Mindanao Lilang Lilang/Palabuniyan Kulingtang Ensemble

The Mindanao Lilang Lilang/Palabuniyan Kulingtang Ensemble presents traditional music and dance from the Maguindanao, Maranao, and Tausug peoples of Mindanao Island in Southern Philippines.  Executive Director Danongan Kalanduyan is a master musician, ethnomusicologist, and cultural consultant on Muslim-Filipino culture; he is the only master artist of Maguindanao Kulintang music in the United States.  Mr. Kalanduyan earned his graduate degree in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington at Seattle, where he was an artist-in-residence for many years.  In 1995, Mr. Kalanduyan received the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Mindanao Lilang Lilang/Palabuniyan Kulingtang Ensemble received a grant from ACTA's Living Cultures Grants Program in 2008 and 2010.  In 2010, grant funds supported the purchase of instruments to be housed at the Filipino Community Center and Balboa High School, where master artist Danny Kalanduyan and members of the Ensemble have been teaching classes for several years.  In 2008, grant funds supported free kulintang (indigenous tuned gongs) music and dance classes for youth and adult community members .