“Maganda, masaya dahil sa pagsasama-sama” (It was beautiful and joyous because we were all together).  These words summarize the prevailing sentiment expressed by Tagbanua musicians from Northern Palawan when describing their experience of mutual sharing and learning with four classical musicians from Cultures in Harmony (CiH) –a US-based cultural diplomacy organization that forges connections across cultural and national barriers through the medium of music.

CiH has been a partner of Cartwheel Foundation, Inc. (CFI) since 2006 in nurturing Filipino indigenous heritage by highlighting music and art as tools for expression and communication.  This year, CFI and CiH came together once more, specifically to contribute to the healing, recovery and rebuilding efforts for the Tagbanua indigenous people of Culion, Palawan post-Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), by helping them find strength in the richness of their own traditional music and cultural life ways.

On the week of August 13-17, 2014, in particular, Julliard-trained classical musicians Rebecca Schlappich (violin), Kimberly Patterson (cello), Frank Shaw (viola) and Danielle Kuhlmann (French horn) conducted musical exchange workshops with a select group of Tagbanua instrumentalists from the island communities of Culion and neighboring Coron.

The “workshops” soon turned into a fellowship that transcends language and cultural barriers, enabling the CiH and Tagbanua musicians to perform alongside each other as “brothers and sisters” in a series of interactive musical concerts presented to the indigenous communities of Cagait, Chindonan, Alulad in Culion, and Kayangan in Coron.  They also serenaded the cured lepers of Yangco Hall at the Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital and performed for a huge crowd at the Culion Elementary School. Everywhere they played, smiles abounded and not a few heartstrings were touched.

 

Below are links to three videos depicting highlights from the cultural exchange:

[Please click on the images to access the links to the videos.]

On Musical Ancestry, as experienced by the CiH and Tagbanua in their respective cultural contexts:

 

On the Learning Process between the  CiH and Tagbanua musicians:

 

On Reflections of the Tagbanua musicians on the significance of the collaboration:

[Credits to Katrise Velhagen of MAGIS Creative Spaces for capturing highlights of the exchange through these videos.]

The exchange culminated in a concert entitled “Cultures in Harmony: Building Structures of Hope with Filipino Indigenous Communities” on August 21, 2014 at the Ayala Museum in Makati City, where the four participating CiH musicians performed with the talented members of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and MSO Juniors.

One of the highlights of the concert was the grand finale, where CiH, MSO and MSO Juniors jointly performed the Tagbanua Paalam (Farewell) Song, arranged for string orchestra by CiH’s Danielle Kuhlmann. As recounted by Ms. Kuhlmann, ” The players were ecstatic and played with vigor while images of our time with the Tagbanua flashed behind us on a screen. We all turned to watch as we played the ‘Paalam’ together for the very last time. It was such a joyous experience to share the music we learned in Culion with the musicians of Manila. I kept thinking about how much the Tagbanua musicians would have enjoyed hearing their song brought to life by a full orchestra. We all felt immense pride and fulfillment as the audience applauded and we realized our incredible trip was finally coming to and end!” (Read more of Ms. Kuhlmann’s reflection here.)

The entire collaboration is also part of Cartwheel’s 15^th Anniversary celebration and made possible through the cooperation of the La Inmaculada Concepcion Parish of Culion, MAGIS Creative Spaces,  Ayala Museum, DAKILA and sponsors Park N Ride and Brightlight Interior Design.

Indeed, beautiful and joyous things can happen when people come together for a common cause.  It is through the collective effort of many — for and with our indigenous brothers and sisters — that we are able to live out the true essence of cultures in harmony.