The 36th International Bamboo Organ Festival

The International Bamboo Organ Festival of Las Piñas is no ordinary music festival; it may well be the only festival that has for its centerpiece a unique music instrument that has been officially named a national treasure.

Crafted by Spanish priest Diego Cera, the Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas had purely religious beginnings. It was used exclusively for liturgical purposes, but the residents were eventually inspired to turn it into the focus of a full-fledged festival of sacred music. Now on its 36th season, the Bamboo Organ Festival has earned for itself a reputation both nationally and internationally, and is the source of great pride among all Filipinos, not just those from Las Piñas itself.

This festival has sparked interest and brought Philippine music, culture and tradition to the international stage. It has opened avenues for international artists to showcase their talents and gifts.

There is a rich history attached to this festival that goes beyond deep faith and tradition among the people. The festival is a source of a deep sense of pride among Filipinos. From its creation, the Bamboo Organ has brought together parishioners, townsfolk and artists in a celebration of life. National Artists Alejandro Roces, after an extensive study on the different fiestas of the Philippines, has included the Bamboo Organ Festival in his upcoming book about Philippine fiestas – truly a testimony of the value festivals hold in Philippine history and culture.

The annual International Bamboo Organ Festival recently unveiled its plans for the 36th edition of the event, to be held on February 17 to 23, 2011.

Excerpts from some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s more celebrated cantatas will be featured in the opening concert entitled Back to BACH, making use of the recently acquired complete collection of scores of the more than 250 cantatas of the composer. To be heard are well-known choruses, sinfonias and organ concertos which will illustrate why JS Bach is the most beloved of all composers of the Baroque period.

Subsequent concerts will have several choirs as performers: The Las Piñas Boys Choir, champion of the 2008 World Choir Games in Graz, Austria, the Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir, the University of the East Chorale, and the Imusicapella Chamber Choir. Two noted Filipino conductors will also take center stage — Joel Navarro and EudenicePalarauan; along with visiting artists Luc Ponet (Belgium), organ; Guido Segers (Belgium), trumpet; and Raphael Leone (Austria), flute. Filipino soloists will be Armando Salarza, organ; Gina Medina, violin; Rey Casey Concepcion, viola; and Renato Lucas, cello.

This year will also mark the premiere of a commissioned choral work Jubilate! Composed by Alejandro Consolacion II, who also arranged a cycle of popular Philippine Folk Songs.

For ticket inquiries, please call the Foundation Secretariat at tel. nos. 820 0795 or 825 7190, Mobile no. 0999 5087838, email at bambooorganfoundation@gmail.com or log to our website www.bambooorgan.org.

The Bamboo Organ is one of the Philippines’ national treasures. It was built between 1816 and 1824 for the Parish Church of Las Piñas, a village nine miles from the center of Manila, which now has achieved its own cityhood. Every year it receives countless visits from Filipino and foreign visitors alike.

Far from being an oddity, the Bamboo Organ is a serious instrument in the classic Spanish style, and a number of the world’s best-known organists have enjoyed its charm and color. Fr. Diego Cera de la Virgen del Carmen was responsible for the construction of both the organ and the church. An Augustinian Recollect, he was parish priest of Las Piñas and the son of a family of organ builders in his native Spain. Records show that he also was an unusually gifted natural scientist, chemist, architect, community leader and organist.

The choice of bamboo for the majority of the pipes was made both for practical and aesthetic reasons. Bamboo was abundant, in wide use as a building material, and when treated correctly, resistant to insects and rot. Fr. Cera had long been experimenting with this material; in the end only the horizontal reed pipes had to be made of metal, but not for lack of trying, as suggested by the number of mute bamboo pipes mounted in the rear façade of the case.

The final result conforms very closely to the Mediterranean model: Divided keyboard and registers, a basic choir with few mutations, horizontal trumpets in the façade, and a short pull-down pedal-board. In addition, there are a few favorite effects: Pajaritos (seven pipes tuned to imitate bird song), Tambor (two pipes tuned to beat in imitation of a drum), and one register tuned to vibrate slightly. The original wind supply was provided by hand-operated trouble bellows. Placed in a small, not very resonant stone church, the essentially wooden instrument sounds quite brilliant, with fine contrast between the real flute registers, the main choir with mutations and the metal reeds. All Mediterranean repertory sound well on the instrument, as do northern compositions that do not require independent pedal registers.

Earthquakes and typhoons — and the damage they bring — being facts of Philippine life, Fr. Cera himself became the first restorer of the Bamboo Organ. Others following him were less successful, and several partial and approximate attempts made in the early part of this century just to keep it playing ultimately failed. In 1973, the entire instrument was shipped to the Johannes Klais organ factory in Bonn for complete restoration work. Replacements for the bamboo pipes passed first through Japan for treatment; a special room was set up in Bonn to maintain tropical humidity for the duration of the work.

In 1975, the fully restored instrument was remounted in its original position, where it has now become the centerpiece of an important international music festival, as well as the stimulus for the rebirth of an unusual and very active parish life.