Cultures in Harmony enjoys a longer history in the Philippines than in almost any other country, having conducted successful projects there annually from 2006 to 2009 and returning in 2014 and 2026. With St. Scholastica’s College, we presented workshops, master classes, and rehearse in preparation for a final concert at St. Cecilia’s Hall, where we performed a quintet by Filipino composer Krish Jan Pincaro and where our founder, William Harvey, gave the Filipino premiere of the Elgar Violin Concerto.
The Casa San Miguel offers children from low-income families the opportunity to study music in their picturesque brick home by the South China Sea. In 2008, we traveled together to do an outreach concert for the Aeta tribe, one of the oldest indigenous groups in the Philippines. In 2026, we presented a violin master class at Casa.
After working with the Cartwheel Foundation on an outreach concert tour of Mindanao in 2006, we embarked on an extraordinary and unique series of residencies in indigenous communities. In 2007, we worked with the Tala-Andig tribe in Miarayon, Mindanao; in 2008, we worked with the Umajam tribe in Cabanglasan, Mindanao; and in 2009, we worked with the Ichananaw tribe from Kalinga province, Luzon. Each year, we helped the youth from the indigenous community create musical compositions about their heritage.
We returned in 2014 to work with Cartwheel to help the Tagbanua indigenous community in Culion. In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, the Tagbanua had endured the destruction of many buildings. Our work celebrated their culture and helped revive the role of traditional music by collaborating with traditional musicians and bringing their work to the attention of Tagbanua communities where the traditional music had been forgotten. Here is a recording we made in Culion of a Filipino lullaby.
In 2026, we worked with Cartwheel to conduct an exchange with the Tagbanua community in order to raise awareness for their struggle to assert their rights over their land. Before and after the exchange, we played concerts in Manila as part of this effort. Here is a review of the May 23 concert alongside the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra. The May 30 concert brought Tagbanua culture bearers to Manila to perform alongside the Cultures in Harmony musicians.
