Cultural performances capped the three-day workshop on Island and Coastal Ecologies: A Sustainable Futures Initiative organized by UP Visayas and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).
The Panay Bukidnon Cultural Community, UPV Gongs, and PG Zoluaga showcased indigenous music, instrument playing, and local melodies during the cultural show at the UPV Little Theater on January 19, 2024.
The first set of performances featured a welcome song, a bamboo jaws harp music, a lullaby, epic chants and the Binanog dance from the Panay Bukidnon indigenous cultural communities of Calinog, Iloilo, and Tapaz, Capiz. The songs and chants were delivered in the old Kinaray-a language that is not anymore used in the daily conversations of the Panay Bukidnon. The group was led by Mr. Rennel Lavilla, an IP youth currently studying at the UP Open University.
The performance from the UPV Gongs, a music interest group organized by Prof. Jose Taton, Jr., brought together traditional gong and drum pieces from the different cultural communities in the Philippines. They performed traditional music pieces documented by pioneering Philippine ethnomusicologists which were simplified for music education, but recognized and pays tribute to the cultural masters who shared these cultural treasures. The group is composed of Junior and Senior High School students from the UP High School in Iloilo.
The final performance was given by UPV alumnus PG Zoluaga, who is a folk musician and visual artist. He sang his own composition of Ilonggo songs and Ilonggo classics.
