Agos Rondalla Fall/Winter 2024 Workshop Series

Intergenerational beginning rondalla music classes, jam sessions and performance at community gatherings.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

KULARTS' program, Agos, formerly the American Center of Philippine Arts, is taking new students, of all levels, ages 15 to adults, for their Pilipino/a/x American Rondalla (String Ensemble) in East Oakland!

Rondalla or rondalya is an ensemble of string instruments played with a plectrum or pick and sometimes accompanied by percussion. Introduced in the Philippines in the 19th century during Spanish colonization, the native people indigenized the music with locally-made instruments. Rondalla groups flourished in christianized cities, villages, and towns and was a major source of musical entertainment at community events and fiestas.

Indigenized during the Spanish colonization era, the rondalla has become an integral part of Pilipino American community gatherings and celebrations. The intergenerational approach allows the immersive experience for diverse age groups to learn, engage through storytelling, and collaborate through music. 

Through the major waves of immigration to the United States, the Philippines rondalla also began making its way to the United States contributing to the immigrant Pilipino American experience. 

REGISTRATION DESCRIPTION

ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTOR

Herna (pronounced "Er-Na") Cruz-Louie (she/siya) has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 25 years, and has provided Pilipino/a/x cultural arts dance and music programs for youth and adults in Oakland, CA for the last 16 years. Herna’s exposure to Philippine dance and music started at age 5, when she learned cultural dances to perform at local fiestas where she grew up in San Diego, CA. In 1995 at the age of 15, she began taking rondalla lessons from Bryan Pangilinan, former music director with the PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company. PASACAT’s rondalla music program was established in 1980 by Bayani Mendoza de Leon of the University of the Philippines, who later established and directed many rondallas in the United States between 1980 until his passing in 2013. Bayani developed the rondalla Tablature Method, which continues to be utilized as a form of rondalla music instruction in the US. Herna has adapted Bayani Mendoza de Leon’s Tablature Method to include western notation in her instruction, however the foundations have remained the same. Bayani’s method has provided a more accessible approach to teaching rondalla music, so that students who do not have any previous musical training can actively participate.

Herna eventually became rondalla music instructor with PASACAT by the age of 18, and after moving to San Francisco in 2000, she joined LIKHA-Pilipino Folk Ensemble as a performer and musician and became their executive director between 2005-2008. In 2002, KULARTS provided Herna’s first opportunity in San Francisco to teach rondalla music in the South of Market. 

Informed by traditional practice, Agos Rondalla workshops and jam sessions nurtures a safe space for storytelling and conversation. Herna intertwines opportunities for rondalla students and musicians to discuss our history, community issues, and share personal stories to expand ideas around healing from our generational traumas and to create a sense of belonging.