Giordani’s “Caro Mio Ben,” an 18th-century Italian art song that voice teachers have assigned to beginners for generations, with Jeremiah Valenzuela on piano. Valenzuela then accompanied violinist Dione Lhorrell Reyes in Willy Cruz’s OPM (Original Pilipino Music) ballad “Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas,” arranged by Solares.

The faculty ensemble joined for two Vivaldi pieces. David Llandino played the solo in “Summer Storm,” the closing movement of the “Summer” concerto from The Four Seasons, and Eliana Mariano and Lois Quitane soloed in the Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor. The full student and faculty ensemble closed with “From the Start,” the 2023 hit by Laufey, the Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter whose jazz- and classical-leaning songs have drawn many younger listeners to the instruments she trained on.

The Man Who Paid for the Room Is a Laufey Fan

Echauz, it turns out, has his own history with that closing number. A few years ago, his son introduced him to Laufey’s music and asked him to download her songs on Spotify. Echauz asked for a trade: his son would download Moira Dela Torre, the Filipina singer-songwriter, in return. He has been a Laufey fan since, and said he is thankful to her for giving back to music communities around the world, the MSO included.

He holds her up as someone young artists should emulate, both for her work and for running a foundation that supports classical music institutions worldwide at such a young age, something he said other popular artists haven’t done. “We’ve been listening, we’ve been listening to different pop artists who are very famous but we haven’t seen any artist who are as good as their background,” he said. Laufey hasn’t reached her peak yet, he added: “she’s still peaking,” and she is already giving back.

Training the Teachers

The academy also invests in its faculty, sending teachers to local and international training in the Suzuki method. Developed by Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki, the method teaches young children music the way they pick up a first language, through listening, repetition, and close involvement from parents. The academy’s motto is “Quality of Learning means Quality of Life.”

What’s Left of the Centennial

The anniversary season still has two dates. Philippine Master Composers, Past, Present and Future runs October 24 at Hyundai Hall in Areté, the Ateneo de Manila University arts center, and the MSO 100 Centennial Finale follows in January 2027. Centennial concert proceeds go to the MSO Foundation, the Music Academy, and the junior orchestra.

In May 1945, the MSO played its first postwar concert inside the roofless ruins of Santa Cruz Church. In August this year it paid tribute to Conching Rosal, the soprano who sang Carmen in Tagalog. Its newest room is a few minutes’ walk from the Ayala station of MRT-3, the elevated rail line along EDSA, and it was full of students on Tuesday.

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MSO Music Academy — One Ayala

• Location: One Ayala, corner EDSA and Ayala Avenue, Makati. A second studio operates at Ayala Malls Circuit, Makati.
• Lessons: voice, piano, violin, viola, cello, guitar, flute, trumpet, saxophone, harp, and other instruments; group classes, workshops, and masterclasses
• Who it’s for: children, teens, and adults; scholarship programs available
• Inquiries: Kaye Sison, 0916 408 7549, msomusicacademy@gmail.com
• Social: MSO Music Academy on Facebook and Instagram
• Next MSO centennial concert: Philippine Master Composers, Past, Present and Future, October 24, Hyundai Hall, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University