Local Musicians through the Years

Local Musicians through the Years

Bayambang does not lack for musical talents of note, as evidenced by men and women of such inclination through the years – they who crooned, composed, or conducted, whether professionally compensated or not.

According to the recollection of Joey Ferrer, “in the early 50’s came the Puerto Rican rhythms and dances popularized by cumbacheros. Loly Palisoc, Rudy Ferrer, Napoleon Ferrer, Manuel Ferrer and Inyong Acosta formed a group they simply called Los Cumbacheros. Loly Palisoc was the group leader. Rudy Ferrer was the star as he dexterously played his twin bongos with rhythm and timing. His bongo is complemented in rhythm by the group’s tambourine, maracas, triangle with striker, sleigh bells, harmonica and drum (an empty US Army surplus small gas reservoir). Could there be another group of the same genre? I would say so. In the group conversations, they most often mentioned about Sopring Colisao, presumably a member of another group somewhere in the vicinity of the PNR station, lurking around and finding out the group’s new playing style and added instrumentations.”     

 “In the mid 50’s, during the early years when Elvis Presley became famous, two competitive rocker groups came to play rock songs in Bayambang. The first is the Burgos Singing Boys from Burgos St., thus the name, with Romy Iglesias, Fred Ferrer, Paeng Martinez, Onyong (no recollection of last name), and Ofring/Sopring Colisao as members. In Roxas St., there was the Downtown Rockers, with Expedito de Guzman, Julian Palisoc, Daniel Castillo, Rudy Ferrer, Peping Pacia and Erning Malicdem as members.” 

“The latter had a short life for some reason. The Burgos Singing Boys stayed on and enjoyed local fame. At some point, the group had been managed by Paulino P. Martinez of Nalsian; at another time by Tranquilino Junio of Wawa. Under Tranquilino, the group had been augmented by the vocal skills of Rene Odon and Venancio Odon, both Wawa locals.” 

 

“Not long after, a new group called the Red On Rockers metamorphosed in Del Pilar St., with one Rudy as the vocalist, an import from Balut, Tondo and Phil Mamaril the other vocalist from Malasiqui. The locals were Rudy Ferrer, Nicasio de Guzman, Joven Malicdem, Remy Caragan and Didong Gloria. The group became the regular guest entertainers on some Pangasinan Normal School seminars and conventions. Red On Rockers had performed in several towns as far as those in Nueva Ecija.”

“Red On Rockers and the Burgos Singing Boys became two competitive groups rocking all their way to fame.” 

“Tio Ateng and Tio Anseng were the consultants of the Red On Rockers and mainstays with the Melody Boys, a Malasiqui-based orchestra. For sometime, they had moonlighted with the Asiong Mamaril Orchestra, another group in Malasiqui that had become a famous orchestra group for its arranging adaptation of Pilipino songs into tango rhythms. As told by one relative of an orchestra member I had met sometime in the ’90s, the Caragan brothers might have been part of the group when some recordings were cut.”

“The people who were good at conducting during the time of the choral group presentations were German Magalong, Naty Romero Agas, Felipe Tomas, and Corazon Esteban in the public sector; the Caragan brothers, Tio Ateng and Tio Anseng, Daniel Matabang Castillo, and the conductors or maestros of the Torres and Tagulao orchestras. These people could read and write music at ease.” 

      

“In the late ‘50’s, Felipe Galsim, Sr. organized a group of students to represent the St. Vincent Academy in a ‘combo’ (music band) contest in the Pangasinan-Dagupan diocese. They brought home some accolades as the best singing group. The combo group members were Vic Guzman (vocalist), Miguel Soniega, a Tagulao, Orland Paragas (vocalist), Pepe Palisoc, and Roger Tagulao.”  

“In the mid-60s, Vic Pacia, together with some Bayambangueño Varsitarians, formed the Katalunan Club that presented several times a musical jamboree and comedy skits for entertainment at the defunct Vista Theater owned by our very own Onofre Guevarra.” 

“Also in the mid-60s, we had The Stags playing in several places in Bayambang and Urbiztondo and other nearby towns. Eventually, they reorganized after their brief stint in Manila for overseas entertainment contract. The original members I can recall were Nick Tañedo, Daniel Mijares, an Espiritu (last name) from Hermoza or Ambayat, Darly Lomibao, and some others. Except Darly Lomibao, they were all Pangasinan Normal School students.” 

