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Press Releases

ASWANG the Concert Coming to Napa January 2018

by floranteaguilar December 13, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASWANG Comes Alive in Napa on January 28, 2018

December 13, 2017 (NAPA, CALIFORNIA) – New Art Media Productions, the makers of the award-winning HARANA documentary, will kick off the New Year with a live concert for their upcoming feature film, ASWANG, Mga Kwentong Halimaw, a dramatized song cycle exploring stories of fantastical creatures from Philippine folklore, on Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 4pm at Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center.

“ASWANG is inspired by Philippine monster and ghost stories that we enjoyed telling each other when we were growing up in the province. I wanted those creatures to come alive and tell their own stories from their point of view.” – Florante Aguilar, Composer

In the re-telling of the stories of the Aswang, or popular Philippine mythological monsters and ghosts, themes of resilience, survival and persistence are explored. A featured monster is the Manananggal, a commoner by day and a hideous creature by night capable of severing her upper torso and flying into the night to satisfy her hunger for human flesh, is presented within the context of colonial history. Also featured are the stories of the Tumao (a mysterious ape-like beast who roams the mountains of Mount Banahaw in Quezon Province), the Syokoy (a fearsome being of the deep, dark seas), the Tikbalang (a horrifying trickster with a human body and the head of a horse), and the Lady in White (a tormented soul wandering the streets of modern day Manila).

The power of myth depends on who tells the story. In this concert, the Aswang tells their side of the story. Who among us is the real Aswang?

Created, written and produced by husband and wife team Florante Aguilar and Fides Enriquez, ASWANG is an 80-minute live concert featuring Bay Area musical gems: Kristine Sinajon, Leon Palad, Kyle De Ocera, and Los Angeles performing artists, Charmaine Clamor and Giovanni Ortega. Original music is composed by Florante Aguilar and performed live by his ensemble the Fandangueros: Chus Alonso, Sage Baggott, and Greg Kehret.

The one-time concert, a non-profit project of Theater Residencies Inc. will take place on

January 28, 2018 at 4pm at the state-of-the-art Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center.

Tickets range from $12 – $35. Advance tickets and group rates can be purchased at

https://aswangconcert.brownpapertickets.com

For more information please visit https://floranteaguilar.com/aswang

New Art Media Productions supports the works of artists Florante Aguilar and Fides Enriquez. The Napa-based production house focuses on turning these artists’s visions into reality through the medium of music recordings, films and live theater productions.

For inquiries, please contact:

By Email: fides@newartmedia.com

By Phone: (415) 613-0584

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Florante Receives 2016 Gerbode Composition Award

by floranteaguilar February 6, 2017

On February 1, 2017, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation announced that Florante Aguilar along with presenting organization KulArts, are one of the six recipients of $50,000 grants to support the creation and production of new music by California composers.

Billed as “today’s most influential composers”, the Gerbode Foundation’s past awardees include Terry Riley, John Adams, Lou Harrison, the Kronos Quartet, as wells as from other artistic disciplines such as Tony Kushner and Alonzo King.

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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of six $50,000 grants to support the creation and production of new music by California composers.

The works will be commissioned and premiered by Bay Area nonprofit organizations. Each organization will receive a $50,000 grant that will be used for a commissioning fee of $12,500 or more to each composer, with the remaining funds going to the presenting organization for expenses related to the creation and premiere of the pieces. The resulting new music works will have their world premiere public performances in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 2017 and June 2019. The grants are made in partnership with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which also provided funding for the commissions.

The recipients of the 2016 Music Composition Awards are (in alphabetical order by organization):

Cultural Odyssey / Idris Ackamoo
WE LIVE HERE! will be an evening long musical theater production composed by Cultural Odyssey’s founding Executive/Co-Director and resident composer, Idris Ackamoor. The score is inspired by the musical movements that made San Francisco a welcoming and nurturing world destination for musicians, tourists, and fans. WE LIVE HERE! will premiere in the Spring of 2019 as part of Cultural Odyssey’s 40^th Anniversary Season.

Kitka, Inc. / Janet Kutulas
Iron Shoes, a contemporary, neo-feminist folk opera, will transform source material drawn from Eastern European fairytales into a contemporary performance experience. Even after over 20 years of performing and composing music for Kitka, Iron Shoes will be Janet Kutulas’s first large-scale composed work. Iron Shoes will premiere in the Spring of 2018.

Kularts / Florante Aguilar
Utom is a contemporary composition in five movements inspired by a mythical story of the deity Boi Henwu and is informed by musical traditions and indigenous instruments of the T’boli people of the Philippines. This work is an important continuation for musician and composer Florante Aguilar to develop and build upon his “new found” genre and musical voice. Utom will premiere in the Spring of 2019.

Other Minds / Brian Baumbusch
The Pressure will be a concert-length multimedia work based on themes of early German expressionism that accompanied the rise of fascism. The scores will be performed by a mixed ensemble including the Friction String Quartet and The Lightbulb Ensemble, a trailblazing group of twelve percussionists that performs on a set of instruments that Brian Baumbusch designed and built, and that were inspired by Indonesian gamelan instruments. The Pressure will premiere in the Spring of 2018.

San Francisco Girls Chorus / Fred Frith
Fred Frith’s unique compositional process with the 45-member SF Girls chorus will result in a new 20-minute work. Members of the chorus will participate in a series of workshops led by Frith and Bay Area instrumentalists well versed in improvised and scored musical performance practices. The new composition will take form and be developed based on a process of interaction, suggestion, and creative collaboration. The premiere will take place in the Spring of 2019.

Women’s Audio Mission / Real Vocal String Quartet
Culture Kin is an innovative and cross-cultural musical suite that the Real Vocal String Quartet will create with artists from San Francisco’s international sister cities. Culture Kin will explore the intersection of classical and world musical traditions while using Women’s Audio Mission professional recordings as a creative “instrument” in this new compositional process. Culture Kin will premiere in the Spring of 2019.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue to support projects that promote and advance the work of innovative California composers and presenters in this challenging fiscal environment,” said Stacie Ma’a, the president of the Gerbode Foundation. “This year’s recipients represent some of the most unique and ambitious processes for creating new musical works and include some of today’s most influential composers.”

“These grant recipients will create new music that challenges and inspires diverse audiences around the Bay Area,” said John E. McGuirk, director of the Hewlett Foundation’s Performing Arts Program, which provided funding for the grants. “We are pleased to support these composers and organizations creating new work that is essential to maintaining a vibrant arts community.”

The Gerbode Foundation was assisted in making these grants by an advisory panel composed of the following nationally respected music experts:

Kate Dumbleton is the Artistic and Executive Director for the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and an Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the MA program in Arts Administration and Policy. Kate joined the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and SAIC in the fall 2012 from the position of Executive Director of the critically acclaimed Chicago Jazz Ensemble, resident at Columbia College since 1965. Her work in jazz, improvised music and performance spans nearly two decades.Kate’s experience includes music direction for jazz clubs and festivals; curatorial direction of artist residencies; direction of interdisciplinary projects in music, dance, theater, visual art, film; venue and record label management; administrative direction; and artist management. She owned and operated a successful performance, exhibition space/wine bar in the Bay Area from 2000-2006. Kate’s current affiliations include the Advisory Council for the Chicago Artists Resource and ChicagoMusic.org; Board of Directors for the Experimental Sound Studio (ESS); Board of Directors for Rova Arts (SF).

Walter Kitundu is an artist who creates kinetic sculptures and sonic installations, develops public works, builds (and performs on) extraordinary musical instruments, while researching and documenting the natural world. He is the inventor of a family of Phonoharps, multi-stringed instruments made from record players that rely on the turntable’s sensitivity to vibration. Kitundu has created hand-built record players driven by the wind and rain, fire and earthquakes, birds, light, and the force of ocean waves. In 2008 he received a MacArthur Fellowship in recognition his work in this field. His eclectic art practice includes receiving a major public art commission, creating a complex site-specific installation in a small-town museum, developing wildly imaginative instruments for a string quartet, composing for dance and theatrical production, teaching sculpture at the university level, engaging in fieldwork with wild birds of prey, and heading the design and fabrication of environments for learning at a prominent science institution.

Arturo O’Farrill, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music. Learn more about ALJA here: http://www.afrolatinjazz.org. As a composer, he has received commissions from Meet the Composer, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Music Project, The Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. Arturo’s well-reviewed and highly praised Afro-Latin Jazz Suite from the current album CUBA: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) took the 2016 Grammy Award (his fourth) for Best Instrumental Composition. He is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and director of Jazz Studies at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.

About the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation
The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation is interested in programs and projects offering potential for significant impact. The primary geographical focus is on the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii. The Foundation’s interests generally fall under the categories of arts and culture, environment, reproductive rights and health, citizen participation, building communities, inclusiveness, strength of the philanthropic process and the nonprofit sector, and foundation-initiated special projects.

About the Special Awards Program
For more than twenty-five years, the Gerbode Foundation has made innovative grants through its Special Awards Program to Bay Area arts institutions to commission new works from choreographers, playwrights, and composers. The Special Awards Program has also supported visual artists, poets, and multimedia artists.In a time of cultural shifts and fiscal insecurity in the arts, these coveted, nationally respected awards have helped underwrite culturally and aesthetically diverse, acclaimed new works by prominent artists and emerging ones. These grants have supported artists at critical junctures in their careers; enabled nonprofit local arts groups to develop and debut substantial, original works; and enriched Bay Area audiences, readers, and viewers by giving them first access to ambitious new creations.

About the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world. For 50 years, the foundation has supported efforts to advance education for all, preserve the environment, improve lives and livelihoods in developing countries, promote the health and economic well-being of women, support vibrant performing arts, strengthen Bay Area communities and make the philanthropy sector more effective.The foundation’s Performing Arts Program makes grants to sustain artistic expression and encourage public engagement in the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area, to give California students equal access to an education rich in the arts, and to provide necessary resources to help organizations and artists be effective in their work.

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State of the Filipino Arts in the U.S. and Diaspora

by floranteaguilar May 26, 2016

The following post appears as part of an article on Dialogue on Philippine Dance and Culture event in San Francisco, and published by Inquirer.net. The interview was conducted by Wilfred Galila and is presented in its complete unedited version.

WG: How do you feel about being recognized as one of the outstanding artistic leaders who have significantly contributed and influenced Philippine dance and culture in the U.S. and the diaspora?

FA: I am, of course, honored. To be honest, most of the time I was merely following some very strong artistic itch that needed to be scratched. But I am honored just the same.

WG: Considering that you could have practiced any musical style or form, was the practice and craft of Filipino music a particular choice, other than the fact that you are Filipino? Has it always been that way when you first started or was there a switch in your artistic path along the way?

FA: I definitely did not set out to be playing Filipino music as my artistic calling. In fact, when I was growing up in the Philippines, I viewed traditional Filipino music as lowly and not meriting the attention of any serious musician. I was training to be a classical musician, performing works by European composers on the recital platform. I came to the US to study with the best of the best in that pursuit.

But many things had to happen and converge along the way. Having studied music at the conservatory, as well as traveled the world investigating music of other cultures, gave me a new perspective on Filipino music. That it is not lowly, that it is beautiful and traditionally rich. That my chosen instrument – the classical guitar lends itself so naturally as its delivery agent. But probably the most powerful catalyst was when my father died and I had to go back home. That’s when I truly rediscovered how much the music I grew up with was now resonating in a very deep way. That I am now in a unique position to present traditional Filipino music in a different light, in my own personal way.

WG: What is your opinion about the state of Philippine dance and culture here in the U.S. and the diaspora?

FA: Generally speaking, I think that Filipino immigrants bring a very unique perspective. Whereas Fil-Ams tend to have issues of identity growing up and assimilating in the US, first time immigrants like myself came to the US with our identities fully formed, and always the outsider looking in.

