By Orquidia Valenzuela
December 2007 - The Netherlands

CARMENCITA LOZADA brought pride and joy to the Filipinos and to the international musical community through her violin virtuosity.

For more than 40 years, she gave concerts in various cities of Europe, North America, Asia and even in countries where the Philippines had no diplomatic relations during that time, and of course in her native land.

European critics acclaimed her as "a passionate violinist" .... "with the devil of a violinist in her blood."

In her teens, Ms. Lozada won a prize in the International Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy. Again she entered the same competition and again she won, holding the distinction of the only Filipino to win the tough Paganini competition twice.

After that, she resided in Vienna, The Hague and later in Siegen, Germany, giving concerts till the 90's. She continued to give violin lessons till her death.

In the Netherlands, she gave a number of concerts from the mid-60's till the 70's. She again played in 1997 for Kiwanis Club at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for the Foster Parents' International project in Baguio City.

In 1994, as its cultural project, she was presented in a concert by Samahan, an all-Filipino migrant organization.

To give aspiring young Dutch-Filipino musicians a "push" she volunteered to perform in a musical matinee presented by Munting Nayon in 1997, which featured several young music students.

Though she established residence in Europe when she was 17, at heart she remained a Filipino. She made regular visits to the Philippines to give concerts.

Ms. Lozada, as her musical legacy to the Filipinos, collected the original tapes of her international live concerts and recordings of her radio broadcasts, and travelled for two years from her residence in Siegen, Germany to Vienna and The Hague for the re-mastering of the tapes and to Manila for the recording.

The Heritage Recordings is a 20-CD album which brings to life the musical career of Ms. Lozada who left the Philippines at the age of 17 years for Vienna for further education and since then resided in Europe. Heritage is an accumulation of her many recordings that started in the 50's in the crude studio of her late uncle Jose Lorenzo to the sophisticated studios in Hamburg, Hannover, Amsterdam, Cologne, Baden-Baden, Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, as well as her live concerts in various parts of the world.

Fifteen CDs were released and launched in March 2005 in Manila. The original plan of Ms. Lozada was to have a total of 28 CDs for her "Heritage Recordings."

In July 2006, she flew to Manila to supervise the release of the five CDs to complete the 20-CD album. But, despite her strong will and determination she did not live to finish the five CDs. On the 15^th of the following month she passed away. She succumbed to cancer after a 10-year battle. Until her end came she was mentally alert, giving instructions regarding her collection.

CAMPAIGN: POSTHUMOUS NATIONAL ARTIST AWARD FOR CARMENCITA LOZADA

After her death on August 15, 2006, long-time friends who are aware not only of her immense talent but her generosity in helping and sharing her talent with young aspiring musicians, and many others who have been to her concerts or heard her play, started a campaign for the Philippine government to give her a posthumous award as a national artist.

Carmencita Lozada rightfully deserved the posthumous award as a national artist for her immeasurable contribution to the cultural heritage of the Filipino people and in engraving the Philippines in the hearts and minds of people throughout the world through her music.

The campaign-letter for a Posthumous National Artist Award for Carmencita Lozada is ongoing. Filipinos and other nationalities who want to join the campaign are welcome. Simply add your name to the list. (see Carmencita Lozada Campaign Letter.)

`HERITAGE RECORDINGS' OF CARMENCITA LOZADA LAUNCHED

"The harvest of an odyssey that spans over 50 years," was how Carmencita Lozada described the Heritage Recordings during the launching at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila on March 5, 2005. An additional five CDs are still due for release, making the collection a total of 20 volumes.

Heritage Recordings is Ms. Lozada's story as a violinist.....a collection of her recorded years of performances in various music capitals of the world, including the Philippines. It brings to life the musical career of Ms. Lozada who left the Philippines at the age of 17 years for Vienna for further education. It is an accumulation of her many recordings that started in the crude but effectual studio in Sta. Mesa of the late Mr. Jose Lorenzo in the 50s, to the sophisticated studios in Europe. In the CDs were her live performances in various concert halls, as well as recordings of her numerous radio broadcasts.

Ms. Lozada spent two years, travelling from her residence in Siegen, Germany, to Vienna and The Hague several times and also to the Philippines to realize the project. When the original tapes were being re-mastered by Josef Kamykowski of Vienna and Frits de Boer of The Hague they were so fragile they had to handle them carefully.

The CD-volume is filled with the well-known works of foreign composers which Ms. Lozada played in her international concerts or recorded during the last 50 years - that of Ravel, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Bach, Stravinsky, Tschaikovsky, Paganini, Bartok and many others.

Foreign music composed and dedicated to her and she herself premiered are in the Heritage. Fantasia Filipina for violin and orchestra, inspired by the Philippine sounds and rhythm was composed by the noted German composer Wolfgang Hofmann. The music was recorded for radio broadcast by the Southwest German Radio in Saarbruecken, Germany.

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