RON QUESADA is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in Filipino music from North to South, including gongs, bamboo, and stringed instruments. His current project, “Kulintronica,” features the traditional gong instrument of Mindanao with contemporary electronic dance music.
Ron aspires to bring the art of kulintang playing to the global world music community. A musician since the age of eight, he has studied and performed the many beautiful and rich musical forms of the Philippines; from the interlocking bamboo buzzes of the Northern mountains, to the boisterous rondalla ensembles of the lowlands, to the complicated fine art of kulintang playing of the Southern Philippines.
Ron’s first experience in Filipino music was to attend a rondalla (Filipino guitar ensemble) workshop led by Celestino “Bayani” Tan of the fabled “Tan Brothers,” which led to him joining his Bay Area group, The Haranistas de Manila. With them he has performed in dozens of Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) productions across Northern California, gaining experience playing a wide range of Filipino instruments and music.
Ron began studying traditional kulintang music in 2004 with Guro Danongan “Master K” Kalanduyan and later joined his acclaimed performing group, the Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble, eventually performing in places like Toronto, and Acapulco.
Ron also performs on Florante Aguilar’s Lalawigan: A Tagalog Song Cycle, Ibig: Pulse of Desire directed by Alleluia Panis, and he wrote, performed, and recorded the soundtrack to Pagbablik (Return): A Multi-Disciplinary Production written by Aimee Suzara.
Ron continues his work in preserving and progressing the tradition of kulintang music as a performer, teacher. With Kulintronica, Ron hopes to bring the kulintang to a young global audience.
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