Gerphil Flores

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Gerphil Geraldine Flores (born September 29, 1990 in Hamburg ) is a Filipino singer and has been well known in Asia since the 2010s.

Gerphil Flores as Lady in Red

In Germany

Gerphil Flores is the daughter of a Japanese - Filipino mother and the German lawyer Rolf Geffken . She was born in the Altona Children's Hospital and thus received German citizenship . The parents lived together until she was four and took Gerphil with them to opera performances at an early age. At the age of three she was already singing arias from operas by Beethoven and Mozart, for example Hell's Vengeance Boils in My Heart ( Queen of the Night from the Magic Flute ).

On the Philippines

In 1994 the mother, who came from the town of Sorsogon in the Bicol region, moved back to her homeland with her daughter without notice and without explanation. It was there that Gerphil Flores learned the Filipino language, her love for music was encouraged by her Filipino grandfather and other family members. At the age of 11, Flores began an intense musical career. She practiced at home every day and was given advice on further improvement, especially from her mother. Gerphil developed into an opera singer ( soprano ), who has appeared in public since 2001 and, among other things , won a second prize in 2015 in the Asian talent show Asia's Got Talent . But she also likes to perform Filipino folk songs .

education

After attending college, she studied music at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Manila and graduated in 2016 with a diploma in creative singing and a bachelor's degree in music with "cum laude". From 2017 to 2019 she studied art history at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver / Canada, which she completed with a master's degree.

Awards

From 2009 to Gerphil Flores participated in the singing contest aliw Award which they won continuously since 2013 and that usually comes in several categories such as Best Female Darbieterin (female best classic performer) or best actor . So far (as of November 2018) there have been a total of nine title wins and four nominations.

Father seeks and finds daughter

Rolf Geffken had looked in vain for his daughter in the Philippines for four years. Only with the help of the Internet did the father come across an appearance by his daughter on the YouTube platform in 2010 , then immediately visited her in the Philippines and hugged her . Since then, Geffken has tried to invite Gerphil to Hamburg, which the Foreign Office has refused to do so far (as of November 2018): it does not issue the daughter with an official German passport . Gerphil Flores had tried to get it at the German embassy in Manila and presented her German child ID as evidence. But this was confiscated by the diplomats because, according to the laws in force, German citizenship expires upon reaching the age of majority if the person concerned does not apply for an extension himself.

Problems with the passport

In contrast, Gerphil Flores applied for and received a Filipino passport in 2008 so that he could go on a concert tour abroad. This makes it clear to the Foreign Office that Flores has renounced her German citizenship. Father and daughter see it differently and have even made an affidavit . Although the singer does not want to live in Germany, both of them do not want to give up the German citizenship, under which she is anyway carried out by the authorities in Manila. Geffken does not accept this rejection and therefore filed a lawsuit against the Foreign Office on behalf of his daughter before the Berlin Administrative Court. He would like to have the refusal of passport lifted. In 2019 Gerphil Flores visited her father in Hamburg after 25 years.

literature

  • "I embrace and I am proud of the German Culture", in: Mill Woods Mosaic - The Multicultural Voice of Edmonton Southeast of March 15, 2017, Edmonton, Canada
  • "Gerphil Flores completes Degree at University of British Columbia", in: Manila Bulletin - Entertainment of June 10, 2019

Web links

Commons : Gerphil Flores  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Margaux Salazar: Stellar, Journal Sense & Style . Manila Bulletin Publishing, July 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ Asia's Got Talent 2015 at www.youtube.com, accessed November 11, 2018.
  3. ↑ Lea Salonga wins 'Entertainer of the Year' at Aliw Awards 2016 ; therein title: Crossover Performer and Best Major Concert for Gerphil Flores, accessed on November 11, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lost for 16 years. Hamburger discovers daughter on Youtube . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , June 9, 2018; accessed on November 11, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Flores, Gerphil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flores, Gerphil Geraldine (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Filipino opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH September 29, 1990
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg