MANILA -- The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), through its Office of the President, is set to hold a virtual jazz festival featuring an all-Filipino roster of artists.

Titled "Jazz Stay at Home," the festival will be streamed live on the Facebook pages of the CCP and the center's Office of the President in late September and early October.

The event is free to the public and is part of the CCP Office of the President's outreach Program called "Sining Sigla," which was recently launched in an online media conference.

"Jazz Stay at Home" will open on September 25 with a message from CCP president Arsenio Lizaso and a brief tour of the evolution of jazz.

This will be followed by a presentation of all-time favorite jazz songs by award-winning singer and songwriter Nicole Laurel Asensio, who is often dubbed a "schizoprano" for her versatile vocal abilities.

On September 26, multi-awarded saxophonist and musical arranger Michael Guevarra will hold a lecture-demo concert titled "Saxophone Music Production at Home." His talk will include topics such as live recording and Midi sequencing for Minus 1, and will be made more entertaining by interpolated musical numbers.

After this will be "Pinoy Jazz," a showcase of all-original jazz compositions with a touch of Filipino music featuring the all-female vocal trio Baihana.

On September 27, multi-awarded saxophone player Tots Tolentino will perform in the improvisation session "Free Jazz," wrapping up the first part of the festival.

The second round of "Jazz Stay at Home" will start on October 2 with a talk titled "The Wonderful World of Bossa Nova" by multi-awarded musical director, composer, and arranger Peter Paul "Pipo" Cifra. Here, Cifra is expected to discuss the fundamentals of jazz and its use in the composition of bossa nova, which is a mixture of soft samba and American jazz.

His sister, Japan-based bossa nova artist Lorna Cifra, for her part will hold a session titled "Improvisation and All that Jazz."

Simon Tan Trio, composed of accomplished jazz artists Simon Tan, Joey de Guzman, and Rey Vinoya, will present "Modern Jazz" on October 3.

The festival will close on October 4 with an evening showcase by Baihana, Simon Tan Trio, Asensio, and Tolentino.

Aside from "Jazz Stay at Home," the lineup of activities for "Sining Sigla" also includes film screenings, a special retrospective on Jose Corazon De Jesus' life and works, among others, until November.

The program by CCP's Office of the President serves as its pivot to the digital platform as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues.