Embedded Files
Evelyn Mandac Screening and Kundiman Masterclass Kalayaan Hall at the Philippine Consulate on May 29, 2025
I remember the day I called the legendary Filipina soprano Evelyn Mandac for the first time. I was scared and nervous. Would she like me? Would she think I had any talent? Would she like to teach me? Would she cringe every time I opened my mouth to sing? What could I possibly offer her at all?
Here we are 4 years later. Yes, she likes me. Yes, she likes to teach me. She may cringe sometimes when I sing but, at least, she truly believes I am teachable. And I learned something else as important: I had something to offer my new mentor too. Besides challenging her as a teacher because of my cerebral technical questions, she says I truly have been someone interested in her life as an opera singer. Nobody has really asked her the questions I have. Nobody has taken the initiative of learning about her lifework as I have. And nobody has wanted to lecture on her career as I have.
I was able to organise and promote my first event in New York City with Vice Consul Cathe Ryne Denice Aguilar and Cultural Attache Ruth Galiza at the Philippine Consulate General in New York. Last week, Consul General Senen Mangalile welcomed a packed Kalayaan Hall to watch the NY Premiere of my lecture-now-micro-documentary entitled "Evelyn Mandac: The Filipina Who Broke Opera Glass Ceilings" followed by a Q&A with Ms. Mandac and myself, and a Kundiman (a genre of Filipino Art Songs) Masterclass led by Ms. Mandac with singers Aretha Angcao, Carlo Bunyi, Lauren Florek, and Ramon Gabriel Tenefrancia and Fides Cutiongco on the piano. Conductor, composer, and classical guitarist Michael Dadap prefaced the program.
In the last four years, I have learned to sing properly under the patient tutelage of Ms. Mandac. I also learned that through love and curiosity, a student can impact the life of a teacher too. My yearning to spread positivity and inspire Filipino pride during Philippine Heritage Month and Asian American Pacific Islander Month was more successful than I could have imagined. Here I am sharing the stage with my larger than life mentor Filipina opera star, Evelyn Mandac. The audience had endless questions for her, Ms. Mandac was full of boundless energy as she coached the singers, and everyone wanted a photograph with the Filipina who broke opera glass ceilings.
I am grateful to all involved and I am grateful to all who attended. May we always remember those who paved the way courageously for us.
Here we are 4 years later. Yes, she likes me. Yes, she likes to teach me. She may cringe sometimes when I sing but, at least, she truly believes I am teachable. And I learned something else as important: I had something to offer my new mentor too. Besides challenging her as a teacher because of my cerebral technical questions, she says I truly have been someone interested in her life as an opera singer. Nobody has really asked her the questions I have. Nobody has taken the initiative of learning about her lifework as I have. And nobody has wanted to lecture on her career as I have.
I was able to organise and promote my first event in New York City with Vice Consul Cathe Ryne Denice Aguilar and Cultural Attache Ruth Galiza at the Philippine Consulate General in New York. Last week, Consul General Senen Mangalile welcomed a packed Kalayaan Hall to watch the NY Premiere of my lecture-now-micro-documentary entitled "Evelyn Mandac: The Filipina Who Broke Opera Glass Ceilings" followed by a Q&A with Ms. Mandac and myself, and a Kundiman (a genre of Filipino Art Songs) Masterclass led by Ms. Mandac with singers Aretha Angcao, Carlo Bunyi, Lauren Florek, and Ramon Gabriel Tenefrancia and Fides Cutiongco on the piano. Conductor, composer, and classical guitarist Michael Dadap prefaced the program.
In the last four years, I have learned to sing properly under the patient tutelage of Ms. Mandac. I also learned that through love and curiosity, a student can impact the life of a teacher too. My yearning to spread positivity and inspire Filipino pride during Philippine Heritage Month and Asian American Pacific Islander Month was more successful than I could have imagined. Here I am sharing the stage with my larger than life mentor Filipina opera star, Evelyn Mandac. The audience had endless questions for her, Ms. Mandac was full of boundless energy as she coached the singers, and everyone wanted a photograph with the Filipina who broke opera glass ceilings.
I am grateful to all involved and I am grateful to all who attended. May we always remember those who paved the way courageously for us.
AAPI Heritage Month in Columbia, SC with the Filipino American Association of Greater Columbia
To celebrate AAPI month and Military Appreciation month, The Nickelodeon will be screening A Long March on May 13 at 6:30pm, with a Q&A with Director TS Botkin. This event is sponsored by South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs and Filipino American Association of Greater Columbia (FAAGC), South Carolina.Come watch the film which is a revealing look at how the United States conscripted Filipino American forces to defeat WWII Axis powers – then systematically denied these veterans the rights and benefits promised for honorable service.https://nickelodeon.org/events/alongmarch/
The exhibit Faces to Remember is a portrait exhibit designed to educate viewers about Filipino American World War II veterans, the Bataan Death March, and their decades-long fight for recognition of their service. It will be installed at Richland Library Main (1431 Assembly St, Columbia, SC 29201) on the first level from May 16-June 13, 2025. Northeast Florida-based photographer Agnes Lopez has made it her mission to tell these forgotten stories. Learn more: https://www.thefacestoremember.com/.
