Ingrid stunned the audience with the blending beauty and brilliance of her playing, and the new, young Filipino-American PPO music director and principal conductor Maestro Eugene Castillo impressed very favorably with his authoritative albeit youthful brio and energy.

The venue, the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium in Don Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall at De La Salle University, Taft Avenue, Manila, which the generous Ambassador Yuchengco had built and donated to the DLSU was large enough to seat over 1,000 guests. And the acoustics were excellent.

In his opening remarks Amb. Yuchengco thanked the performers, concert pianist Ingrid Sala Santamaria, Maestro Eugene Castillo and the PPO for accepting his invitation to perform on this evening.

PPO performed "Two Slavonic Dances" by Antonin Dvorak as an opener. Arriving a trifle late for his Introductory Remarks on Romantic Music was Reynaldo Reyes, Filipino pianist based in the USA and a long-time partner of Ms. Santamaria.

Then the beauteous Norwegian-Phil Ingrid Sala Santamaria interpreted the lush melodies of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18" (Moderato, Adagio sostenuto, Allegro scherzando) with bravura, dash and brilliance. As also in the following Peter Tschaikovsky’s "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B Flat Minor, Op. 23" (Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso, Andante semplice, Allegro con fuoco), she overwhelmed with her utterly-magnificent renditions, her crescendos and diminuendos, ritardandos, and accelerandoes all well-marked.

Yours truly has heard the famous Van Cliburn himself, American winner of the Tschaikovsky Competition in Moscow, render this concerto in Manila, many years ago. I do not remember having been as thoroughly spellbound as by Ingrid Santamaria, at the recent concert in the Yuchengco Auditorium. And Ingrid has unbelievably enormous strength and stamina. As Dr. Raul Sunico once remarked, "Malakas ang pulso!"

The highly inspired Eugene Castillo and the PPO were lending her such reliable and secure support.

Insistent were the calls for "Encore, Encore!" and Ingrid and her long-time teammate, Reynaldo Reyes played with admirable dispatch Brahms’ "Hungarian Dances" in a four-hand rendering.

Thank you Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco and all the artists concerned, for a thoroughly-enchanting evening!

The project (Romantic Piano Concerto Journey) conceptualized by concert pianist Ingrid Sala Santamaria and United States based concert pianist, pedagogue and music educator Maestro Reynaldo Reyes in 2001.

Since its beginning, the duo team has performed the most beloved concerti of the Romantic Period featuring the compositions of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saens, Schumann, Tschaikovsky and Filipino classical masterpieces of Abelardo, Buencamino, Santiago and Cayabyab.

The project has been fully endorsed by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, the Commission for Higher Education and the Department of Interior and Local Governments. It also enjoyed the unique Filipino hospitality extended by host communities, schools and universities throughout the nation during the past three and a half years with the completion of some 130 concerts in eight national and international concert tours to the enjoyment of thousands in live audience and a millions more on radio and national television through the auspices of the Concert at the Park project of NBN 4 and the National Parks Development Committee.

The team recently completed its 8th concert tour with performances in Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Manila, Cavite and Cebu. In Korea, Prof. Reyes and Ms. Santamaria performed as soloists for Grieg Concerto and Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2, respectively assisted by the Busan Boystown Symphony Orchestra.