Blind musician brings opera to Palm Coast fundraiser

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

Carlos Alberto Ibay has stunned audiences all over the world with his talent as a classical pianist and tenor, and his concert at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church Friday, Aug. 8, was no exception.

Deprived of his sight since birth because of over oxygenation as a preemie with low birth weight, Ibay has overcome his blindness and has been performing since the age of 9 in several languages and on five continents. Included in his credits are performances at the Teatro Communale Di Carpi and the Teatro Storchi, in Modena, Italy, the birthplace of Luciano Pavarotti. In 2013, Ibay sang and played the organ at St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome, during the blessing and installation of the mosaic of St. Pedro Calunsgod.

He opened the Palm Coast concert with Chopin’s “Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante” in E flat Major. As the tenor switched between playing and singing classical pieces, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Pie Jesu” to musical theater pieces such as Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me” to Giacomo Puccini’s operatic piece “Nessun Dorma,” the audience at the Palm Coast concert showed their appreciation of his talent by giving Ibay a standing ovation after almost every piece in the two-hour concert.

Ibay said he has come to appreciate the musical gift that God has given him and wants to share it with the world.

“We find that he is such a talented soul — very prayerful and he’s got this amazing charisma,” said Flora Cruz-Khan, one of the event organizers.

The concert acted as a fundraiser for the San Lorenzo Ruiz Devotees of Palm Coast. Proceeds from the event will go towards establishing the Shrine of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and St. Pedro Calungsod at the Marywood Retreat Center, in St. Johns.

“This is the first of the fundraising events,” Cruz-Khan said. “We would love to get support from everybody, not just the Filipino community — this is a place everyone can gather along to visit.”

The concert also acted as a fundraiser to offset the cost of the church’s new piano and organ.