TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte (PNA) - While "rondalla," which came to our shore during the Spanish time, is fast disappearing throughout the country, this is now being rediscovered and preserved here as part of the country's rich musical heritage. One significant outcome of this city's yearly Musikahan Festival is when a renaissance of rondalla in the country is being pushed by Mayor Rey Uy and his wife Alma, who are both music lovers and patrons of the arts.
"Rondalla gives an honor to us," said Uy, pointing to the city's own rondalla ensemble that recently made waves and earned standing ovation while performing in Shanghai in time for the World Expo 2010 and at the Gulangyu Island of Xiamen City, China that coincided with the Gulangyu Autumn Music Week. The city's rondalla ensemble, along with other performers representing the country, had its first performance as part of Davao Region's gala show last September 13 for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, held from September 8 to13. At the audience-filled Philippine Pavilion, Alma Uy, chairperson of the Tagum City Tourism Council, gave her message about tourism, arts and culture, the Filipino-Chinese heritage in Davao, and the invitation to Chinese nationals to visit the city as destination of culture and historical friendship. Because of the city's rondalla ensemble's outstanding performance during their gala at Shanghai, they were then invited by the Gulangyu-based Chinese Musicians' Association to perform on the island in cultural interactions with the student-artists of Xiamen Music School who are known for their own pipas, the Chinese traditional string instruments. To show the richness of musical traditions of the country, the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) also enjoined folk singer Joey Ayala and Polytechnic University of the Philippines' Banda Kawayan to perform for the country on the island that has been hosting a world's piano festival.
As this developed, Xiamen's Philippine Consul General Raul Hernandez congratulated the Tagum delegation led by the mayor's wife for "bringing back the morale of the Filipino people in China amid the crisis we have faced around the world and in spite of the tragic Manila hostage crisis, the Chinese community welcome you with warm acceptance for your outstanding performance last night, it created a strong ties between Philippines and China." Apparently inspired by the success of his own Musikahan Festival, Uy said he wants "to teach and hand down to the young generation" how to play musical instruments like the guitar and those rondalla instruments such as the pear-shaped piccolo bandurria, la-ud, and the guitar-shaped octavina and mandola, guitarra, and bajo de unas or double bass.
