Larissa Maestro's KAPWA
Explore Filipino identity, empathy, and shared humanity — KAPWA — through music with Larissa Maestro, her bandurria, & chatterbird strings.
chatterbird will partner with composer Larissa Maestro for a concert experience exploring universal connectedness through a Filipino cultural lens. Kapwa will take place June 29 at Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). Tickets are available here.
Tickets are available on a “pay your wage” basis, with all ticket proceeds going directly to TIRRC to further their mission. Independent record label Oh Boy Records will match ticket proceeds for the event.
The evening will kick off with a reception at 6 PM featuring traditional Filipino food, and chatterbird will host a talkback following the concert.
Kapwa is a Filipino tenet that describes the understanding that people are not separate from one another, from their environments, or from the universe. This concert explores the connection to self and other, inviting the listener to explore them as inextricably linked. Failures are shared, successes are shared, joy is shared, pain is shared, and existence is shared.
The centerpiece of this concert is a piece commissioned by chatterbird that features the Philippine bandurria, a 14-string fretted instrument that plays prominently in traditional Filipino music. The three-movement piece, Kundiman Song Cycle, is based on the traditional Philippine song form of the Kundiman, a love song that was used to spread connection between Motherland and comrade during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines from 1565-1898.
Maestro’s father, Clifford Scherer, is one of the only bandurria luthiers in the United States, allowing them to form a strong bond to the instrument and its capabilities.
“On Kapwa and Kundiman: The concept of Kapwa is one that stands antithetical to the Western ideal of individualism and the hierarchy of capitalism. My hope is that, through art, our bonds with one another can be unearthed and rediscovered,” said Maestro. “I have based the three movements of Kundiman Song Cycle on the women in my family; the first movement on my grandmothers, the second on my mother (who immigrated to the US from the Philippines in the 1970s), and the third on my sister. This is one way that I attempt to practice empathy in my art, by exploring my connections to my family and ancestors.”
TIRRC is located at 3310 Ezell Road Nashville, TN 37211.
6 PM: DOORS & RECEPTION (food from Maemax Market)
7 PM: CONCERT, with informal talkback session immediately following
TICKETS: Tickets are offered on a Pay-Your-Wage system. Pay-your-wage is a progressive, honor-system based sliding scale admission model for live events. The notion: pay what you make in an hour. With this model, artistic revenue rises as average wages rise, but performances remain accessible and affordable for all.
PARKING: Free parking is available onsite at TIRRC and in the surrounding area. The venue is ADA accessible.
This concert is made possible thanks to support from Metro Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee's Rosenblum Fund for the Performing Arts, and New Music USA's Organizational Development grant.
