Almost 200 year old bamboo organ is striking a chord internationally
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 Published On Aug 3, 2015

(23 Feb 2015) An organ made from bamboo is creating musical waves at a festival in the Philippines.
It's one of the country's cultural heritage treasures, but organisers say the younger generation is dancing to entirely different beat.

It's the soothing tones of classical music typically heard in concert halls in Europe, but this church in the Philippines is striking a chord on the international music scene.
The annual music festival is highlighting the distinctive sound of one of the country's musical treasures - the bamboo organ.
Organisers say the festival is struggling for funding, but insist the show must go on.
Now on its 40th year, the International Bamboo Organ Festival showcases a pipe organ made of bamboo, perched high on the wall of the Saint Joseph Parish Church in the Manila suburb of Las Pinas.
Despite declining support, the festival tries to bring together musicians from all over the world for a week-long concert of classical and baroque music.
The Bamboo Organ was built between 1816 and 1824 by Diego Cera, an Augustinian priest who came from a family of organ builders in his native Spain.
Cera, who was the first parish priest of Las Pinas, created a pipe organ made of bamboo, thought to be the best material locally available.
Leo Renier, a former parish priest of Las Pinas who started the festival in 1975 after the Bamboo Organ underwent a major restoration in Germany, considers Cera's creation a "miracle" made from nature.
"He (Father Diego Cera, creator of bamboo organ) had to find in nature the pipes that he was going to use, the pipes don't grow side by side. So he realised that he had to find in nature the material for this instrument. And it is, I would say, a miracle that this sounds perfect," he says.
Swiss organist Guy Bovet has performed at the festival numerous times since 1980.
This year, he is performing on the bamboo organ playing his own compositions and variations made from traditional Filipino mass hymns, and another night will perform alongside a silent movie.
For challenging compositions, Bovet asks his wife Marissa to be by his side to assist him with the organ stops, which need to be adjusted to change the sound from the pipes.
Bovet explains how the organ works: "If I pull this one, or this one, the sound will be very different (Bovet then starts pulling levers that make different sounds). It's just like a calling for one instrument of the orchestra or for another one."
Also a regular at the Bamboo Organ festival is Filipino organist Armando Salarza.
He first got his hands on the bamboo organ keyboard when he was just 9 years old.
The Philippino-born, Austrian-educated Salarza is now the artistic director of the concert.
"Sometimes you feel like there's a mood of happiness and at the same time, of calmness, and so on. But every time I play, I feel so humbled," says Salarza.
Many foreigners attend the show, and return each year.
Jules Maaten is returning again for the fourth time.
The 53-year-old Dutch expatriate is here with his wife and some Filipino friends: "We keep coming back because it's a wonderful atmosphere, you find that nowhere else in the world, and the sound of the organ is magnificent, and it's the type of music that, in the Philippines you do not find very often, but in general, it's a combination of music that even in Europe you are hard pressed to find."
Organisers are saying that many Filipinos are beginning to appreciate the music as well.
Melvyn and Paulette Marcial says they will bring their children next year:
"In fact, we're planning to bring our two sons back here�"


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