"A Musical Community"

(I was also asked to post the "other" speech, the one for our college grad. :) I did my best to make it fit in the 3 minutes I was allotted)

            I look upon each familiar face, and am humbled by the knowledge that I speak to future National Artists, conductors of world-famous choirs, teachers who will forever change students’ lives, composers who will forge new pathways in Filipino art music … first-class musicians, all.

            We Music graduates have an edge over those from other colleges. Spending several hours a day practicing is not an amazing feat for us, it is in fact the norm. And a great many of us have already been working even while studying. Hard work, discipline, patience, fortitude, the commitment to excellence as the process of becoming better than what we once were … all are characteristics which we will be needing in the real world, and it is a testament to the fine quality of teachers we have at the College that they have been able to impart those basic “survival” traits to us, their students. As a result of our excellent training, I have no doubt that we shall excel and thrive in whatever environment we shall find ourselves in after graduation.

 

Our love for music brings us together: this shared passion for Beethoven’s symphonies and Abelardo’s immortal kundimans… this shared longing for the overwhelming sense of history that comes with making the works of the Masters come alive again through our fingers and voices… this shared desire to honor God with the talents He has lent us for our time on earth.

 

We at the College of Music are said to have a world of our own. We speak a different language and have a unique culture. One of the most beautiful features of this unique CMu Culture is the solid sense of community. We know what it is to work with others. In our chosen field, no one succeeds by virtue of his or her sole merits. The voice major cannot always perform a capella, the composer needs performers, and the conductor needs a choir or ensemble. As one, we celebrate when the Madz bring home yet another trophy. As one, we rejoice when our collegemates get selected for that highly competitive music camp. It is so wonderful to be of help to others and to be helped in return, to be a part of something good and true, and greater than ourselves. This sense of community is one of our college’s greatest strengths.

 

It is tempting to think of ourselves as a breed apart, as members of an exclusive elite whose works are not appreciated by the masses. But we must not allow ourselves to think that. Author and music professor Harold Best writes: “If musicians assume themselves to be above the community, they end up denying the very reality that has made their way of creating possible. As much as we like to think of ourselves as being original, we must own up to the impossibility of being creatively productive without recognizing our dependence on community.”

 

We are more fortunate than most. We have been privileged enough to pursue a course in something we love. But doing what one loves and serving others need not be mutually exclusive. Let us widen our circle of community to include our less fortunate countrymen, our future students who as of yet have not been exposed to the beauty of our indigenous tribal music as well as the haunting compositions of great Filipino composers. To those of us who are lucky enough to be able to afford a choice between going abroad and staying in the country, I urge you to consider giving the most productive years of your life to the Filipino community. Leave if you must, to earn enough to keep body and soul together. Go abroad for further studies, and hone your God-given talent to the best of your ability. But when you are able, come back. The country and its people need you. More than ever, our people need our songs. In these increasingly troubled times, they need music to help them forget their troubles, if only for a little while, and to be reminded through our efforts that there is still goodness, beauty and hope to be found in this land.

 

Mabuhay ang Kolehiyo, at mabuhay ang musikerong Filipino!