I attended my first Helen Quach concert in Manila in my early teens. Her distinctive high-slit cheongsam and confident walk to the podium dominated by tuxedos were received with applause by the audience.

As she conducted the Philippine national anthem to a rousing, vigorous tempo, I whispered to my sister the "Lupang Hinirang" alone was worth the ticket.

In our family, her name in our Fujian dialect, "Keh Bee Tsieng," stirred the respect reserved for "super women." We trooped to the concert halls to watch her as often as she gave concerts in town.

Music journey

Helen Quach (Kuo Mei-Chen), born in Saigon of Chinese parents, played the piano because it made her parents happy. At 10 she migrated to Australia and at 19 graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The next year saw her in her debut as the first female conductor of Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

In 1967, she won first prize in the prestigious Dimitri Mitropulos International Competition in New York and was appointed assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic.

It was not easy for her, an Asian and female, to be among international orchestra conductors. Yet with determination and hard work, she asked to be auditioned, and with her gifts of great memory and understanding of music, plus her "temperament," she found her place.

A music treasure of Asia, Helen was known for her fashion sense, whether wearing a miniskirt or a cheongsam. She is also distinguished by a set of huge commanding brilliant eyes framed by her signature thick black bob bouncing in rhythm.

She was much sought-after to conduct the top orchestras in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, as well as in Germany and Norway.

She founded the Kuringai Philharmonic Orchestra in Sydney, Children's Orchestra of ROC and Taipei Philharmonic. She was resident conductor of Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.

Soul journey

Still, in the middle of all her success, something went wrong. She suffered electric shock in an accident that damaged her organs. She was also diagnosed with cancer of the breast.

Not being assured that surgery would take out the cancer completely, she decided she needed to heal for herself and, thus, faded away from the music scene. At her weakest time of out-of-body, near-death experiences, she could not even have the physical strength to listen to music, much less to study or conduct.

She sought healing in the Eck spiritual exercises of chanting "hu." By raising consciousness above the physical realm, she found relief from pain.

Music now includes creating a "vibration of love and gratitude." Her newfound spirituality also involves her in causes for animal rights and care for the environment.

Journeys to Manila

Today, 16 years after her hibernation, Helen Quach reemerges for her 26th concert-program in Manila to conduct the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) for the centennial celebration of St. Scholasticaís College on April 22 and 26.

The program for both concerts consists of Beethoven's "Leonore Overture" No. 3 in C Major; Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor, with pianist Cristine Coyuito; and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E Minor. She will conduct the overture and symphony without scores.

Local legend has it that a piano teacher keeps a souvenir of one of Quach's batons that she broke in her famous temper during a rehearsal.

She is no stranger in our music halls and to our own musicians, having conducted MSO many times before with soloists Regalado Jose, Nena Villanueva, Raul Sunico and Gil Kabayao whom she still recalls with fondness.

She also remembers the concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines inauguration at the invitation of then First Lady Imelda Marcos. At another time, her plane landed amid the ashes spewed by Mt. Pinatubo.

She appreciates the Filipinos not only for their creativity and passion in music but also for "loving [people] not so much for what they can achieve but just who they are," and thus enjoying life as it is at a calmer pace.

Lessons

A calmer, more contented person she has become in spite of her cancer, Helen maintains the same optimism and passion she has had all her life. Except this time, she expands her passion to include a world larger than music.

She believes "music is a good discipline for young people. And it is good to always do something to the best of your ability."

However, while in the past she had always been driven, wanting to prove herself in her career, music does not hold that sway any longer for her.

While her expectations and standards for music excellence have not been compromised, she knows when "one has reached a certain peak, there are other lessons to be learned." She now enjoys snorkeling more than anything.

But first, let us hear the drums roll again for "Lupang Hinirang"!

E-mail the author at grace@koo.org

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