"Kung Hindi Man"
Alwin Reamillo's "Nicanor Abelardo Grand Piano Project"
You are cordially invited to the Kung Hindi Man, an evening concert to be held on 09 December (Tuesday), 6:00 P.M. at the Lobby of the UP Vargas Museum. The concert is in line with the Nicanor Abelardo Grand Piano Project of artist-in-residence Alwin Reamillo and in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the UP College of Arts and Letters (CAL).
The concert is once more a tribute to Nicanor Abelardo, the first modernist composer of the country and the composer of the university's hymn, UP Beloved/UP Naming Mahal. Invited performers will serenade guests with classic Abelardo compositions such as Mutya ng Pasig and Bituing Marikit. Featured artists include students, professors, and alumni from the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Music. Other guest performers include the UP Cherubim and students and alumni from the Philippine High School for the Arts, Reamillo's alma mater.
A program also pays tribute to a contemporary of Abelardo, the poet Jesus Balmori who provided the lyrics to some of the composer's works. The program includes Balmori's poem El Alma de los Pianos (The Heart of a Piano) to be read in three languages. The evening will be concluded by performances of contemporary music by artist Khavn de la Cruz, saxophonist Jay Gomez, the Kontra-Gapi, and invited UP students. Guests are invited to play their favorite piano pieces at the end of the show.
To celebrate the centenary of the University of the Philippines and the 25th year of the UP College of Arts and Letters , the UP Jorge B. Vargas Museum presents Kung Hindi Man, the Nicanor Abelardo Grand Piano Project Concert on 9 December 2008 @ 6 : 00 PM at the Lobby of the UP Vargas Museum.
The Nicanor Ableardo Grand Piano Project is an ongoing residency project of Australia-based artist Alwin Reamillo at the UP Vargas Museum. This developmental restoration project involves the artist’s sourcing of old found upright and grand pianos and its transformation as art case instruments. As modified pianos, these art case pianos also function as conceptual portraits to pay tribute to the memory of Nicanor Abelardo. Considered as the first modernist composer in the country and the composer of the university hymn, UP Beloved / UP Naming Mahal. Abelardo also wrote the first piano concerto in the country and pioneered the research of traditional musical forms that led to the development of the Kundiman to art music status.
The art installation will feature two art case instruments, built from found Wittemberg upright pianos (1990) as prelude to the development of the grand piano. The installation will thematically focus on Abelardo’s classical work Mutya ng Pasig, which will be animated through text, objects, found piano parts and imagery drawn from extant photographs and popular culture to mark the artist’s musical journey as a composer. To signify work in progress, the artist will also feature a found grand piano, which will be developed in the months to come. A series of small-scale, wing-shaped piano lids and its mirror construction will also be developed to depict the artist’s journey as a government scholar to the United States. These ‘wing works’ thematically reference other classic Kundiman compositions such as Nasaan Ka Irog and Bituing Marikit.
Admission is free. For more details on the Kung Hindi Man concert, please contact the UP Vargas Museum at 928-19-27 (direct line), 928-19-25 (telefax), 981-8500 loc. 4024 or send an e-mail at vargasmuseum@gmail.com.
Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center
Roxas Avenue, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101 Philippines
Telephone Numbers: (+632) 928-1927, (+632) 981-8500 locals 4021 to 24
Fax Number: (+632) 928-1925
Website: www.vargasmuseum.org
Email addresses: vargasmuseum@up.edu.ph, vargasmuseum@yahoo.com, vargasmuseum@gmail.com
