The music for the 2017 MassKara Festival is set to be released next week, with music composed, arranged, and produced by Bacolod City-born Roberto ‘Bob’ Aves.

With this year’s theme being “Bacolod: City of Southeast Asia,” the music is focused on fusing together the traditional and modern, along with incorporating Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) culture.

“It shows how ASEAN music can blend naturally with our traditional music,” Aves explained. “As a global piece, it can weave naturally with popular Western genres.”

He said the music is divided into three parts, pointing out, “The inter-cultural dialog of our rich musical heritage, the inter-mixture of our ASEAN musical flavors, and the beat of electronic dance music define our MassKara cultural innovation.”

Part 1 is considered the “inter-cultural dialog,” which focuses on indigenous culture, including the tongatong (bamboo instruments) of Kalinga, voice ad libs called “Tata” by the Panay Bukidnon, Palawan bamboo and gong counter rhythm, Babandir gongs of Maguindanao, and big Taiko drum accents from Japan; Part 2 sets the tone for street dancing, with vocal tracks by JoAnn Bernal, Jet Estefani, Tim dela Rama, and Christian Morales; and Part 3 features various ASEAN musical flavors./WDJ