One of my best friends and fellow Creative Writing student back in college Cara Manglapus has bloomed into a beautiful young jazz singer. I blogged about her and kind of predicted her singing career. She started having regular gigs when she came home in 2011 after two years of traveling the world.
The Executives Unplugged is a musical spin-off of the historic 15-piece jazz group, The Executives Big Band. Founded in 1957 by Senator Raul S. Manglapus, the original Executives have jammed with giants in both music and government, including Duke Ellington, Gary Burton, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Byrd, the King of Thailand, the King of Cambodia, Former First Lady Ming Ramos, and Former US President Bill Clinton. The have also performed for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
This love for great music is carried on by Raul’s son, Francis Manglapus, who now manages a 3rd generation of musicians that compose today’s Executives Band. Francis and his daughter, Cara, make up ½ of The Executives Unplugged, playing rhythm guitar to Cara’s smooth and sultry lead vocals. A business executive by day and a musician at night, Francis also plays the piano and the drums.
Cara Manglapus started singing at age 2, heavily influenced by her father’s enthusiasm for Broadway classics and The Beatles, and her grandfather’s zest for jazz. As she grew up, she broadened her vocal capacity by taking voice lessons in both pop singing and musical theater, and singing with the multi award-winning Woodrose High School Glee Club. She graduated with a degree in Creative Writing from the Ateneo de Manila University and went on to work in Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Taiwan, and Sweden as a project manager of a distinguished advertising company. She has since returned to the Philippines to rekindle her devotion to the arts, with a debut performance on the main stage at the French Embassy’s Fete de la Musique in June of 2010. She is also a contributing writer for local magazines.
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I’m happy to promote their upcoming Valentines Day Concert in Alabang’s newest 5-star hotel, Acacia.
They’ll be playing 3 sets of 45 minutes each and the cherry on top is how affordable this date would be for you and your loved one. A romantic 4-course meal with a glass of red wine and a smooth jazz band to score your Valentine’s kiss. www.acaciahotelsmanila.com
Cara just recently started her own blog (finally!), you might want to follow her: caramanglapus.blogspot.com
I really love how you’re really supportive of your friends! So sweet! :)
And I love how Cara & her dad do music together! The family that sings/plays together, stays together. Parang Mags lang din! Mala-Selena y Los Dinos. Haha ;)
Hahahaha yay! Yes I love supporting my friends especially those who work hard!:D Hmm.. I think all my friends are hard working naman :p
I love Jazz music! Will you be there Saab? :)
Wish I could be there but I’ll be on a flight back home from Singapore on Valentine’s day!
This is nice! My uncle’s actually part of The Executives Band! :) And oh, thanks for introducing Cara’s blog to us! I already love her and her TRAVELS!!! :)
Hi Mika! Thanks for the kind words :) Who is your uncle? xo
Hi Saab! I sent you an email. I hope you’ll have a time to read it and reply :D Thank you so much.
Saab is there to save the day! They gave me tickets to give out but I didn’t really know how to describe this event…. so I just linked to your blog right here on my twitter contest. =)
Let’s hang soon!
Awesome! See you soon Vince :D