Eva Cuenza (The Philippines)
2024, Citra Research Center – Indonesia
Abstract
The late musicologist and National Artist for Music – Jose Maceda envisioned a music institution that would transcend more than the traditional European performance milieu (which was popular among conservatories in the Philippines). The acquisition of a full set of gamelan instruments during the 1970s, through the assistance of the Indonesian Embassy in the Philippines, was a major milestone for the University of the Philippines College of Music. Since then the gamelan ensemble classes and performance groups of the Musicology department have been the active gamelan players in the country. This project explores the comparative gamelan performance practices as it qualifies rehearsal techniques, interpretative renderings, and music contextualization to that in Java, Indonesia where the music tradition comes from. It analyzes the signification of a transnational discourse where a traditional music culture is shared and received – an uncommon postcolonial sound migration paradigm in Southeast Asia.