CCP, Danny Dolor present ‘Harana sa Dapit Hapon’
MANILA, Philippines - Picture yourself lounging in the sala with the family on a lazy afternoon and getting all mushy and misty-eyed as you’re serenaded with beautiful, haunting love songs. Picture a perfect afternoon with the postcard-perfect view of a blazing sunset sinking on the horizon.
These — and more — are yours for the taking as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and nationalist art patron Danny Dolor bring back traditional Filipino music — the immortal kundiman, harana, balitaw, danza, and well-loved love songs by great Filipino composers — via Harana sa Dapit Hapon starting this Wednesday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. at Bulwagang Nicanor Abelardo, CCP.
“Harana sa Dapit Hapon is a series of afternoon concerts/musicales, a sunset serenade, much like the tertulia during the Spanish times, which we will have starting this March up to December this year. It is specifically designed for senior citizens as well as the students,” Danny Dolor, president of the Tribong Pilipino Foundation, tells us as we prepare to gather around an impromptu living room in CCP’s Silangan restaurant to listen to Liza Cabahug who dishes out a sumptuous sampling of the concert series’ offerings. “We want to bring back the memories, the beauty of yesteryear. We don’t want this music to be forgotten just like that so we try to present it in another form.”
We get a feel of how it was like in the good old days of the tertulia (which, in Spanish, means gathering) when the ladies dressed up in their finest baro’t saya just to listen to classical music, sip tea, sit around, and let the hours tick by.
Bringing back traditional Filipino music: Young classical guitarist Christian Mercader, Danny Dolor of Tribung Pilipino Foundation, soprano Liza Cabahug, and Chris Millado of CCP at the launch of Harana sa Dapit Hapon, which kicks off on March 11 at CCP STAR/Joven Cagande
“It’s not just about watching a show,” says Chris Millado, CCP vice president/artistic director. “We want to give everyone the whole tertulia experience, where you gather for afternoon tea, then there’s that beautiful song to accompany your tea and your meeting with friends.”
Soprano Lisa Cabahug and tenor Lemuel dela Cruz are the featured artists in the first part of the program while the second part will feature the very talented Kabayao family — violinist Gilopez and pianist Corazon with their daughters, violinists Sicilienne and Farida — who has wowed the world with their gift of music and deserves no less than a National Artist Award.
The Kabayao family quartet has performed in schools all over the Philippines to introduce fine music to the Filipino youth through innovative lecture recitals as well as in formal concerts where their artistry and dedication to their musical heritage have earned them the recognition they deserve. The family has given concerts in Canada, US, Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, France, and Spain, and has made CD recordings of classical favorites, Philippine music, and praise songs. Their acclaimed concert performances show their beautiful and inspiring oneness as a family and their dedication to the common purpose of using their musical gifts for their target audience, the senior citizens.
Co-presenting Harana sa Dapit Hapon is the Tribung Pilipino Foundation, which was organized in 1978 to propagate the love for and interest in traditional Filipino music, such as the kundiman, harana, balitaw, danza. Through the Tribung Pinoy as the performing arm, the foundation has presented over 400 concerts here and abroad as well as concert lectures in schools, and has given tribute to great men and women in Philippine music and literature, among them zarzuela queen Atang dela Rama, Francisco Balagtas, Florentino Collantes, Jose Corazon de Jesus, composers Nicanor Abelardo, Santiago Suarez, Constancio de Guzman, Tito Arevalo, and Levi Celerio, Filipino song exponents Conching Rosal and Sylvia La Torre, zarzuela star and first Filipino recording artist Maria Carpena, and movie queen Carmen Rosales who was also a singer.
A musical gathering like no other, Harana sa Dapit Hapon brings together the best of our local talents/performers, both vocalists and instrumentalists. Succeeding shows will be held on April 8, featuring the Kabataang Gitarista; June 10 featuring performing artists Miguel Castro, Fame Flores and Los Lipeños, as well as performances on July 8, September 9, October 7, and December 9.
The Kabataang Gitarista is a group of public high school students who are being trained in classical guitar to develop appreciation for classical guitar among public high school students who have no access to classical training. This afternoon, media guests are treated to guitar music by Christian Mercader, a graduate of Arellano High School and now a partial scholar at St. Scholastica’s studying classical guitar. He plays Ikaw, an OPM by Louie Ocampo, which sends the young people in the room swooning as it was their own music.
“These are timeless songs that have survived the ages; they still speak to you — these were the songs of the youth back then,” notes Chris.
He adds, “Some music historians believe that the word kundiman is a contraction of three words: kung, di, man, meaning if it cannot be. Most of the time, these love songs speak about unrequited love, love that cannot be. So, the kundiman also carried nationalist messages of love for country, for a nation that cannot yet be during that time.”
As we leave the CCP, I could still feel Liza Cabahug’s rendition of Gaano Kita Kamahal tugging at my heartstrings as I walk into the sunset.
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For details, contact the CCP Artist Training Division at 832-1125 local 1604.
