Young blind pianist witnesses the value of Life
Manila (AsiaNews) - At twenty-four years old, Carlos Ibay is a blind pianist who expresses his world through the color of music, proclaiming the value of life with the skills bestowed to him by his Creator.
Ibay is in the Philippines at the invitation of Bishop Ramon Arguelles, the John Paul II International Center for Family and Commnication, and the Family Life Apostolate. His mission is to proclaim the sacredness of life-- through music. He performed several concerts beginning with a benefit for the Family Life Apostolate and culminating with a public performance during the celebration of the 18th National Migrants Sunday on February 29th at Rizal Park.
His is the heart-warming testimony of a family's enduring love and faith in God in adversity, say the concert organizers at the John Paul II International Center for Family and Communication. "It took years until I finally got pregnant, " says his mother. The son of Filipino parents who migrated to the United States in 1971, he was diagnosed as being a 'high-risk pregnancy'. The physician advised his mother, Carmacita, to abort him. The parents, however, disagreed. They were firm in the belief that what God had given them should not be killed. Instead, they chose life. He was born two months premature and was monitored in an incubator, where through a hospital error, he was over-exposed to oxygen and eventually lost his eye-sight.
Despite his handicap, he grew up as a normal child, surrounded by the love and care of his nurturing parents who were constantly beside him. If blindness for some people is considered a handicap, for Carlos it became a challenge to hone the other skills and talents given to him by God. By the age of two, "Chuckie", as his parents call him, started to play the house organ, by listening to a piece and playing by ear. His parents noticed he had an additional rare quality, 'perfect pitch'- an extraordinary sense of distinguishing tones. By the age of 9, with his clear baritone voice, he was presented to the public as a child prodigy in vocals and piano.
Once, his mother relates, Carlos came home from school and asked why his schoolmates kept telling him he was blind. "But I am not blind!"
Though he was not able to enter the prestigious Julliard School of Music because of his blindness, "one of the school's professors is a very good friend of Chuckie." his father told AsiaNews. For piano and voice studies, he went to the Levine School of Music in New York. His vocal repertoire includes sacred songs, Broadway musicals, and jazz, among others.
Carlos is also gifted in languages, and is fluent in German, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian and Japanese.
His parents admit that there were challenges in raising a blind child. But in their perspective, this cross was short-lived as they saw him grow into a man with such great talent and generosity in sharing his abilities with people in need.
He has held concerts in the United States to benefit churches and religious organizations, for a rehabilitation center for drug addicts and a health center for AIDS patients and for war refugees in Bosnia, He has also performed for the benefit of victims of the earthquakes in the Philippines. This is his first concert appearance in the country. (S.E.)
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