Tour of Tea, Boyd Plaza, 7 May 2025
It's About Language Mangyan Podcast, April 2025
In this moving and powerful episode of It’s About Language, host Norah Jones welcomes a panel of cultural advocates and storytellers to explore the poetic traditions and philosophy of the Mangyan people of Mindoro, Philippines. From personal stories to academic insights, guests Chiara Cox, Lolita Delgado Fansler, Resti Pitgogo, Zosing Evangelista, and Emily Catapang open the door to a living tradition of Ambahan—an ancient, rhythmic poetry written in the Hanunuo Mangyan script. This script, still used today, dates back before the 10th century and has withstood centuries of colonization and cultural pressure. What emerges is not just language, but a deeply human worldview of connection, respect, and soul. Podcast link here:https://fluency.consulting/2025/04/10/s5e9-the-soul-of-the-mangyan-ambahan/
Make Us Visible SC at the Irmo Cherry Blossom Festival, 22 March 2025
Filipino Textile Documentary Screenings in Carrollton, GA
The Hilom Collective
I will be Dr. Nette's guest at The Hilom Collective. I learned she is known as The Brown Psych on social media because of her focus on Filipino mental health and on the decolonization of the Filipino. Her passion project is the The Hilom Collective and its goal is to create a space for Filipinos across the globe to gather, to heal, to return to what has always sustained us. Check out her website here:https://thebrownpsych.com/#the-hilom-collective
SOAS University of London Mangyan Ambahan Screening in partnership with the National Museum of Language and Endangered Alphabets Project
SAVE THE DATE:
23 January 20258:00 - 10:00 A.M. EST1:00 - 3:00 P.M. London9:00 – 11:00 P.M. Manila
On World Endangered Writing Day 2025, "Mangyan Ambahan: Indigenous Wisdom for the Filipino” will be presented by Chiara Cox and the Mangyan Heritage Center in conjunction with SOAS University of London and the National Museum of Language, followed by a Q&A and discussion moderated by the Endangered Alphabets Project.
This film is a deep dive into one of the few surviving ancient Filipino writing systems—the Hanunuo Mangyan script. As one of only four pre-10th-century scripts still in use, it remains an essential part of Mangyan culture through the ambahan—beautiful sung poetry that shares wisdom across generations. Chiara’s documentary brings this unique tradition to life through interviews and stories, revealing its enduring impact on Filipino heritage and the global diaspora.
Register for this presentation and a discussion with Chiara Cox, the Mangyan Heritage Center Board of Trustees, Cristina Juan of SOAS, Gregory Nedved of the National Museum of Language, and Tim Brookes of the Endangered Alphabets Project at https://soas-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpdOGtrz0jEtf_LgsCpLxjnEaIyFhcpD4D#/registration
23 January 20258:00 - 10:00 A.M. EST1:00 - 3:00 P.M. London9:00 – 11:00 P.M. Manila
On World Endangered Writing Day 2025, "Mangyan Ambahan: Indigenous Wisdom for the Filipino” will be presented by Chiara Cox and the Mangyan Heritage Center in conjunction with SOAS University of London and the National Museum of Language, followed by a Q&A and discussion moderated by the Endangered Alphabets Project.
This film is a deep dive into one of the few surviving ancient Filipino writing systems—the Hanunuo Mangyan script. As one of only four pre-10th-century scripts still in use, it remains an essential part of Mangyan culture through the ambahan—beautiful sung poetry that shares wisdom across generations. Chiara’s documentary brings this unique tradition to life through interviews and stories, revealing its enduring impact on Filipino heritage and the global diaspora.
Register for this presentation and a discussion with Chiara Cox, the Mangyan Heritage Center Board of Trustees, Cristina Juan of SOAS, Gregory Nedved of the National Museum of Language, and Tim Brookes of the Endangered Alphabets Project at https://soas-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpdOGtrz0jEtf_LgsCpLxjnEaIyFhcpD4D#/registration
Filipino Textile Exhibit in Carrollton, GA
The third exhibit brings a taste of Filipino heritage to West Georgia with Chiara Cox's exhibit “Contemporary Filipino Textiles.” This exhibit serves to link Filipinos in the USA and Filipinos in the Philippines by showcasing their shared culture and heritage through a visual display of a variety of fabrics and a discussion of weaving traditions still found in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao today. By exhibiting different Philippine weaves, this collection aims to preserve Filipino cultural heritage, keep the legacy of traditional Filipino weavers alive, and educate the diaspora of Filipinos about their cultural inheritance. This exhibit will be on display from January 8 - April 5 of 2025 and is sponsored in part by the Philippine Textile Council: Habi and Arthaland. More information here: https://www.sqtmuseum.org/
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