“Sometime in the same decade, Ricardo Roldan, brother of Carlos Salazar, garnered the first runner-up in the famous “Tawag ng Tanghalan” singing competition. He must be the first Bayambangueño to shine in the competition.”

In the '70s, a beauteous lass, Cecilia Montecillo, created a little sensation by winning in a national singing contest (Superwheel Singing Contest) aired on a popular TV show.

Starting in the '70s onwards, there were the so-called Brown Boys, who made their mark as the town's troubadours. Organized by then Mayor Jaime Junio, the Brown Boys were Rene Odon, Rustico 'Rusting' Junio, Joven Malicdem, and Philip Quinto, with Malicdem as the guitarist. Performing at the town plaza during important occasions and in private residences, their crisp, clear tenors and powerful baritones rang through the air in perfect harmony, their crescendos hair-raising in a good way. Singing Pangasinan, Spanish ("Besame Mucho," etc), and English hits old and new, their undeniable excellence in live performance left many a happy thought in the town's collective bank of memories.

Mayor Junio also organized the Bayambang Choral Group. The group, with The Brown Boys, once guested in a popular late-night show by Joe Quirino. 

Julian ‘Juli’ Perez and wife Elena “Eling’ Perez of Brgy. Tanolong stuck to Pangasinan folk songs and sang solos and duets, the latter in the often-hilarious turbaan style.

 In the '80s, a boy named Perfecto Ceralde became the grand champion of another popular singing contest on TV, "Tanghalan ng Kampeon."

When PNS became CLTC and PSU, the Tambayo Choral Group organized by Sr. Natividad Parin, with help from Prof. Salome Malicdem Montemayor, and Matalunggaring Dance Troupe organized by Prof. Januario Cuchapin heroically perpetuated the rich legacy of Pangasinan folk songs against the pervading aesthetics of the time. These groups have performed all over, including in well-known TV stations in Manila.  

According to Sr. Parin, PSU held in the 1980's "a cultural show entitled 'Glimpses of Pangasinan Life and Culture in Songs and Dances' featuring Pangasinan folk songs culled from the dissertation of Dr. Perla S. Nelmida." She said her group did a recording in Channel 4 in 1986 but the record was lost in the EDSA Revolution. Ferrer, on the other hand, recalled that further back in time, then PNS also had similar performances involving both students and faculty members during the time of a certain Mrs. Basobas and others.

 In the early '90s, Ronaldo Tomas, a PSU alumnus and the son of PSU music professor Felipe Tomas, became part of a pop jazz band in Manila called Passage Band. He played the saxophone. He would move on to other bands and form his own band.

A local ‘contesero’ who also has made it on the national stage is Al Vincent Casela, when he became a finalist in "The Voice Kids" in 2016.

Another veteran contesero is Regene Sendaydiego Odon, who grew up in Zone VI and is now based in New Jersey, USA. He has reached Broadway, the world's capital of stage musical entertainment, as a singer and stage actor. His talent honed at home at such a young age, he has had under his belt a longish list of major musical titles as lead singer and supporting singer-actor in American school and professional theater productions prior to making it in the highly competitive world of Broadway theaters.

At present, a notable resident talent is Mr. Oscar Ora, who is a prolific lyricist and composer in the Pangasinan language. (He wears other equally interesting hats as broadcaster at Bombo Radyo and as Barangay Kagawad or village councilor of Brgy. Telbang.) Among his compositions are: "Pinablin Bayambang," "Sibuyas Festival Jingle," "Kalutan ed Dalan Jingle," "Bayambang's 400th Year Jingle," "Say Dasal – Sanengseng," "Asin na Kabaleyan," "Manisia Ak ed Diyos," "Maria Victoria – Daughter of Emilio Aguinaldo," "Pamatanir nen Miong," "Hakbang sa Pangarap,"Bayambang Tourism Jingle," "Binibining Bayambang Jingle," "SVF Theme Song, and "Matalunggaring Awards Jingle."

 Ora has often collaborated with fellow church choir members Melanie Romero Junio and Christopher Chan for these compositions.

 In 2016, the St. Vincent Ferrer Parish church choir won in a singing contest organized by Jollibee.

 In 2017, the official Bayambang Hymn, “Baley Ko, Tawir Ko,” was born, thanks to the initiative of Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao, with Jane Frances Ambat van Doorn as composer and her mother Gilconida Castillo Ambat van Doorn as interpreter.