We bring with us first hand knowledge of the culture. Now that we are outside of the Philippines, it actually gives us a better appreciation of its beauty and traditions in a different filter. And here in the US, you have all the resources, tools and support to perfect your vision. And yes I am implying that you would not get this level of support and resources if we’re living in the Philippines. I mean that is the reason we all left the country, the reason for the country’s ongoing brain drain, sadly. So, I am saying that Filipino artists are doing some very interesting and progressive things in the US in a way that our Philippine counterparts cannot. The Philippine arts in the US and diaspora is thriving and in good hands.

WG: As an artistic leader and champion of Filipino music, how do you envision the future of Philippine arts and culture in the diaspora? And what are the steps to realize this vision?

FA: The Philipine culture is a jar full of inspiration that can be infinitely tapped. But you can’t do it from an armchair. If one truly were to champion Philipine arts, you have to have either grown up there or significantly visited the motherland in order to bring the knowledge. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of firsthand knowledge in order to bring traditional art in a respectful light. You can’t be deriving your art based on someone else’s interpretation. It has to come from you.

WG: Any advise on aspiring Filipino artists on being and creating, for them to be able to get to where you are now with your art?

FA: I think that being true to yourself as an artist is important. Don’t make choices based on what you think will please people. If you feel different about something, embrace that difference. If you think no one’s going to care about what your vision is, do it anyway. If you think there is no market for it, do it anyway. The important thing is that it is coming from an honest place deep within you. If you end up being recognized for it, that is secondary, even tertiary. The important thing is that you followed and executed a unique vision that only you could have.

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Guest Blog: Chus Alonso on Upcoming Show Fandango-Pandanggo

by floranteaguilar March 26, 2016

By Chus Alonso

For those of you who know me, you might think it is a bit out of character for me to be planning to run the Napa Valley Silverado 10-K Marathon on April 17. If you told me a few months ago I would be running a 10-K marathon, I would have not believed it either. But I decided to do it for a very good reason: to demonstrate my commitment for a great project, Fandango Pandanggo, a music, dance and multimedia performance that highlights and honors the musical connections between the Philippines, Mexico, Cuba, and Spain.

What is Fandango-Pandanggo about? And why am I asking for some of your hard-earned money?

In abstract terms, Fandango-Pandanggo pays homage to the intertwined cultural roots that connect four continents (Asia, America, Europe and Africa). F-P encourages the exploration of our past and the acknowledgment of everyone’s contributions to the music world of today.

I began playing music with Florante Aguilar six years ago when he hired me for one of his productions. Florante is a guitarist with a solid classical training and a technique that is precise, sensitive and consistent. He is also a composer with a contemporary open mind and profound love and dedication to for the traditional music of his country. Our shared interest to creating new contemporary music that remains in contact to our cultural roots has kept us collaborating since that time. As I became familiar with his music and the music of the Philippines my interest to learn more grew.

I was astonished to realize that the music I associated with my childhood and my home town, like the jota and fandango, was also the music Florante associated with his childhood in Philippines. When I was ten I was playing laud in a rondalla ensemble. At that age, Florante was playing octavina, also in a rondalla ensemble. Octavina is a string instrument similar to the Spanish laud. The octavina is not the laud and the jota I know is not the same as the jota Florante plays, but the link is clear.

As I became more acquainted with Filipinos and Filipino culture (food, celebrations, humor, etc.), I felt a familiarity that further stimulated my curiosity. Since I have dedicated my professional life to playing, studying and teaching Latin music, learning Filipino music felt very much as a continuation of that work. Of course, Filipino music is a world unto itself with many sub-worlds. Certain genres have clear connections with Latin music, others don’t. Florante introduced me to harana, kind of a cousin of the habanera; to the pandanggo, with ties to the old fandango; to the wide range of Filipino jotas, to the rondalla music, etc. I also learn about the wide range of music of the many ethnic cultures that inhabit the archipelago.

Two years ago Florante and I received a grant from Friends of Chamber Music to do research on the topic of Latin-Filipino musical connections and to compose new music informed by our reflections. This was the seed that will germinate on May 21, 2016, with the performance of Fandango-Pandanggo at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco.

