“Music gives soul to the universe…wings to the mind…flight to the imagination…and life to everything!” – Plato
WHEN prolific German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven said “Music should strike fire from the heart of a man and bring tears from the eyes of woman…” he must have inadvertently in mind the power and soulful voice of Sal Malaki when the Filipino tenor unleashes his emotional tensions through his poignant vocal renditions and unadulterated musical gradations. Malaki’s incomparably pulsating musical interpretations could effectually move and affect listeners regardless of any language barrier.
For true enough, music is the only ethereal access into the fascinated realm of men’s senses which are oftentimes unfathomable, constantly intriguing, yet relentlessly being craved for.
World-renowned operatic tenor and stage actor Sal Malaki was born in Leyte (in southern Philippines) and was schooled at the University of the Philippines College of Music, Major in Voice, with a Teacher’s Diploma in Flute.
Encumbered with an innately enviable talent and dedicated passion Sal was immediately invited to join the Faculty of the UP College of Music after he received his diploma.
Having effectively delivered what was expected of him, consequently, St. Scholastica College of Manila signed him as the school’s Voice Instructor and Head of the Voice Department.
Then, having established his own mark and successfully carved a glittering moniker in the field after being a member and tenor soloist of the UP Madrigal Singers, he joined the Los Angeles Opera Company and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1995 and that rocketed his career to a full blast.
Malaki, one of Los Angeles Opera Production’s most seasoned artists, instinctively possesses that diverse classical male singing voice with the ultimate in vocal range coupled with excellent acting prowess that create an even more distinct pulsation to his singing style and unrivaled appeal to his characterization. .
His diaphragmatic breathing technique and smooth glottal transition unmistakably contribute to the efficacy of his delivery. One has to witness Sal Malaki perform to personally experience an exceptional fusion of voice and music. His electrifying stage presence strongly radiates a charismatic effervescence especially when he effortlessly hits his high notes with such ease and sustains them lingeringly like plumes gently suspended in mid-air.
Amplified or not, his vocal power resonates with breathtaking intensity and caressing fluidity that is so pure and sublime as demonstrated in his impressive renditions of Nicholas Brodszky’s “Be My Love”, Eduardo Di Capua’s “O Solo Mio” (My Sunshine), Rolf Lovland’s “You Raised Me Up”, Giacomo Antonio Domenico Puccini’s “Nessum Dorma” (None Shall Sleep) from his opera Turandot, and Steve Allen’s “This Could Be The Day”, just to name a few.
But Sal’s vocal capability isn’t only confined to singing English, French, or Latin classical selections. His native tongue still holds that innate sound which gracefully soars to lilting crescendo and melodious reverberations like in his own vocal rendition of Cebuano Nitoy Gonzales’s (or was it Col. Greg Labja of Davao) “Usahay.” Sal performed the popular song with the accompaniment of Filipino guitar virtuoso, composer and conductor Michael Dadap which made the collaborated presentation sound even further more plaintive and lamenting.
A world-class classical singer like Sal Malaki justifiably deserves nothing but only prestigious venues in New York the likes of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall, and the Hunter College’s The Kaye Playhouse.
In the west coast, particularly in California, Malaki has also successfully staged his concerts at the LA Music Hall’s Dorothy Chandler’s Pavilion, California’s Cerritos Center for Performing Arts, La Mirada Performing Arts Center, and at the UCLA’s Royce Hall.
Other Malaki’s significant performances were held at Detroit’s Macomb Center for The Arts, at Minnesota’s St. John’s University Auditorium, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center (Eisenhower Theater), and New Jersey’s Morristown Museum.
Well-endowed with talents of limitless potential and flair, Sal Malaki never neglected to collaborate with Filipino talents. He has done quite a number of international concerts while having simultaneously pooled resources with other prominent Filipino artists such as Rudolf Pelaez Golez, Jonathan Badon, Ner De Leon, Kit Navarro, Abelardo Galang, and of course, Michael Dadap.
To date, he prides himself with a sterling achievement of over a hundred opera productions and has appeared as a solo performer notable of which was his portrayals in La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Luisa Fernanda, Der Rosenkavalier, La Rondine, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Magic Flute.
His career has been tremendously highlighted with exciting rewards and inspiration-inducing turn-outs: a Grammy award for the Los Angeles Opera Production of Kurt Weill’s “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany, his exceptional depiction of Giuseppe in the Los Angeles Opera Production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, his noteworthy portrayal of Uncle Yakuside in Giacomo Puccini’s madama Butterfly, and as Crisostomo Ibarra / Dr. Jose Rizal in Noli Me Tangere: The Opera.
A low-key philanthropist, Malaki has had top-billed several benefit concerts and fundraising events in and out of the Philippines. Generous, emphatic, and compassionate with a personal aspiration to change the world by way of providing his time and talent for the advantage of the less fortunate, Sal Malaki slowly achieves what he has envisioned — upholding his own advocacy through his music.
Sal Malaki, by and large, embraces his classical music and operatic endeavor with defining ingenuity in the pursuit of his career excellence.
And as if to provide credence to his having that kindling jingoism at heart he tackles the assigned Filipino heroic roles to the hilt, most laudable of which was his riveting portrayal of Crisostomo Ibarra in Noli Me Tangere: The Opera which premiered at the Hunter College’s The Kate Playhouse in the fall of 2013. He could feel an implausible transformation within him the moment he tried on the costumes and held the script. He instantly felt the character and sensed that the bigger-than-life role must have been tailored-cut for him.
By August of 2014, Noli: The Opera moved its mounting at Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater that attracted to a full capacity crowd of opera enthusiasts from different states around and nearby Washington DC. Malaki’s performance didn’t escape the watchful eyes and exacting theater standards of opera critics that earned for him another feather to his already feathery cap.
Incidentally, the traveling Filipino opera has also successfully stamped its own mark at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila in September of 2014.
The Washington Post printed: “Sal Malaki and his golden tenor anchored the opera and his expressive singing sent it soaring…!” If that wasn’t enough to commend his work then what other words could be praise-worthy enough to extol his remarkable delivery.
Malaki has also recorded the role of Juan Luna in Ryan Cayabyab’s “Spoliarium” with libretto by Professor Fides Cuyugan Asencio. His nationalism was best exhibited in “Mga Sining-Awit” (Philippine Art Songs), an innovative CD recording of well-loved Filipino songs with the guitar accompaniment of Michael Dadap, which was launched in July of 2010 at Philippine Center NY’s Kalayaan Hall as presented by the De Leon Foundation.
The ever soft spoken Malaki, in his musical journey, has persistently been guided by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s words of wisdom which he has enduringly entrenched on his mind:“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
This Friday, get a taste of Malaki’s music and be intoxicated with his songs. As Beethoven rationally quoted: “Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.”
Join Sal Malaki in his NYC musical sojourn and celebrate (with him) the supreme universality of music and its paramount soothing power. Come and listen to his music at the Philippine Center NY’s Kalayaan Hall on Friday, May 29, 2015 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM and be entertained by his well-prepared repertoire, be charmed by his compellingly persuasive voice, and voluntarily fall under his spell. The show will also feature Brittany Palmer as guest soprano and pianist par excellence Benjamin Dia.
For tickets: Call 1.800.338.2839 Ext. 802 or 646.229.4849 and ask for Troi Santos.
For comments and suggestions, please email: [email protected] or [email protected].
