Biñan City Centre for Performing Arts, Inc.
Biñan Kawayan Music Ensemble
Date established: November 14, 2017
Conductor: Ret.Col. Gilbert M. Ramos
Number of members: 38
Children have a charm of their own. What more when they play music with their quite unusual kawayan (bamboo) musical instruments. The idea of the Biñan Kawayan Music Ensemble (BKME) was born when the kawayan band of Gilbert, the fourth generation of Musikong Bumbong ng Malabon since 1896, performed in Biñan.
Many remain unfamiliar with the capability of kawayan to make music. Given this, the BKME is more than just a performing group that gets flooded with foreign and local invitations. For instance, it represented and showcased the world-class Filipino talent and heritage at the 1st Borneo International Bamboo Music and Arts Festival on December 1-2, 2019 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. BKME also holds initiatives to promote kawayan as instruments. They hold workshops and seminars that not only teach how to play the instruments, but also pave a way for the Filipinos to be rooted in their heritage and history, which dates back to pre-colonial Filipinos who were already very much aware of kawayan’s role in music, reflecting the Filipino character as resilient people. Even during the Katipunan revolution, it is said that weapons were smuggled inside the musical instruments.
