DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
 

SFA-AGR-169-08

Philippine Embassy IN Pretoria LAUNCHES

philippine cultural lecture series

18 March 2008 — Philippine Ambassador to South Africa Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Philippine Embassy in Pretoria launched the Philippine Cultural Lecture Series on 8 March with a lecture at the Embassy by Ms. Lilac A. Arcos on Philippine music to mark the 110th anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence.

 

Ms. Arcos is a temporary resident of South Africa married to Filipino expatriate Edgar Arcos.  Hailing from Cebu and a Communication Arts graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, she has a musical background that includes former membership at the Ateneo Glee Club, the choral group 92AD, the Singapore Lyric Theatre (now the Singapore Lyric Opera) and the Singapore Philharmonic Chorus (now the Singapore Chamber Choir).

 

At the start of the program, Ambassador Reyes welcomed the guests and gave a short background on Philippine culture.  He then introduced Ms. Arcos to the audience.

 

In an hour-long lecture with accompanying visual and aural aids, Ms. Arcos described Philippine music’s history and roots, beginning from the pre-historic era and moving on to indigenous music styles, indigenized music featuring Spanish and American influences, Philippine choral music and dance music, utilizing samples of the different genres to illustrate.

 

In the open forum that followed, many of the foreign guests asked about the different influences of Philippine music. The Ambassadors from South American countries particularly commented that many of the songs, especially the kundimans, had a distinctly Hispanic flavor.  The Qatari Ambassador noted Middle Eastern influences in the Mindanao music such as that of the kutiyapi.

 

At the end of the lecture, many of the guests congratulated Ms. Arcos and the Ambassador for the informative and entertaining lecture.

 

An audience of over 40 including members of the diplomatic corps in Pretoria, Embassy staff-members and their families, and of the Filipino community in the Pretoria and Johannesburg areas attended the inaugural lecture.  The next lecture in the series is scheduled to be a lecture on Philippine cinema to be presented by former actress and beauty queen Michelle Aldana-Heinermann in April.  END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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