SILAY City will be hosting the fifth International Rondalla/Plucked String Music Festival set on November 3 to 11 with 12 countries will be joining the competition dubbed as the "Cuerdas sang Paghiliusa” (Strings for Unity).”
Silay City Mayor Mark Andrew Golez, along with national artist for music and festival director of the fifth International Festival/Plucked String Festival Ramon Santos, and project manager Loen Vitto, held a press conference yesterday, October 9, at the newly-renovated Puericulture Center in Silay City to drumbeat this forthcoming international event in time for the commemoration of the Cinco de Noviembre (Negros Day).
Silay City will be filled with plucked string music and will be transformed as a major ground for the International Rondalla/Plucked String Music Festival.
It will unite more than 300 of the world's best rondalla and plucked string musicians from the Philippines, France, India, Iran Israel, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam.
This project is a collaborative undertaking of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts through the National Music Competitions for Young Artists Foundation, Musicological Society of the Philippines, Office of Senator Loren Legarda, the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, Silay City Government, Department of Education, Silay City Tourism Office, Office of the Silay City Cultural and among others.
This international event will entail a budget of P8 million, which according to Golez, he already raised the said money to make this international rondalla festival a reality.
Golez said the rondalla music in Silay is “part of the core of our cultural program.”
“We have one of the country's best rondalla ensemble composed of the youth of Silay. Instead of going to malls or playing video games, a lot of children in our city go to the rondalla house and practice playing musical instruments,” he said.
“Rondalla keeps our children busy while also creating a group who they can call family. To be invited to host the one of the world's biggest rondalla festival is our privilege,” he said.
Dr. Santos said rondalla has been with us for more than a hundred years and in those years, it has journeyed from being an ensemble that played in fiestas to being appreciated and practiced by the country's best musicians.
Rondalla will once again prove its resilience and versatility in the company of the world's foremost plucked string musicians and ensembles during the international rondalla festival, he said.
“This will be a nine-day festival. A special concert shall be mounted to highlight new compositions, featuring the various plucked string instruments of the world,” said Santos.
Meanwhile, Legarda, in a statement, said that music is “part of our rich cultural heritage and this project is another exciting activity that will showcase our talented musicians.”