Ticket sales will not be enough to cover all production costs because Fandango-Pandanggo is not just another performance. It is the result of two years of work, research and planning. The program is an original; it debuts new arrangements of traditional music and new compositions, dance choreographies and film. It involves 16 unique artists of the highest caliber.

I am writing to ask you to sponsor my 10-K run, with all the proceeds directly benefiting Fandango-Pandango. Your donation can be as low as $0.10 per kilometer ($1) or as great as $100 per kilometer. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. All sponsorship/donations will receive a tax-deductible donation letter directly from KulArts, all donors/sponsors will be listed on the KulArts, Potaje and Fandangueros websides.

My colleague, Florante Aguilar, is also running for Fandango-Pandanggo. We have the goal of raising $5,000 ($2,500 each) by April 17. Please help me reach my final goal of $2,500 by April 17—every dollar per kilometer helps!. You can send your donation/sponsorship directly to KulArts’ Paypal account HERE or via check to Kularts 474 Faxon Ave SF, CA 94112. Please be sure to include, in the memo/message section the word FANDANGO.

Last but not least, I want to thank KulArts for their support of this project. KulArts is an organization that has served the South of Market Area, San Francisco/Bay Area, California and the larger Filipino diaspora for the past three decades.

You can find out the details of the upcoming performance here: http://www.sfiaf.org/potaje_fandangueros_cascada_de_flores

Check out the impressive list of musicians, dancers and multimedia artists.

artistic director: Chus Alonso
music director: Florante Aguilar
creative director: Alelluia Panis
multimedia artist: Wilfred Galila
singers: Charmaine Clamor, Arwen Lawrence
musicians: Jorge Liceaga, Kyla Danysh, Paula Dreyer, Greg Kehret, Sage Baggott and Robert Borrell
dancers: Roberto Borrell, Melissa Cruz, Ana Liceaga, Jay Loyola, Fides Enriquez

WAYS TO SUPPORT:
1. ONLINE: SPONSOR VIA PAYPAL HERE
*IN THE MEMO INCLUDE: CHUS FP or FLORANTE FP

2. SEND CHECK TO: Kularts 474 Faxon Avenue San Francisco, CA 94112
All sponsorship/donations will receive a tax-deductible donation letter directly from KulArts, all donors/sponsors will be listed on the KulArts website.

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Florante Gives a Talk at the Apple Store in SF

by floranteaguilar April 30, 2015

CAAM has partnered with the Apple Store San Francisco to present CAAM: Creating Award-Winning Documentaries on Thursday, May 14, 2015. Join filmmakers Florante Aguilar and Fides Enriquez, and cinematographer Peggy Peralta as they discuss the process and passion behind Harana. The award-winning documentary tells the story of the last performers of harana—the lost art of serenade in the Philippines. Presented in partnership with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Harana will air on PBS as part of the “Filipino American Lives” series in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.

This program is free and open to the public. Reserve your spot online today at the Apple Store San Francisco events calendar: www.apple.com/retail/sanfrancisco. Walk-ins are welcome!

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Florante’s Interview At the NYC Harana Premiere

by floranteaguilar August 5, 2013

Florante Aguilar’s interview at the Asian American International Film Festival’s New York premiere of HARANA. The original publication can be found here.

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Harana is a long-abandoned Filipino courtship serenade, which originated in the Spanish colonial period. In this award-winning documentary, guitarist Florante AGUILAR returns to the Philippines from the US for the first time in twelve years to discover three of the last remaining harana masters: a farmer, a fisherman, and a tricycle driver. HARANA emotively weaves their performances to exemplify the past and present, the here and there, and the rural and urban.

CineVue: The film is first and foremost a roots-seeking story, or can be read as a confrontation/reconciliation with one’s roots. What is the importance of yearning and nostalgia of a so-called homeland in films like yours? What function does this serve in your story?

Florante Aguilar: I think this question is particularly astute because HARANA in its deepest level, is a love affair with the homeland. It is the innermost driving force of the movie. Being a musician, the only way I knew how to express that love is through music.

