This all-bamboo Filipino orchestra is bringing OPM vibes to Argentina

MANILA — Banda Kawayan Pilipinas (BKP) will represent the Philippines at the 20th Festival Internacional de Folklore Ashpa Súmaj (FIFAS), to be held from Oct. 6 to 12 in Las Termas de Río Hondo, Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

Now in its 20th edition, FIFAS brings together folklore groups and artists from different countries for a week of performances and cultural exchange.

BKP will perform under the artistic direction of lawyer Mark Voltaire M. Lazaro.

The group will showcase Filipino music through its bamboo instruments, which were crafted and developed by founder Siegfredo B. Calabig.

These include bamboo marimbas, bumbong, angklung, and the kalagong, an original instrument invented by Calabig.

After FIFAS, the delegation will take part in cultural engagements in Buenos Aires, which the group said are meant to promote Philippine music and strengthen cultural ties between the Philippines and Argentina.

BKP traces its roots to 1973, when Calabig, then a music teacher and later a professor, and principal Gloria R. Talastas formed a bamboo orchestra at the Philippine College of Commerce Laboratory High School, now part of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).

The ensemble performed as PUP Banda Kawayan until 2013, then registered in 2014 as a private, non-stock, nonprofit cultural organization under its current name.

It has since performed in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Australia, including a 1998 European concert tour for the centennial of Philippine independence.