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Kulintang Music of

The past two decades have witnessed an American renaissance of Filipino culture. Filipino communities throughout California (where Filipinos constitute the largest Asian population group), coastal Washington state, and greater New York City have renewed their ties to age-old performing arts traditions. In San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City, regional folk dances, the rondalla string ensemble music, and music of the kulintang (eight tuned, knobbed gongs suspended in a wooden frame) have become mainstays of the cultural life and public symbols of Filipino American identity. The kulintang, thought to have been brought from China in the 3rd century AD, is looked to as the "deepest" of the performing arts traditions. Related to the Indonesian gamelan, the kulintang is today rooted exclusively in the Muslim cultures of the southern island region of Mindanao.		For more up to date information about the Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble check out kulintang.com and pnoyandthecity.

HOME © 1997 Gregg Butensky	Comments:   gregg@madnomad.com