O Bradley boy

Bradley Bascon performing live at the DZFE studio with assisting pianist Rudolf Golez. Young Bradley opens the Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation's Young Artists Series 2014 on July 28, Monday, at 7 p.m. at the Ayala Museum Lobby.

FM radio station DZFE's Bert Robledo, who must have been the late environmental Odette Alcantar's punning partner in her Blue Ridge tertulia years, assured me after I turned up at the Far East Broadcasting Company's Ortigas Center Office that I needn't worry that I had left my camera at home. I brought everything I needed to cover his "Bravo Filipino" program at noon yesterday wherein his featured guest was Bradley Bascon who, at 14, is the most promising Fil-Am violinist.

Mang or Manong Bert, as I prefer to call him out of respect for his age (I don't have to disclose that, do I?), assured me that I had no cause to panic by pointing to his temple: "I have a photographic memory."

As I was giggling, he signaled to Daisy Jane Sande, programming assistant of 98.7 DZFE The Master's Touch, to take care of my photographic needs. And there was more assist coming from Angel Reyes-Nacino, Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation executive director who was also a guest, Ana Jacinta Trinidad (she'll hate it if I just say she's sports writer-poet Recah Trinidad's niece) and Bradley's lovely mama, Theresa Jallorina Bascon. They all volunteered to also take or share pics.

Ordinary miracles--these gestures are called.

The California-based violinist with his mom Tetch

Ana Jacinta Trinidad (right), who says she's named after her two grandmothers, takes a selfie with a new acquaintance.

From the get go, Mang Bert described Badley as displaying "a masterly artistry," putting him in the same league as Diomedes Saraza Jr., Regina Buenaventura and other young violinists with Philippine roots.

Bradley and Rudolf at the DZFE music studio in Bert Robledo's noontime program "Bravo Filipino"

Like most good musicians, Bradley is more expressive in his playing than in conversing, and he showed the masterly touch that Manong Bert is so proud of when he first heard the boy rehearsing before the show. He played, among others, John Williams' adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, Ben Zubiri's "Matud Nila," a Cebuano melody whose title means "according to them." Earlier, before he went on air, Manong Bert, who used to sing in a choir with soprano Evelyn Mandac as soloist, threatened to sing the main character Tevye's part. But when it's time to be serious, he's as sober as a judge.

Of his musical family, Bradley said the genes come from both sides but especially from his Dad Conrad's. "We sing at parties. It gets really loud."

He doesn't consider himself a prodigy; he'd rather call himself as "more of a talent who needs more honing."

Bradley listens to his mother's reminder. Tetch, a St. Paul College alumna from kindergarten to college and still actively working as a freelance accountant, says she always tells him, "Be humble. No matter how talented you are, if you don't use your talent properly, God will take it away."

For his July 28 concert, his program is made up of compositions for the violin by Mozart, Winiawski, Monti, Kreisler and Saint-Saens.

Instant Bradley Bascon Admirers' Club. From left: kibitzing babushka, Ana Jacinta Trinidad, the teenage violinist who also excels in his academic subjects, Mang Bert Robledo, Rudolf Golez, Angel Reyes Nacino, Bradley's mom Tetch, his dad Conrad and a Jallorina aunt.

For tickets, call TicketWorld at 891-9999, the MCO Foundation at 750-0768 or 0920-954-0053.

Photos courtesy of Ana Jacinta Trinidad, Angel Reyes Nacino, Daisy Jane Sande and Theresa Jallorina Bascon