VERNI VARGA

Who is Verni? 

Verni Varga is a celebrated Filipino singer known for her captivating voice and dynamic performances. With a career spanning several decades, she has charmed audiences with her renditions of jazz, pop, and soulful classics. Verni’s talent and dedication have made her a beloved figure in the Philippine music industry.

We call her VV, THE VAMP!

I was her musical director for over 8 years, and we have been great friends ever since. I arranged and recorded her songs ‘Hey Lover’ and ‘Love Me Again’. The song “Kahit Isang Saglit” was originally written for her. We were into live performances, doing corporate events, shows, and concerts. Off stage, we were ‘barkadas’.

Verni is a great singer and performer; even in rehearsals, she would give a 110% performance level! Rehearsal pa lang, show na!

We traveled and performed all over the Philippines and abroad. Her first U.S. concert was in New York, but the gig in the former Yugoslavia was the most memorable.

We were invited to perform at a grand formal black tie event attended by the Yugoslavian elite (not a Filipino show), so we traveled to Yugoslavia.

This was in 1992, during a period of unrest, fighting, and war among the republics within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with Belgrade serving as the capital city, and that’s where we were headed.

Despite long lines at gas stations, numerous UN military vehicles, and the Yugoslav dinar being valued at YUD1,000 to US$1, the local people carried on with their lives. Belgrade itself was remarkably beautiful! However, we were cautioned against traveling outside the city due to sniper fire targeting civilians.

I worked with Yugoslav musicians who didn’t speak or understand English much, but since music is a universal language, playing together was seamless.

Verni did an awesome performance for the Yugoslav crowd, and the next night, we were invited to a jazz club.

Unfortunately for us, the United Nations imposed sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and at midnight, no airplane could land or take off. We were stuck and couldn’t take our flight back to Manila! For days, we lined up at different embassies to apply for visas so we could travel out of the country by land and train. We needed to pass through several bordering countries to reach Turkey. From there, we could fly to Singapore.

I am sharing these never-seen videos and photos to remember my friend Verni and our experience in Yugoslavia. I have kept them for 32 years.

You will not even recognize me as I was overweight, I had short hair and no bigote.

Take time to check them out and see for yourself who Verni Varga is.

Rehearsal pa lang show na!