Co-produced by Theodore S. Gonzalves and Mary Talusan Lacanlale, Kulintang Kultura, from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, pays homage to the late Danongan “Danny” Kalanduyan, a talented musician and generous teacher who championed traditional Filipino kulintang gong music in the United States, helping to keep the memory and practice alive. Disc 1 features Kalanduyan’s ensemble at the peak of their powers in a recording featuring a traditional Philippine repertoire. Disc 2 turns our attention to Filipino musicians in the diaspora who weave those traditions into electronica, hip-hop, rock, jazz, and other contemporary styles. Kulintang Kultura: Danongan Kalanduyan and Gong Music of the Philippine Diaspora is the music of Filipinos both rooted and scattered, both ancient and modern—music that has held fast and continues to inspire.
Dr. Theodore S. Gonzalves is a curator of Asian Pacific American history in the division of Culture and the Arts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. His areas of responsibility include the research, collection, and exhibition of Asian Pacific American histories and the performing arts. He previously served as director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. A Fulbright Scholar with extensive teaching experience in the United States, Spain, and the Philippines, Dr. Gonzalves has also been awarded senior fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution, UNC Chapel Hill, and the Library of Congress. He was appointed to the Organization of American Historians' Distinguished Lectureship Program and is currently a member of the board of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies. https://www.theogonzalves.com
Mary Talusan Lacanlale is associate professor and chair of Asian-Pacific Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is the author of Instruments of Empire: Filipino Musicians, Black Soldiers, and Military Band Music During US Colonization of the Philippines, co-editor of Our Culture Resounds, Our Future Reveals: A Legacy of Filipino American Performing Arts in California, and co-producer of Kulintang Kultura: Danongan Kalanduyan and Gong Music of the Philippine Diaspora. She performs with the Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble.
