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Manila’s Most Worth-Your-Time Live Shows This Coming May and Beyond

From Arthur Espiritu’s first all-kundiman homecoming to Ryan Cayabyab unpacking Burt Bacharach’s sleight of hand, our May-to-July calendar is stacked, to say the least.
May 08, 2026
Five adults pose and smile together in colorful outfits against a beige music-note backdrop in a studio.
Photo: Rockwell

Manila’s performance calendar this season is running on memory. The coming weeks bring kundiman inside a prewar heritage house, Burt Bacharach filtered through Ryan Cayabyab’s brain, OPM anniversaries, and one Swedish tribute act that sold out before most people finished reading the announcement. Here are some shows and concerts to watch this month.

Mga Awit ng Pag-ibig at Kundiman

Theatrical scene: a man in a white shirt and red pants sits on the floor beside a raised platform with a body under a white sheet; a bottle and mic lie on the platform.
Photo: Facebook/Arthur Espiritu

Arthur Espiritu, Filipino-American tenor and genuinely world-class voice, comes home for his first all-kundiman concert. He is joined by soprano Stefanie Quintin-Avila and pianist Najib Ismail for an evening drawn from a National Commission for Culture and the Arts-backed recording project preserving Filipino art songs. The program pulls from Abelardo, Santiago, de Guzman, Cuenco, Celerio, and Espino. Proceeds go toward conserving MiraNila itself, a 1929 heritage estate that does half the atmospheric work before anyone opens their mouth.

Happening on May 14 at Gallery MiraNila, Quezon City. More information here.

Jessica Sanchez Live in Manila

Promotional poster for Jessica Sanchez concert in Manila: silhouette of a woman against a sunset with bold white text detailing the event date and venue (16 May 2026, Araneta Coliseum).

Twenty years ago, Jessica Sanchez was an 11-year-old who auditioned for America’s Got Talent and didn’t make the finals. Last September, she returned to the same stage nineteen years later —this time as a married mother of a newborn daughter—and won the whole thing. Now she’s coming home.

On May 16, presented by Wilbros Live, Sanchez takes the stage at the Araneta Coliseum for her first solo Philippine concert since 2019. Joining her is a lineup that reads like a roll call of OPM royalty: Gary Valenciano, Regine Velasquez, Martin Nievera, Morissette, Darren Espanto, James Reid, and, most recently confirmed, Vice Ganda. Sanchez and Morissette recently released a duet, “Stronger Than Before,” which the two are expected to perform together live for the first time at the show.

Buy tickets here.

MaestroClass: What’s It All About?

Photo: Rockwell

Ryan Cayabyab turns his MaestroClass series toward Burt Bacharach, which is either an obvious choice or a very smart one (well, probably both). Jett Pangan, Bituin Escalante, Gigi De Lana, Sofronio Vasquez, and Baihana perform across three nights at the Proscenium. The format promises not just the songs but some unpacking of how they work—the odd meters, the unexpected turns, the technical mischief hiding beneath all that emotional neatness. Bacharach made difficulty sound effortless, which is a neat trick, and Cayabyab is one of the few people qualified to explain it.

Happening on May 15 to 17 at Proscenium Theater, Rockwell Center Makati. More information here.

A Sitti Anniversary Concert: 20 Years of Para Sa Akin

Promotional poster featuring a woman in a red gown dancing against a blurred city-night background, with the show title and date across the image.
Photo: Newport

Sitti marks two decades of her debut with a milestone concert joined by Gary Valenciano, Ebe Dancel, Ice Seguerra, Jason Dhakal, Nyoy Violante, Princess Velasco, Richard Poon, and RJ Jacinto. The show stays in her lane, encompasing bossa nova, and romance, among others, which is exactly the lane her audience showed up for. Some concerts ask you to stand. This one asks you to exhale. That is not a criticism.

Happening on May 17 at Newport Performing Arts Theater. More information here.

ABBA Revisited

ABBA Revisited concert poster with a gold glitter title and four grayscale performers; event on May 20 at 8 PM, Newport Performing Arts Theater.
Photo: Newport

Already sold out, which surprises no one. The North American tribute act has been performing internationally since the early 2000s, running through the obvious and irresistible cannon: “Dancing Queen,” “Mamma Mia,” “Take a Chance on Me.” Tribute shows occupy a strange space between karaoke and séance, but ABBA’s catalog was practically engineered for communal surrender. At a full Newport, platform boots are optional but spiritually encouraged.

Happening on May 20 at Newport Performing Arts Theater. More information here.

Ngayon at Kailanman: The Music of Canseco

Poster for Ngayon at Kailanman: The Music of Canseco, featuring Basil Valdez, Kuh Ledema, Jona, Mark Bautista, Rita Daniela, Leah Navarro, Anthony Castelo, and Dulce; June 13, 2026 at Newport Performing Arts Theater.
Photo: Newport

George Canseco’s songs occupy prime real estate in the Filipino sentimental imagination. “Ngayon at Kailanman,” “Ikaw,” and the rest of the melodrama have, after all, survived every shift in taste and streaming algorithm. Basil Valdez, Kuh Ledesma, Leah Navarro, Dulce, JONA, Mark Bautista, and Rita Daniela make up a lineup that spans generations, which is kind of the whole point. Expect big voices, bigger feelings, and very little emotional moderation.

Happening on June 13 at Newport Performing Arts Theater. More information here.

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