Sunday, February 28, 2010

UGNAYAN + PASINAYA = PASINAYAN (February 01, 2010)


Thirty six New Years Eves ago, we missed the pre-recorded musical compositions aired over 20 radio stations for one hour.
It was just a layer but it was lauded as “a long-awaited revival of a musical genius that had impacted, to say the least, the cultural imaginary of contemporary music in the Philippines and the entire Asian region.”
Well, this unique sound event that engulfed the entire Philippine nation was an offshoot of his idea of an atmospheric soundscape for transistor radios placed on cars passing by the Los Angeles freeways, like his earlier masterpiece Pagsamba.
This red-letter day --1 January 1974 -- was called Ugnayan.
During the Martial Law period, this rebellious act, or art!
It came as a no surprise, since it was conceptualized and composed by the revolutionary composer and thinker Jose Maceda.
As early as 1971, Dr. Maceda was already noted as well as notorious for using 100 hundred cassette tapes each with a pre-recorded layer of a sonic complex that seemed to readdress the function of technology and mass media in utilizing some of the emblems of modernity of the time —radios, cars, or cassettes—for purposes other than their intended uses in modern society.
Challenging or confronting with media and technology, the ethnomusicologist in Dr. Maceda was ever-present with his traditional bamboo and wooden instruments and voices.
He had the tendency to bring his audience back to his signature “primeval rainforests and relatively isolated peoples in the countrysides,” the significant aspect of the general counter-hegemonic musical ideology he espoused.
Dr. Maceda passed away 5 May 2004 -- -- after winning Ondre des Palmes Academiques (1978); John D. Rockefeller Award (1987); Tanglaw ng Lahi (1988); Fumio Koizumi Award for Ethnomusicology (1992); Nikkei Award (1997); Officier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite (1997); Civitella Ranieri Award (1997); and Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (2001), to name a few.
Today we are fortunate enough to be given the chance to witness his legacy of our National Artist for Music in 1997.
Ugnayan: Sound, Environment, Community – a project of the University of the Philippines College of Music Department of Composition and Theory and Center for Ethnomusicology in cooperation with the Office of the Chancellor, Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs, and U.P. Theater -- will be re-produced, revived, and remounted until 3 February at the Diliman campus.
At 3 p.m. there will be a forum-- Revisiting Ugnayan 1974 – to be led by Dr. Ramon Santos who invited guest former First Lady Imelda Marcos at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium where Dr. Santos' Likasan will foreshadow Dr. Maceda's Ugnayan at the Carillon Plaza.
Tomorrow, at 3 p.m. another forum -- Environment/ Nature – will be conducted by Dr. Jonas Baes and Dr. Verne dela Pena with Ms. ChinChin Gutierrez at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium where Baes' Basbasan, de la Pena's N(y)üma, and Gutierrez's Uyayi will follow.
On Wednesday, at 3 p.m. technology will be discussed by Dominique Quejada and Chris Brown at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium where Brown's Invention No.8, Quejada's Prefab #2 and Katz Trangco's Elira will be performed by UP Kekeli African Music and Drum Ensemble at the Carillon Plaza.
Remember that Dr. Maceda's composition is a 60-minute pre-recorded music for 20 radio stations so please bring your own transistor radio with batteries to enjoy this interactive piece.
Come Sunday, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) will offer Pasinaya 2010 via a culinary fair and cooking demos and an arts and collectibles market, workshops, information booths, exhibits, film screenings, puppet shows, storytelling, and performance poetry.
This year the highlight will be Bonggang Bonggang Bamboo: The Tinikling Showdown -- the biggest gathering of tinikling dancers at the CCP Front Lawn.
From 9 a.m., more than 2,000 artists will perform excerpts of upcoming shows spearheaded by the CCP Resident Companies such as Ballet Philippines, Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company, National Music Competitions for Young Artists, Philippine Ballet Theater, Philippine Madrigal Singers, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Tanghalang Pilipino and the University of Santo Tomas Symphony Orchestra.
Also known as the CCP Open House Festival, this is the opening salvo for February being the National Arts Month!
The Front Lawn, the Promenade areas, and the alley in front of the Production Design Center will be converted into Music Zone, Dance Zone, Theater Zone, Film Zone, Visual Arts Zone and the Children’s Zone.
Now on its second year, Literary Zone will present a literary happening – Wordjam --that we organized upon the invitation of Chris Millado, Hermie Beltran and Nikki Torres.
Our venue will be the Main Gallery where we expect the institutions (Bigkas Pilipinas; Cavite Young Writers Association; Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo; Neo-Angono; Paryentes; Project Ganymede; RockBato; Shakti Rasa Project; Sigaw ng Tundo; The Batutes; Tupada; U.P. SPECA) as well as individuals (Ony Carcamo,Lourd de Veyra, Njel de Mesa, Angelo Suarez and The Syjucos) to do their literary thing.
We were with Mike Coroza and Teo Antonio – our partners in rhyme – since yesterday when the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF) opened with the NCCA Committee on Dramatic Arts – that launched its fourth Tanghal this time in the National Capital Region, at the De La Salle University-College of St. Benilde – as the overall in charge of the event.
Last Saturday, art booths of the several art disciplines was inaugurated at the Clamshell area inside Intramuros.
January 31, actually, was meant for PIAF parade at 3 p.m. from the NCCA building to the Lapu-Lapu Shrine at Luneta that witnessed a two-hour concert featuring performances by committee members from dance, film, music, theater, and literature.
Nonetheless, before the fireworks display, we were able to take part by giving away for free our Balagtasan compact discs entitled Sinong Dapat Sisihin: Mamamayan o Lider? co-produced by the NCCA, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and DZRH.
For making our dream a reality, we wish to thank not only Commissioner Ricardo de Ungria and Armand Sta.Ana but also the Sugpuin Ang Korupsiyon family: Eva Mari DG Salvador and Flordeliz Abanto (executive producers), Athena Elisis Agustin (line producer/scriptwriter); Reginald Espiritu (program host); Rommel Tizon Balog, Olivia Costosa, and Bernardo Serrano (production assistant); Eric Lucero (technical supervisor/editor); Buboy Salonga (musical scorer); Manny Salas (sound man); Rashida Abangco, Bobby Cruz, Phil Cruz, Luz Fernandez, Ben Mercado, Susan Robles, and Marichu Villegas, (drama talents); and Nick De Guzman (drama director).
Foundation AWIT president and members – Ellay Nadera, Gayle Pacquing, and Mark Jensen Pacquing – could not beat the deadline without the time and talent of poet Arvin Mangohig who did the design in between his U.P. Press duties.
TEXT SUPPORT:
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
CONSIDER THIS:
God balances our lives by giving us enough blessing to keep us happy and enough burdens to keep us humble.

No comments:

Post a Comment