Sandra Guatche, a member of the Goducate music program in Laguna since she was 10 years old, has been admitted to the Philippine Women’s University in Manila to study for a Bachelor of Music, majoring in music education with an emphasis on the classical guitar. While in the Goducate music program, Sandra had started off with the recorder before moving on to the violin, and for the past 6 years she has been teaching the recorder and the violin in the Goducate music program.
To Sandra’s surprise, in August this year, just about a month after starting her university course, she was selected to take part in the inaugural event celebrating Lucresia R. Kasilag’s centenary. The late Lucrecia Kasilag (31 Aug 1918 -16 Aug 2008) was an educator, composer, performing artist, administrator and cultural entrepreneur of national and international calibre. She was known for fusing ethnic music with Western influences, and incorporating indigenous Filipino instruments in her orchestral works. She was also chairperson of the League of Filipino Composers for 30 years, Dean Emeritus of the Philippine Women’s University College of Music for 25 years, and president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines for 17 years. The year-long centenary celebration will include a series of concerts, workshops, exhibits, and conferences in different venues in Metro Manila.
Performers for the inaugural concert came from the Philippine Women’s University’s School of Music, showcasing a variety of Kasilag’s solo and ensemble compositions. Sandra played, as part of a group, a bamboo percussion instrument called a “bungkaka” in one of Kasilag’s compositions. The bungkaka is one of several traditional instruments from the Kalinga province in the northern part of the Philippines. To add to Sandra’s delight, the celebration concert was held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, where many Filipino musicians dream of performing.
Sandra also played the bungkaka in another event of the centenary concerts, this time on September 22, and again at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She played the same Kasilag piece as previously, but this time with performers not only from the university but also from the Philippine Harmonic Orchestra.
Sandra’s third performance was at the Indonesian Embassy. It started with a visit by two Indonesians to the university to hold a workshop on playing the “angklung”, an Indonesian instrument made of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. After 3 days of practice, the students performed in front of fellow students, after which they were invited to play at the Indonesian Embassy.