Tom Patrick Cuison of Brgy. M.H. Del Pilar and Richmond Bancolita of Brgy. Bical are part of the Manila-based indie rock band Nobita, with Cuison on guitar and Bancolita on keyboards. On January 26, 2020, they first performed live on TV, at ASAP on Channel 2.

 In 2021, an adaptation of the Broadway musical “Beauty and the Beast” was staged in town for free, creating a historic first in Region I. Produced by Mayor Cezar Quiambao and Niña Jose-Quiambao and directed by Januario Cuchapin and Carlo Francis Palma, the stage musical was led by local youth, with Jolian Agustin and Jeddah T. Bautista as Belle, Jessie Glen Peralta as Beast, Nikki Mori Absalon as Prince, and Lemuel Tamayo as Gaston, together with Al Vincent Casela et al. in supporting roles, the Bayambang MaCPAG Chorale under the baton of Juman Carl Mangabay, JQS for stage design, and local government employees as technical assistants. 

The latest band in town is D'Vicente Band, with Jeddah Bautista, Mark Paningbatan, and Ramella de Vera as vocalists and Juman Carl Mangabay, Justine Bumatay, Emmanuelle Narciso, Jonathan Junio, and Divino Roldan as instrumentalists. During the 2022 town fiesta 'Liket tan Gayaga' concert to commemorate Bayambang's winning of the Guinness World Record on the longest barbecue, the group was the front act for big-name bands at the moment, Mayonnaise and Ben&Ben, performing in front of an estimated 70,000 people. (The multi-million concert was again sponsored by Bayambang's First Couple.)

Though their names are not as well-known, the town has, of course, several other equally talented singers, composers, music teachers, rappers, rock bands, and other music artists that await the discovery and enjoyment by bigger audiences.

 References: Joey Ferrer, Iluminada Junio Mabanglo, Clarita F. Tagab, Ma. Celia Fernandez, Tessie Reyes

Separate Features

Ronald Tomas

Ronald Tomas is a talented jazz musician from this town. He used to be the saxophonist of Manila-based jazz/acid jazz bands Artsart, Parliament Syndicate, and WDOUJI, and has a band called Ronald Tomas Nonet, where his jazz compositions/performances are fused with indigenous Filipino elements. He has also been a musical arranger to many big stars in the music industry. He is now a member of the faculty of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, teaching Music Production in the School for Design and Arts, as well a woodwind tutor in British School Manila. He is the son of long-time Pangasinan State University-Bayambang music teacher, Prof. Felipe Tomas of Brgy. M.H. Del Pilar.

Rufino Menor: a Pioneering Musician, Creator of PSU Pangkat Kawayan and Composer of “PSU Hymn”

If we Google “bamboo band,” we get hundreds of thousands of results mostly referencing Filipino musician Bamboo Mañalac’s band called Bamboo (the band). But there was a time when there was a real bamboo band in town, thanks to then Pangasinan State University-College of Education’s Pangkat Kawayan.

It was 1980 and, even then, it was already a novelty. Decades away from the personal computer and Internet-connected smartphones, it was a time when the so-called New Wave rock music occupied the youth. But music professor Rufino Menor bucked the tide, so to speak, and insisted that extracting notes from bamboo was what constituted real music.

At the time, what we had as cutting-edge technology in the field of sound we cassette tapes -- played, of course, in cassette players. Then there was Mr. Menor and his odd music stopping us in our track.

At the time, only the college students played the bamboo instruments made of the angklung (main bamboo tube instrument), bamboo xylophone, bamboo cymbals, and sibakong (bamboo base). Mr. Menor would explain that he borrowed the angklung concept from the Indonesians, but no one taught him how to make the instruments per se – he only caught the idea on TV and from then on, it was solo flight for him all the way. He said it took him a huge amount of time to make his instruments because the bamboo tubes had to go through a painstaking treatment and adjustment process to emit the right sound when struck. The bamboos had to be submerged in seawater for a certain time, and to make a wooden tube emit the right note, Mr. Menor had to slowly chip off a part of it bit by patient bit. Then he’d varnish the pieces one by one.

