SJC 67 Anniversary Concert

CONCERT PROGRAM

WELCOMING REMARKS
Kelin Fulkerson-Smith, emcee

OPENING PRAYER
OPENING REMARKS
The Venerable Irene E. Maliaman
Vicar, Episcopal Church of Saint John the Divine

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 - F. CHOPIN
Leody Ersando, piano

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - A. L. WEBBER
from Phantom of the Opera
Sarah Vandergrift , soprano
Hannah Lee, piano

“Turkish” Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 - W. A MOZART
Movement 1. Allegro aperto
Raylene DeBenedictus, violin
Joshua Chun, piano

Panis Angelicus - C. FRANCK
Sarah Vandergrift & Jenny Sinclair, sopranos
Hannah Lee, piano

When The Saints Go Marching In - TRADITIONAL
”Rong Notes”
Jayven Botha, alto saxophone; Kavan Gutierrez, drums; Kai Spence, piano;
Elijah Dixon, harmonica & Xander Castro, bass

INTERMISSION - 10 MINUTES

****OFFICIAL PHOTO****

Baba Yetu - C. TIN
from Civilizations IV, Video Games Live Part I
Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra

The Prayer - D. FOSTER, C. SAGER, T. RENIS & A. TESTA
from Quest for Camelot
Joanne Matanane, soprano | Alfredo Refuerzo, tenor
Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra

Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102 - D. SHOSTAKOVICH
Movement 1. Allegro
transcribed by. Maximo Ronquillo, Jr.
Richard Legaspi, piano soloist
Tumon Bay Winds and Percussion

CLOSING REMARKS
CLOSING PRAYER
The Venerable Irene E. Maliaman
Vicar, Episcopal Church of Saint John the Divine

REFRESHMENTS

Who's Who in the Cast

JOSHUA CHUN, piano

My name is Joshua Chun, and I am a senior at St. John’s. I’ve been playing the piano for 11 years, and this is my first time performing as an accompanist. I can also make Minecraft villager noises and whistle really well.

RAYLENE DEBENEDICTIS, violin

Raylene is currently a senior at St. John’s School and has been playing piano for 12 years. She also plays violin and is the current concertmaster of the St. John’s Orchestra. She has been part of both piano and violin award-winning performances, the most recent of which was her achievement of Command Performance as a member of the Stringstars during Guam’s 2024 Tumon Bay Music Festival. Raylene hopes to continue pursuing music and to benefit the music community on Guam.

LEODY ERSANDO, piano

Leody is a young musician who first started his journey into music at the age of 9. In the year 2019, he began to try to play the piano. He was self-taught until around middle school, where he started learning music theory and keeps the knowledge to this day. In early 2023, he was appointed as a percussionist in the Untalan Middle School concert band. He joined halfway through his 7th grade year, and even with the Tumon Bay Music Festival of 2023 just about a month in sight, he was able to perform well, with less than 2 months of experience as a percussionist. To this day, he has continued to perform as a percussionist in large ensembles such as the Guam Territorial Band and the Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra of 2026, while still continuing to further improve on his main instrument, the piano. He's performed piano for his school recitals, and also in the Tumon Bay Music Festival of 2024, achieving a silver award with a score of 87.5/100. Today he continues pursuing his passion for music, and even arranges and composes music by himself, while still performing in large ensembles, and maintaining his skill and musicality in both the percussion section and on his piano.

RICHARD LEGASPI, piano

I began attending St. John’s church with my wife Wendy in 1993 and have 3 teenage children. I play the piano for Sunday services and serve on the church board as senior warden. I started piano lessons when I was 8 years old and had the great fortune to study with Mrs. Elizabeth B. Dela Cruz as a teenager. In 1983, I performed the entire Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 accompanied by my teacher at the UOG Fine Arts Theater. Since 1992, I have been working as an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist at the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority. I am grateful for the privilege to perform the concerto’s 1st movement with Mr. Ronquillo and the youth ensemble. I thank all those who have nurtured and supported my love for the piano through the decades.

JOANNE MATANANE, soprano
Joanne Matanane is a professional musician and educator on Guam. She has played with the Guam Territorial Band and has been featured as an occasional soloist with GTB. Dedicated to music education, Ms. Matanane has helped to build young musicians through the Guam Honor Band and Guam Band Academy programs of the Guam Territorial Band and has served as a Regional Band Master for the organization. She has been the band director at L.P. Untalan Middle School since 2015, gives private lessons in her free time, and is the pianist at St. Michael the Archangel Chapel in Andersen Air Force Base. She lends her vocal talent for radio ads and online tutorials and is a freelance graphic designer.

Ms. Matanane has served on TBMF’s Executive Team as an Administrative Officer, the Creative Director, and the Artistic Director. With the change in management of the festival from GTB to the Guam Philharmonic Foundation, she was promoted to Manging Director. Ms. Matanane was a merit scholar, is listed twice in Who’s Who of America, and is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society.

ALFREDO T. REFUERZO, tenor
Mr. Alfredo Tindugan Refuerzo began singing when he was only in 6th grade. He met his first choir teacher, Mr. Elmor Derosas in middle school and since then he has been inspired to pursue his singing career. He was in choir for 3 years at Benavente Middle School and when he reached high school, he became part of John F. Kennedy’s Honors Choir, Vivace for 3 years. He was even more inspired and motivated by his choir director Mrs. Ailene Canos Sablan. After high school, he continued his music interest at the University of Guam. He then joined the University of Guam Singers for 4 (non-consecutive) years. He became a wedding singer at the year of 2009. He has been able to travel the world (mostly European countries) for international choir competition. He has been to Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Cambodia, Dubai, Hongkong and Czech Republic because of choir. He has also joined many local and international singing competitions (although he did not win the title) he kept going. Through music, Mr. Refuerzo decided to pursue a teaching career. He started teaching at Okkodo High School Choir in the year of 2014. He is also currently teaching 3 beginning choir classes, 1 Show Choir, and 1 Honors-Select Choir, “Magnifico”. Mr. Refuerzo also learned great lessons from his students. He learned to be more patient, selfless, and most importantly, perseverance. He is known for his phrase, “You will always be in 1st place compared to those who didn’t even try.” which he uses in class to encourage his students. This phrase is synonymous to the saying, “You will never know until you actually try”. Mr. Refuerzo is never afraid of losing, nor afraid of trying. This is what he hopes to instill in his students; is to “keep trying”. He leaves us with a quote, “ If you do not want to lose any opportunity, then go for it!”

JENNY SINCLAIR, soprano
Jenny Sinclair is a critical care nurse from St. Louis who moved to Andersen Air Force Base in 2023 with her husband and four children. She is a classically trained vocalist who studied music theory, vocal performance, and dance until the age of 22. She has performed in many community theater productions in North Carolina and with church choirs in North Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona, and Illinois.

SARAH VANDERGRIFT, soprano

Sarah has been singing for what feels like her whole life. From singing in the congregation to choir in junior high, high school, and college, singing has always been one of Sarah's passions and joys. A school nurse by day, you can hear Sarah sing most Sundays at St. John's, or with the GPF community choir. She is thankful for her husband Gerad supporting her hobbies and her two kids who are her biggest cheerleaders.