Musikahan 2012 goes international

Saturday, February 18, 2012

TAGUM CITY, touted as the "Music Capital of the South, is gearing for a more exciting and grander 11th Musikahan sa Tagum Festival this year.

But what makes this year's edition of the music-filled event is the participation, not only of Filipino talents from various parts of the country, but also of those from the Asia-Pacific who will showcase their musical skills as they conquer the city's stage during the festival.

Considered to be Davao Region's opening festival salvo, the musical event runs from February 21-26 and will feature the region's best solo players and musical ensembles such as marching brass bands, choral groups, rondalla artists, drum-and-bugle-lyre corps players, young musicians specializing wind, percussion and string instruments, among others.

The City Government of Tagum under Mayor Rey T. Uy and the City of Tagum Tourism Council with Mrs. Alma L. Uy sitting as its president, assured that this year's Musikahan will be grander and a must-see, following a decade of successful annual staging.

Exactly a year after Tagum's successful hosting of the 3rd International Rondalla Festival last year, the city goes international anew, embracing foreign music, with the performance of foreign artists during the festival's opening ceremony's celebratory concert.

Set to perform on Tuesday's opening ceremonies are Korean Soprano Eun Ha Choi, Kulintang Player Syman Adare of Indonesia and Sheryl Dalawer of Bali. Joining them are young virtuoso artists Gabriel Allan Paguiran, Jimmy Tagala and Myramae Meneses.

Ms. Uy shared that next year, an Asia-Pacific Choral Competition shall be added as a component of the festival, with the latest admission of the city to the Unesco-organized International Music Council which is the world's largest network of organizations, institutions and individuals working in the field of music.

Two of the members of the panel of judges this year come from IMC, Ms Uy shared.

This year's Musikahan banners the theme "Harvest of Creativity, Celebrating Global Harmony."

New Flavors

Festival artistic director Nestor Horfilla disclosed that events in this year's festival were "reinvented, reinvigorated and reintroduced” as to elicit excitement among tourists and from the Tagumeños as well.

Adding spice to the six-day event is the holding of the Musikahan @ I.T. which shall explore the multi-faceted usage of information technology and the new media in creative industry and knowledge production.

This will be participated in by IT educators and students from different learning institutions which shall compete in producing creative outputs promoting Tagum through websites, e-marketing application software disseminated through cellular phones and production of ringtones.

Tourists and local folks who don't have enough time to attend to all events during the festival need not to worry as an online live streaming shall be available on the Internet, considered to be the biggest innovation of the festival this year, organizers said.

The city's iconic New City Hall -- the main venue of the festival -- is boosting its wireless capability with the installment of two wi-fi zones with a T1 line which provides extremely fast internet connection that will ensure the event’s I.T. component.

Main Events

Highlighting the Musikahan are following: Himig Handog Choral Competition, Rondal-Awit Rondalla and Solo Singing Competition and Festival and Avenida Musika Marching Brass Band Competition. Pasiklaban sa Musikahan Battle of the Band Competition and the Huni ug Kasikas sa Dalan Drum, Lyre and Bugle Competition shall also add tone and color to the revelries.

The Best of Musikahan sa Barangay Talents featuring local talents in the barangays here will also be staged along with series of Filipino Contemporary Music Artists Concerts, celebratory concerts and outreach performances in hospitals, malls and other social institutions.

A photography contest which is a first in the history of Musikahan will also kick off this year as organized by the City Information Office.

Since its launching in 2001, Musikahan gathers the country's best musical performers and the participation has grown tremendously through the years, generating participation not just from Mindanao-based contingents but also from Luzon and Visayas.

Some of the participants this year include musical talents from Bulacan, Quezon City, Cebu, Davao City, Bacolod, Butuan, South Cotabato, Panabo City, Quezon Province, Bukidnon, North Cotabato, Compostela Valley, the City of Manila and the many musical groups in Tagum.

These groups shall compete for musical supremacy, with an accumulated cash prizes amounting to the tune of 1.054 million pesos allotted by the city government.

Foundation Sought

The Musikahan sa Tagum Festival is mandated under City Ordinance No. 237 which declares this as the official city festival. But organizers believe much need to be done.

In its ardent desire to further institutionalize the festival, the City of Tagum Tourism Council will hold the Assembly of Partners on February 26, 2012 before the opening ceremony at the New City Hall which seeks to cement the partnership between the organizers and its supporters from the private and public sectors.

Uy shared that that this event was designed as an assembly of partners, with the end view of concretizing the membership, clarifying the programs and refining the organizational structure of the would-be organized Musikahan sa Tagum Foundation.

It also aims to expand the festival's network of partners and volunteer members which shall sustain the holding of the Musikan sa Tagum Festival in the years to come.