ESTHER HANA CONCERT

Esther Hanviriyapunt neé Buenconsejo, a.k.a. ESTER HANA, pianist, cabaret/jazz singer, plays an all-classical piano program. She is known for solo work in a wide variety of piano styles, incorporating serious music with theatre, popular and international (foreign-languages) music. This is her first solo completely-classical program in twenty years.

Featured will be rarely-performed-in-the-U.S. classical Philippine compositions of Buencamino and San Pedro. Also in the program are Chopin’s Ballade in Gm, Ravel’s Toccata from Le Tombeau de Couperin, Brahm’s Intermezzo in A major (Tom Selleck’s “Jesse Stone” always puts on an LP recording of this when he starts brooding!), Five Short Preludes of Robert Starer and a Scriabin Mazurka.

ESTER HANA performs to support DALAGUETE MUSIC FOUNDATION (DMF), that she started to benefit young people in her town in Cebu, Philippines. Her annual two-week music camps in the town of Dalaguete provides music instructions to 20-24 children. Over 200 children have gone through DMF since 2000; two DMF bands exist in her town, members of which are able to help themselves with their music engagements, some with university music scholarships.

The Philippine communities of Chicago, Milwaukee and San Jose, California acknowledge her cultural contributions with the Philippine Rondalla of Chicago, her support of Philippine music and theatre, and her work with choral groups with their eclectic and art-driven repertoire.

As a performer, ESTER HANA has played and sang in Geneva, Zurich, Gstaad and Monte Carlo; in Berlin, Stockholm, Paris, Arezzo, the British Virgin Islands, Toronto, in Asia, and in major cities in the U.S. She is a recipient of the Chicago Filipino Asian American Hall of Fame in 2008 in Excellence in Music.

She was active in the Chicago club scene in the 80s and 90s at Maxim’s, Davenport’s, Pump Room, etc.) and in theatres (Drury Lane, Wilmette, Skokie, Oil Lamp, etc.).

Born in the Philippines, ESTER HANA graduated at the Chicago Musical College and took private instructions at Northwestern University.

You are cordially invited to enjoy ESTER HANA’s eclectic taste and musicianship all throughout her music career.