Featuring THE RAIN FESTIVAL OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 2005 Thanks to the KRAMER FOUNDATION for making this trip possible for Orinayo Productions

click on the image of Sango above to view a presentation of the event

Danongan Sibay Kalanduyan

Master Danongan Sibay Kalanduyan, important artistic figure in virtually all major Filipino American Communities for nearly two decades, is master of all aspects of the Maguindanao tribal style of Kulintang Music. Danongan was born in a little fishing village called Datu Piang in the Cotabato area of Mindanao.  He was raised in a strongly traditional musical environment and by the age of seven his family taught him instruments such as the kulintang, the dabakan goblet drum, the small babandir “timekeeper” gong and the gandingan, a four gong set.  As a young man, he quickly became recognized as a master musician winning island-wide competitions on the gandingan.  In 1971 he toured the far east with the Darangan Cultural Troupe. Danongan Kalanduyan came to the University of Washington in Seattle as an artist-in-residence in the ethnomusicology program, through a Rockefeller grant.  He has lived in the U.S. ever since.   In 1995 he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Currently based in San Francisco, he is the Executive Director of the Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble. Passing on the tradition is his foremost goal.   Quote:  "I feel that transmitting the knowledge I possess is important for Filipino Americans everywhere, not only to preserve what may be the only authentic Filipino musical form, but also to encourage Filipino Americans to maintain contact with their cultural heritage." What is Kulintang Music? Among many Magindanaon instrumental music forms, kulintang is the most frequently performed. Kulintang is a set of eight small bossed gongs in graduated sizes, horizontally laid on a rack called antangan (from antang, "to arrange"). Kulintang also refers to the ensemble in which this instrument is accompanied by four other instruments. Click HERE  or on the photograph above to learn more about Danongan Sibay Kalanduyan and the Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble.  Available on his site is a calendar of events, lists of his DVDs with sound clippings from album  "Pakaraguian sa Maguindanao - A Celebration of Kulintang Music and Dance."