Every time there was an important event on campus, Mr. Menor and his bamboo band were sure to be there, regaling the PSU community and guests with number after lively number. The bamboo band spurred high interest among all audiences because, when played in an ensemble, the instruments are a joy to behold and to listen to. Each and every note is assigned to a group of players who have to raise and shake the angklungs at exactly the right time when it is their turn. It takes a level of skill to play the instruments because a player needs to have a strong sense of being an indispensable part of a team. Gentle tinklings in unison and harmony are produced this way, and listeners are relaxed by the melodic tremolos because it is akin to listening to 'nature sound.'

At first the Pangkat Kawayan would perform folk songs such as “Bahay Kubo,” “Leron, Leron Sinta,” and “Malinac lay Labi,” then surprise the audience by performing the pop music hits of the day. The crowd would then roar and erupt in loud applause, apparently pleased by the disorienting effect of the unexpected choice of succeeding musical numbers.

The bamboo instruments would bring PSU’s Pangkat Kawayan outside home, performing around Pangasinan and the Ilocos region. 

Then, in 1987, the “singing bamboos” abruptly turned silent.

According to Prof. Januario Cuchapin, Mr. Menor’s superior at the time, it was because the latter devoted himself to producing the bamboo instruments for sale, which of course took up a lot of time and energy. Mr. Cuchapin reveals that Mr. Menor’s unprecedented passion for his bamboo instruments was a product of his own professional research, which he turned into reality, thanks to some amount of government funding.

Mr. Menor himself recalls how it took him eight long years of research. And that there were only three of them in the entire Philippines working on a Pangkat Kawayan. He was the only one in Pangasinan.

Mr. Cuchapin also recounts that Mr. Menor used to buy all the bamboo stems from Malasiqui, but when he entered into mass production for commercial purposes, he began putting up bamboo farms. He would travel all the way to a mountain in Mayantoc, Tarlac to procure bamboos of all kinds – cauayan bolo, bayug, kiling, etc.

The demise of the bamboo band would deprive several batches of students of getting to know something that is uniquely a part of PSU’s identity and history. But the upside is that Mr. Menor found his new preoccupation quite lucrative, and even found a buyer from as far as Palawan.

It is thus gratifying to witness the bamboo band resurrect from the dead, so to speak, keeping alive Mr. Menor’s legacy. And who better to revive it starting August 2017 (in time for Linggo ng Wika) but his daughter, Leah M. Bumatay, herself a singer, composer, and music teacher teaching at PSU’s MAPEH Department and High School Department, now renamed PSU Integrated School. Bumatay says she revived her father’s band after Prof. Felipe Moreno, Chairman of PSU’s MAPEH Department, suggested to have the Pangkat Kawayan presented again to the public.

As if by miracle, things fell into place. New to the service and lacking in financial capacity, Bumatay encountered a lot of obstacles, but PSU's then Campus Executive Director Dr. Cesar Della helped her secure financial assistance from Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao through Levin Uy -- incidentally, both Mayor Quiambao and Uy are into bamboo farming. And when Dr. Della was replaced by Dr. Rhodora Malicdem, Malicdem inspired Bumatay to carry on by assisting her each time she encountered a new problem. Soon, PSU Prof. Salome M. Montemayor became a consultant and wrote the bylaws of the Pangkat Kawayan. Along the way, other people gave help when needed.

And thanks to this chain of events, referring to the Pangkat Kawayan can now be made in the present tense instead of past. Luckily, her father had passed on the technology by this time to a group of workers. Playing during the 1st Pangasinan Rizal Youth Leadership Institute in March 2, 2018, the band is now composed of not just MAPEH Department college students but also high schoolers, and they played the latest hits such as Michael Buble’s “Sway” under Ms. Bumatay’s baton. The old bamboo magic is kept intact! Bumatay reveals that the band now needs a minimum of 30 players, but she is planning to add more instruments to the ensemble.

Mr. Menor also happens to be the composer of the PSU Hymn, the creator of the PSU Kitchenette Symphony Orchestra, Rhythm Band, Ukelele, Harmonica, Bottle Xylophone Ensemble, Elementary Rondalla, Children’s Choir, Elementary Drum & Bugle Corps, Drum & Lyre Corps, and the organizer of PSU Band. He is now over 80 years old and has retired from all of his former preoccupations, but his passion for music remains aflame. He is an active member of Bayambang Municipal Council for Culture and the Arts, sharing wisdom and experience gained from his field whenever he can.

