ENTERTAINMENT
Adelaide's loss is Sydney's gain
Award-winning guitarist plans to make a difference in his new home
MULTI-AWARD winner Manuel Cabrera, 41, left Adelaide in South Australia,
moved to Roseville in Sydney's north shore and established a guitar studio recently.
By VIOLI CALVERT
“I will be teaching guitar to three schools,” Cabrera
said.
“After-hours, I will hold lessons for students at my
studio, as I did in Adelaide.”
The musician specialises in classical music on the
Spanish guitar, but also teaches pop, rock, jazz, and
Filipino music like kundimans.
www.kalatas.com.au
Cabrera teaches the ukulele, too.
“Once I have established my student base, I will be
looking at holding an annual concert where my students
will be performing,” he said.
“When I lived in Singapore, I was well-connected with
the Philippine Embassy there.
“At the time, the Ambassador was Minda Calaguian-
Cruz, who is now the Philippine Ambassador to Australia.
“We collaborated in a few events and I performed for
the Embassy.
“I hope to do the same here in Sydney."
In his youth, Cabrera won major competitions in
the Philippines and Japan, including first prize at the
31Nippon Guitar Competition (solo category) in Osaka,
Japan; second prize at the Classical Guitar Competition
in Tokyo, Japan; first prize at the 1999 National Music
Competitions for Young Artists, Manila; first prize at the
'GITARA' Music Competition; and fifth prize at the 49th
Tokyo International Guitar Competition.
His talent and guitar skills have been recognised in
various significant music events: Cabrera was featured
in the 2004 Filipino Artists Series of the Cultural Centre
of the Philippines, and in the New Artists Concert at
Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan
Before living in Adelaide, Cabrera was based in
Singapore.
He was educated in classical guitar
in Japan and the Philippines and has
performed in a number of countries in
Asia.
"Almost everyone in my family plays
guitar or sings,” Cabrera says.
My eight-year-old daughter is
learning to play guitar.
“I can’t recall exactly when my first
public performance was, but it must
have been in 1996 in one of the student
recitals at University of Santo Tomas
Conservatory of Music."
Success did not come without
difficulties or challenges for Cabrera.
"Perhaps the
greatest
obstacle in
my journey
is being
afflicted with
the condition
called focal
dystonia in
2009,” he says.
“It’s a debilitating
condition quite common
in musicians where the
signals from the brain to the
muscles become blurred and
inaccurate, causing spasms
and cramping of the muscles
when playing an instrument, and
affecting speed and accuracy.
“Many musicians' careers
have ended abruptly because
of this condition while a smaller
percentage managed to retrain,
overcome the condition, and get
back into the concert stage.
“While I am still burdened with this
condition at present, I have been re-
training and there’s been improvements
in my condition, good enough that I
have had done a few small concerts over
the past few of years."
Cabrera looks forward to achieving
more.
"Two things,” he says.
“One, I’d like to be able to go back to
playing more concerts; second, I’d like to
continue learning how to be an effective
teacher.”
Sydney has a lot to gain from Manuel
Cabrera. n
AK NewsMagazine, Vol 8 No 6 | MARCH 2018
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