National artist to launch book on Ibaloi vocal repertoire

September 18, 2017 Community Billboard

National artist for music Dr. Ramon Pagayon Santos will launch his new book titled “The Vocal Repertoire of the Ibaloi from Kabayan” at the University of the Philippines Baguio Museo Kordilyera main reception hall on September 19 at 10am.
The book delves into the “rich patrimony of vocal expressions” of the Ibaloi from ritualistic forms of communication and narratives to allegorical songs and witty repartees. Published by the UP Press, the book examines the range of vocal styles of the Ibalois of Kabayan, Benguet as they conduct rituals such as the peshit.
These vocal articulations, according to Santos, showcase the Ibaloi’s spiritual dimension and the fullness of the Ibaloi persona in their “textual contents, most especially those that were conveyed extemporaneously and have been retained in the memory of the community of elders.”
Santos’ study highlights another dimension of the Ibaloi where their “expressive traditions” indicate that “the poetry of the word is highly revered.”
Santos, a professor emeritus at the UP College of Music, is also author of a book titled “Tunugan: Four Essays on Filipino Music.” The book won the National Book Award in Music in 2006. A recipient of the Gawad CCP sa Sining Musika in 2013, Santos was subsequently named National Artist for Music in 2014.
Santos has been the executive director of the UP Center for Ethnomusicology and has served as the dean of the UP College of Music from 1978 to 1998. He was elected member of the Asian Composers League and chaired this body from 1994 to 1997.
He was also vice president of the UNESCO International Music Council from 1994 to 1997. As vice president, he was the first Filipino to serve in the highest governing body of the international music community. PR / ABN