The 1st Rondalla Music Camp will be held in UP Baguio from July 8 to 23, 2017.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), and the Musicological Society of the Philippines (MSP) in partnership with the University of the Philippines Baguio- Office of the Chancellor, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda has organized the 1st Rondalla Music Camp to be held in UP Baguio from July 8 to 23.
The camp director is Dr. Ramon P. Santos, National Artist for Music.
Santos said, “We continue to engage in this mission of bringing about cultural understanding among peoples through the magical effects of music, and to seek unity and harmony of aspirations and ideals in humanism.”
He added, “This music camp serves as a venue to ensure that we develop the next generation of rondalla musicians who have the academic background and musical discipline.”
The Rondalla Music Camp is composed of 130 Filipino rondalla practitioners from all over the country and the world and includes musicians, conductors, arrangers, and composers. The participants are expected to undergo an intensive two-week training on different aspects of rondalla performance and its practice in general. The mentors of the rondalla camped are composed of the country’s finest musicians and academics.
Their training and education are fully sponsored by the government. The main goal of the Rondalla Music Camp is to create the country’s first National Rondalla Orchestra that will be composed of selected scholars of the Music Camp.
The two-week Rondalla Music Camp will be highlighted by a concert where all the musicians will perform all the 10 rondalla pieces that they will learn thoroughly from the music camp.
As most of the practitioners are from the academe, the 1st Rondalla Music Camp has secured the endorsement and Memorandum from the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Open Call
The Open Call for scholars of the 1st Rondalla Music Camp was held from March to May 2017 More than 300 applicants were screened by a panel and a total of 120 applicants qualified to attend the camp.
Music lessons by the best mentors would normally be at exorbitant costs, through this camp, rondalla musicians can get training and techniques at no cost. The scholars’ board and lodging in Baguio are taken care of for the duration of the camp.
The Faculty Members
Envisioned to develop a new generation of rondalla musicians, conductors and practitioners, the 1st Rondalla Music Camp has gathered a pool of Faculty composed of the best musicians, conductors and educators from College of Music of the University of the Philippines Diliman, as well as outstanding conductors, musicians and teachers of the best rondalla groups of the country who are all NAMCYA winners and trainers.
The faculty members are: Mary Louise Alcantara, Ben B. Brillantes, Leonardo E. Bruno Jr., Elaine Juliet Espejo Cajucom, Jimuel Dave T. Dagta, Verne De La Peña, Ph.D., Solaiman Emata Jamisolamin, John King Layaban, Renato Lucas, Ph.D., Jay D. Sarita, Josefino Chino Toledo, Mary Katherine Trangco, Menchie Portento – Traqueña, Ramón Pagayon Santos, Ph.D., Carlo Serrano, Luci Magalit, Nathan Neil V. Manimtim and Glenn Velarde.
Strings of Unity
The 1st Rondalla Music Camp is part of the International Rondalla Festival also known as the Strings of Unity which was established in 2004. Now in its 12th year, the camp has addressed the clamor for training that has been expressed by the practitioners through the years. First of its kind, it not only connects students with mentors but it also makes training in rondalla completely free.
The initial impetus to hold an international rondalla festival was brought about by the Many Music Action Programme of the International Music Council on the promotion of musical diversity. The project was initiated in 2003 by Santos.
Rondalla: Medium of Peace
Today, the rondalla itself is proven to be a diverse medium of communication from the folk to the classical, and to the modern repertories, even as it shares the diversity in the plucked string music from all over the world with their own distinctive and unique repertoires that express different yet familiar aesthetic messages.
Santos concluded, “The goal of String of Unity is to engage in the mission of bringing about cultural understanding among peoples through the magical effects of music, and to seek unity and harmony of aspirations and ideals in humanism.”
Follow the 1st Rondalla Music Camp’s social media accounts for updates:
Facebook: Rondalla Music Camp 2017
Instagram: @rondallamusiccamp
Twitter: @rondallamusicph
Official website: Strings of Unity
