Who is Lara Maigue? Get to know the artist who will sing the Philippine national anthem at SONA 2023

BY CARISSA ALCANTARA 

Lara Maigue (Images courtesy of Facebook)

Lara Maigue became the star of the news after her sensational video of casually singing Mozart's "Queen of The Night" went viral. She has just been announced as the unexpected performer who will grace the State of the Nation Address (SONA) with her rendition of the national anthem on July 24.

During an interview on Teleradyo, House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco said that they had seen Lara's viral video on YouTube.

"Ang balita namin there will be a singer ng Pambansang Awit natin. Ang pangalan niya ay Lara Maigue. Tinignan namin yun sa YouTube. Very famous pala siya," Velasco said. 

(Our news is there will be a singer of our National Anthem. Her name is Lara Maigue. We looked it up on YouTube. She is very famous)

After announcing her as the surprise performer, HeaAccording to Ahwel Paz, Ngayon's entertainment correspondent, Lara was surprised upon discovering that she would be performing at the event.

"Humingi kami ng panayam galing kay Lara kung anong reaksyon na siya ang surpresang kakanta, pero siya mismo ay nasurpresa na napangalanan na pala siya kaninang umaga," Ahwel said.

(We asked for an interview from Lara about her reaction to being the surprise singer, but she was also surprised that she was named this morning) .

Being a child of Filipino composer Professor Rayben Maigue, and soprano, Nanette Moscardon. Lara has always been surrounded by music. In fact, her mom Nanette became her first classical mentor during the early days. 

Lara is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Music, majoring in Voice. Fides Cuyugan-Asension trained her during her time there. 

Throughout her music career, she was recognized by the Aliw (Entertainment) Awards Foundation as Best Female Classical Performer for 2017 and Best Female Crossover Artist for 2018.

In 2014, she appeared in her first musical teleserye entitled "Trenderas" with Isabelle de Leon and Katrina Velarde.

Here are some facts you may need to learn about these multi-talented artists. 

1. In 2015, Lara became one of the top 12 finalists in Philpop with her entry, "Nasaan."
2. Her family runs "Maigue Music Studio," where they teach dance, piano, guitar, trumpet, and art classes for all ages. Where she is a managing partner and vocal coach. 
3. She is currently in a relationship with another multi-talented actor and singer Gian Magdangal. 
4. Since 2011, Lara has traveled to different countries, including Florence, Italy; Canberra and Sydney, Australia; Singapore and New Delhi, India, to promote Filipino music.
5. Lara was also one of the finalists at the Singapore Lyric Opera ASEAN Vocal Competition in 2018. 
6. Lara is currently training under Filipino-American tenor Arthur Espiritu.
7. She attended the masterclass for a South Korean soprano Sumi Jo and was praised by the Grammy Award-winning soprano for her "supernatural high notes."
8. Lara signed under Star Music and released her first original composition entitled "Kung Puwede Lang Naman" 
9. She portrayed the role of "Ligaya Paraiso" on the n the award-winning movie turned into a musical "Maynila Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag" directed by Joel Lamangan.
10. Lara became a segment host of Sagisag Kultura TV, a culture, arts, and travel program by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts on PTV channel 4.