03/08/2018
Magkita-kita po tayo sa Aug 10-12 sa UST!
MANILA GUITAR FESTIVAL 2018
Pagkakaisa, Pagkakaibigan, at Makabuluhang Pagbabago: Ang Potensyal ng Gitarang Klasikal Bilang Instrumento sa Transpormasyon ng Lipunan
The Manila Guitar Festival is a three day festival highlighting the classical guitar and its communities. An event pushed by its proponent, the Manila Guitar Quartet1, the event will be in line with the quartet’s belief that the guitar can be used as a tool for social transformation and nation-building. This belief is also aligned with the vision, mission, core values, and mandates of the universities the quartet’s members hail from, particularly the Philippine Women’s University, St. Scholastica’s College Manila, University of the Philippines, and the University of Santo Tomas, and for the next four years, these universities will be hosting the Manila Guitar Festival. The event will be presented by the Manila Guitar Festival Board, co-presented by the Guitar Friends in cooperation with the University of Santo Tomas.
This year’s Manila Guitar Festival will be hosted by the University of Santo Tomas, with a particular focus on guitar ensemble music. Performances of various guitar ensembles will be held, such as guitar ensembles of different universities and community guitar ensembles. Its finale will be marked by a performance of the Festival Guitar Orchestra, an orchestra conducted by Alberto Mesa featuring guitarists from different universities and communities, and featuring a commissioned piece composed by the host university. Various workshops for students, ensembles, and music teachers will be held and collaborations with social workers and historians from different universities and government agencies will emphasize on the festival’s theme. This year in particular, the festival will also honor significant Filipino guitarists for their contributions to Filipino classical guitar history through a concert- presentation highlighting these contributions.
The activities for Manila Guitar Festival 2018 aim to achieve certain end goals. One important goal is to be able to promote unity, camaraderie, and mutual respect among guitarists and teachers from different music schools and other local guitar communities through collaborative performances, and workshops. The festival also aims to highlight the impact of the guitar to three less privileged communities in Metro Manila, particularly the Kabataang Gitarista (KG), the Sparrow Guitar Ensemble, and the Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation, Inc. (QCPADFI). The festival also aims to emphasize the importance of the history of the guitar in the Philippines through honoring the significant guitarists and teachers of the time, and to present the history of the Filipino classical guitar. Another important goal of the festival is to encourage social workers to consider the potential of the guitar as a tool for social work, and most importantly, to raise the value of the guitar through building interest from the public and private sectors in supporting current and future guitar programs.
