Performing for "We Paddle Together" a Native California Cultural Arts Celebration. Photo credit: unknown
Conrad J. Benedicto was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States at age thirteen. He studied with kulintang master artist Danongan Kalanduyan from 1997 to 2016, including as his apprentice through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts’ apprenticeship program in 2007 and again in 2013. In 2018, Conrad received an individual artist grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to compose original kulintang music for his project, “Kulintang Dialect.” Kulintang Dialect’s complete album, Roots/Offshoots, was released worldwide in 2023 through Gongs Away Music. Musalaya’s Gift, Conrad’s first novel, was published by KulArts in 2021.
Kulintang Dialect
Kulintang Dialogue is a series of community engagements designed to explore the dynamics between tradition and innovation within kulintang music in the United States. This funding will allow Conrad to teach how kulintang music is played traditionally, then show variations that have evolved in America before facilitating a community discussion.
To learn more about Kulintang Dialect visit their instagram page!
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