One of the things that we did not cover in the film is the fact that I left the Philippines in 1987 because I hated everything about my country – the politics, the rampant corruption, the over-reliance on religion, the hopelessness, etc. I felt that I could not live and belong in a culture like that. Inwardly, I renounced being a Filipino and left for the US ready to embrace the western culture.

But the death of my father forced me to return after 12 years of absence. And that’s when the reconnection happened. This time around, I saw the Phlippines in a different prism and I was suddenly in love with the Philippines. Suddenly, I felt like I belong.

So, it’s not nostalgia per se but rather the power of that transformation – from hate to love – that moved me to do it. Maybe it’s also an apology and an attempt to make amends for renouncing the homeland.

CV: Because of the power of music, the beautiful melody and the tenderness and sorrow in the voices of the singers, many would agree with the proverbial saying that “There  are no languages required in a musical world.” How have you utilized music in your film? Could you describe how music has affected your creative processes (from preproduction to production to post-production)?

FA: During pre-production, all I had was this notion that these authentic harana practitioners or haranistas must still be around, very old, and living in far-flung provinces.

Musically, all I had were the remnants of harana music or songs I happened to know that survived through the ages. I heard them when I was growing up in the province and also through the pieces my mother played on the piano.

During my so-called transformation, I started playing harana which I arranged for classical guitar, resulting in three solo albums. But I also felt that this was just the surface, that there must be many more unheralded songs. I fantasized about unearthing a treasure trove of beautiful courtship music and forming an ensemble of authentic haranstas. Well, I wanted that fantasy to come true. And I determined to look for them in the provinces where harana was prevalent.

As we were traveling from province to province during the production shoot, there were points when I realized that I must be just fantasizing – that this search is just some romantic notion. And that if we did not find anyone, I was ready to conclude that harana was truly dead.

Then we met Celestino Aniel, a farmer from the province of Cavite. I can’t describe the first time he sang for us as I accompanied him on the guitar. I think the whole crew was in tears – he sang in such a heartfelt and humble way that could only come from being a true haranista. We all realized we were in the presence of great master. Then we were truly blessed to find two more amazing haranistas – one a fisherman, the other a tricycle driver.

CV:”When you do harana, you rarely get turned down.” When the harana masters are singing, there always a few shots of women as audience members, who appear to be quite touched and moved by the music. How does gender figure into the musical scene?

FA: It’s interesting because I was just reading an article about the science of music and why humans play music. It concludes that men who are able to play musical instruments advertise to potential mates that they are in top physical, emotional and spiritual shape. That’s pretty Darwinian. It is the same as the peacock displaying his plummage to advertise to females what an amazing specimen he is!

So there! Music was “invented” for courtship purposes. And that is what harana is.

CV: When you were making the documentary, what was the reaction of the local audiences? In many scenes when you perform for the audience, there are genuine interactions between you and the locals. Do the general public still feel attached to the old-school melodies and performances?

FA: There is a scene in the film when I was playing at Plaza Morga in Tondo, an area in Manila known for gangs, prostituion and poverty. It’s like the favelas in Brazil. When we set up there, we just did not know what we were going to get. Our director Benito Bautista was fantastic in connecting with the locals, making them feel comfortable in the film crew’s presence and allowing us to shoot incident-free.

Placing a classical guitarist in the middle of traffic in Manila is pretty crazy but I wanted to do it because I’ve always believed it’s a more powerful experience when you bring music to the people’s elements, as opposed to a concert hall. Most people in Tondo probably never heard of a classical musician, much less see one playing in their streets.

And their reactions was deeply humbling. Gang members were asking me to play some of the old songs that they still knew. When the crowd surrounded me and started singing along, I knew we caught a very special moment. I like to think that for those few moments, they were transported to a space where they forget about their dailty grind and hardships, and were momentarily inspired and hopeful.

CV: Could you describe you interactions with the three masters during production? What was it like? What were some eye-opening things you endured, experienced and will remember forever?

