SU rondalla group gets featured in int’l music festival

Kwerdas pose for a picture before their performance at the 2023 Sarawak International Festival of Music and Arts. (L-R: Ian Encarnacion, Asst. Prof. Juni Jay Tinambacan, Asst. Prof. Mathilda Limbaga-Erojo, Yassef Ann Cahatian, Reginald Bernaldez, and Abner Cabanting)

Kwerdas, the premier rondalla group of Silliman University (SU) College of Performing and Visual Arts (COPVA), performed in two concerts alongside local and international performers and artists during the Sarawak International Festival Music and Arts (SIFMA) in Malaysia on December 2-3, 2024.

SIFMA is an annual event that celebrates Sarawak’s cultural identity. Its goals are to highlight local talents of Malaysia and showcase talents from all over the world.

Kwerdas was organized in 1999 as an “ad hoc” rondalla for a performance of Bachianas Brasilieras no.5 by Heitor Villalobos. At that time, the group was composed of students from the School of Music (now part of COPVA). Today, all of the members have graduated and are pursuing different paths in professional music. They, however, converge periodically for special performances and to promote the rondalla as an art form.

Ian Encarnacion, Asst. Prof. Mathilda Limbaga-Erojo, Asst. Prof. Juni Jay Timbacan, Reginald Bernaldez, Yassef Ann Cahatian, and Abner Cabanting make up Kwerdas, contributing equally to the musical and technical aspects of the group. They have been mentored by Prof. Priscilla Magdamo-Abraham, Dr. Elizabeth Susan Vista-Suarez, and Maestro Michael Dadap.