The 4th International Rondalla (Plucked String) Festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines saw local and foreign bands interacting and collaborating in performances, all true to the festival theme this year “Kuwerdas ng Pagkakaisa (Strings of Unity).”
Philippine participants were the Celso Espejo Rondalla, Dipolog Community Rondalla, Harmonya String Ensemble of University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, Kabataang Silay Rondalla Ensemble, Lucban Pahiyas Community Rondalla, Maco Heights Central School Rondalla and UP Rondalla.
Foreign participants were Fu Shing Junior High School Plucked String Band, of Yilan, Taiwan; NTNU Chinese Instruments Ensemble Taipei, Taiwan; Sundanese Kacapi Ensemble, Indonesia; and Phong Nguyen Ensemble, Vietnam.
Long and rich tradition
The Philippines has had a long and rich tradition of the rondalla, a legacy from Spain that has remained vibrant and dynamic today. It has become “a national emblem in the musical arts,” providing an unmistakable cultural identity, said Ramon Santos, festival director.
While projecting local culture, the rondalla has gone global, added Santos. Its stature has been elevated through the performance of classical and modern works by Western and Filipino musicians.
Composed of 11 musicians, the UP Rondalla, cued by its trainor, Elaine Juliet Espejo-Cajucom, who played the banduria, ravished the audience with Antonio Vivaldi’s “Concerto in C Op. 47, no.2/RV 533.”
The rendition was faithful to the Baroque style, complete with ornamentations of the period expressed in exquisite plucking, and the inclusion of the harpsichord, played by Mary Therese D. Pitogo, who transcribed the piece.
The UP Rondalla stunned the audience with the playing of Ramon Santos’ “Daragang Magayon,” a contemporary piece that explored new sounds as excerpted by Mariefrance V. Ballester.
Another highlight was the dance number “Dance of the Hours,” as arranged by Alfredo S. Buenaventura,” from Ponchielli’s opera “La Gioconda.”
Composed of seven musicians, the Fu Shing High School Plucked Strings Band made listening very gratifying, showing sophistication in Mozart’s “Serenade in G Major, (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik).
The group brought the house down with the rendition of a Chinese piece, “Rushing a Horse to Deliver Food Supplies,” by Xiangzhong Wei, with young soloist Kai-Cheng Cheng, who played the Chinese flute, “Dizi.”
In the course of Wei’s playing, conductor Vincent Li stopped him, then told the audience the instrument was broken. The young flutist went back to his seat and fixed his instrument. Afterward, he stood up, went to the right side of the conductor and played his part vigorously, as if there was no tomorrow.
Youthful virtuoso
Cutting a youthful stance, Cheng fiddled the flute with such a virtuoso broad sweep that the audience gave him a loud applause afterward.
The Maco Heights Central Elementary School Rondalla from Compostella Valley, composed of 13 musicians led by its conductor, Ranniel Raga, played spiritedly Mozart’s serenade as a chamber piece, providing thus a contrast in instrumentation, since the previous group that performed it was a quartet.
The Mindanao rondalla group likewise played Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” and “Pasadoble No. 3” by Dominic Salustiano.
“Prelude Etnika,” by National Artist Lucrecia R. Kasilag, arranged by Elaine Espejo-Cajucom, was refreshingly played.
The festival was organized by the National Commission for the Arts, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Musicological Society of the Philippines, and UP Center for Ethnomusicology.