FA: We were at a beach house in Ilocos Norte. We weren’t shooting that day. I was recording the haranistas on my laptop, just basically documenting their songs. I was so moved by their singing that at one point I started to well up. I guess I was too embarassed to cry in front of these men so I had to excuse myself and headed for the restroom. I cried like a baby in that dingy bathroom.

CV:Is this film raising any awareness of the legacy? What’s at stake now to preserve it?

FA: I was at a film festival screening of HARANA a few months ago. During the closing night, it was announced that HARANA had won the Audience Award. The festival organizers said a few words about HARANA. What struck me was that they talked about the harana custom like they have known it all their lives. I mean the harana tradition, prior to the movie, was just an obscure custom nobody paid attention to, and now they are talking about the harana custom in the international stage. I thought that was an important moment – that harana has arrived.

I actually didn’t set out to create the film in order to preach preservation. And I made sure that the film does not come off preachy. It was driven by my desire to discover, learn and record these beautiful yet unheralded music. And I was expressing a reconnection to the homeland the only way I knew how – through music.

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Press Release for HARANA KINGS US Tour

by floranteaguilar June 29, 2012

Email: fides@haranathemovie.com, www.haranathemovie.com
Hi-‐Res Image Available Upon Request

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Art Media Presents
INTRODUCING THE HARANA KINGS

San Francisco, CA June 29, 2012 – Master artists discovered in the soon to be released documentary “HARANA” coming to California as they embark on a rare concert series to promote the film and their debut album with world music guitarist Florante Aguilar.

INTRODUCING THE HARANA KINGS CONCERT DATES:

Time & Date: July 8, 7pm
“Apl de Ap Takes You to the Philippines – A Celebration of Global Filipino Music”
Location: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets: www.hollywoodbowl.com

Time & Date: July 11, 6:30pm
CD Release Concert to Benefit the Filipino American WWII Veterans Memorial
Location: War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Blvd, Room 207, San Francisco Suggested Donation: $25 at the door

Time & Date: July 14, 7:30pm “An Evening With the Harana Kings”
Location: St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, 5562 Clayton Road, Concord, CA
Tickets: $10 at the door

Time & Date: July 17, 7:00pm “Harana Kings Concert”
In Collaboration with OACC and PAWA Inc.
Location: Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth Street, Oakland, CA
Tickets: $25 at the door

The Philippines’ tradition of harana has been rapidly vanishing in its home country and most people throughout the world are completely unaware of its influential music that for many years had inspired the Philippine country with hope, beauty and love. Harana was a traditional form of courtship in which men serenaded women by singing underneath her window at night. It is famous for its set of protocols, a code of conduct and most importantly, a specific style of music. An important custom of Filipino culture, harana has been teetering on the edge of disappearance for some time, but through the untiring and valiant efforts from a group of filmmakers, harana has been given a chance for survival.

World music guitarist Florante Aguilar along with producer Fides Enriquez and director Benito Bautista have been hard at work producing Harana, a documentary highlighting and saving the tradition that will once again reignite the passion and treasure that is harana. Together, they discovered Felipe Alonzo, Celestino Aniel and Romeo Bergunio, three men with simple lives in the Philippines who exemplify the definition of a true harana master. Now known as the Harana Kings, not only do these master haranistas star in the upcoming documentary, but they have been formally invited to perform in an exclusive concert series in California. Having never been far from their humble lifestyles, coming to American is surely a once-‐in-‐a-‐ lifetime dream come true. They will begin their exclusive tour in Los Angeles by participating in the unprecedented July 8th concert “Apl de Ap Takes You to the Philippines – A Celebration of Global Filipino Music” at the Hollywood Bowl alongside big acts such as Martin Nievera, Nicole Scherzinger, Sandwich, and Apl de Ap with members of the Black Eyed Peas, before coming to the San Francisco Bay Area for three more not to be missed performances.

The concerts will also launch the release of the album “Introducing the Harana Kings“, a result of the Harana documentary film. The Harana Kings will join Florante Aguilar to perform a number of tracks from the album and this will be the only time the Harana Kings will be performing live in the United States in what will surely be an event that not only celebrates Filipino history, but a momentous occasion for anyone that has ever dared to dream.

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