To us who grew up watching PSU’s Pangkat Kawayan and the rest of the bands he had put up, it is like going back to the days when we were listening to the now-obscure New Wave music while obsessing with our crushes and the latest outbreak of pimples on our face. And then the singing bamboos caught our attention from an opposite direction, disaorienting our thoroughly Westernized worldview.

Regene Odon: Boy from Zone VI is Now Broadway Actor, Even Topbills Well-Known Play

A boy who grew up in Zone VI, this town, has been steadily making a mark as a singer and stage actor of repute in Broadway. He is Regene Odon, now a resident of New Jersey, USA. And his latest feat is being cast as the lead of a well-known religious musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," which was staged last March in a New Jersey theater.

Regene Joshua 'Seven' Sendaydiego Odon comes from a musically and artistically inclined family on both sides. Now 22 years old, Regene is the son of Ringo Odon and Ma. Fe Sendaydiego. His grandfather Rene Odon was a well-known singer in town. According to his aunt Snooky O. Cuison, Regene was nicknamed Seven because he is Rene's seventh apo (grandchild). Apparently, singing well runs in the family, as he shares the same passion for singing with a number of siblings, cousins, and other relatives. 

On his mother's side, he is the grandson of Generoso 'Gene' Sendaydiego Jr., who was a cartoonist/graphic artist for the popular tabloid, Balita, where he created the comic strip "Dorot," among other works in various publications.

Already a veteran 'contesero' (contest regular) as a young boy here, Regene had been a perennial singing contest winner in the US as well from the time he settled there with his parents when he was 8 years old. He discovered theater while studying in Monmouth Regional High School, and from there developed not just singing but also acting skills. 

He continuously reaches new heights as he delivers one impressive performance after another. Pleasing audiences of mixed ethnicities with his breathtaking, steady vocals, he has appeared in many other musicals and plays staged by school and professional productions, such as "Pippin," "Kinky Boots," "Heathers: The Musical," "Alladin: The Musical," "In the Heights," "Seussical: The Musical," "Spring Awakening," "Footloose: The Musical," and "Shrek: The Musical."

[For Translation and Updating]

Talento ng Bayambangueño, Nagkinang sa Teatro!

Umani ng papuri ang mga talentadong Bayambangueño na tampok sa Beauty and the Beast: The Musical – ang lokal na produksyon ng isang Disney classic na ipinalabas ng libre sa publiko sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon noong April 5, 2021 bilang parte ng selebrasyon ng ika-407 Pista’y Baley ng Bayambang. 

“Sana maging inspirasyon ang showing na ito sa ating mga kabataan,” ani Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao na siyang nagsilbing producer ng palabas kasama ang kanyang maybahay na si Mrs. Niña J. Quiambao. Kwento ng alkalde, halos dalawang taong pinaghandaan ang produksyong ito na naglalayong hikayatin ang mga Bayambangueño na linangin ang kani-kanilang mga angking talento, lalo na sa teatro. Gumastos siya aniya ng mahigit P35M sa produksiyon, kabilang na ang pag-upgrade ng lights and sound system ng venue, ang Balon Bayambang Events Center.

Ang Beauty and the Beast: The Musical ang kauna-unahang produksyon ng isang buong Broadway musical sa buong Region 1. 

Sa direksiyon ni Januario Cuchapin at Carlo Francis Palma, ang stage musical ay pinangunahan nina Jolian Agustin bilang Belle, Jessie Glen Peralta bilang Beast, Nikki Mori Abasalon bilang Prince, at Lemuel Tamayo bilang Gaston. Kasama rin si The Voice Kids grand finalist Al Vincent Casela. Sila ay pawang mga kabataang Bayambangueño, kasama ang mga musikero mula sa Bayambang MaCPAG Chorale sa direksyon ni Juman Carl Mangabay, mga kawani ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Bayambang, at iba pang mga lokal na talento na siyang nagtulung-tulong upang magbigay-ningning sa entablado. 

Para naman sa kaligtasan ng lahat, sumailalim sa rapid antigen test at nag-in-house ng higit sa limang araw ang mga miyembro ng produksyon. Nilimitahan ang mga manonood, na sumailalim din sa rapid antigen test bago makapasok sa venue. Samantala, ipinalabas din ang Beauty and the Beast: The Musical sa Facebook Live upang matunghayan ito ng mga manonood sa kani-kanilang mga tahanan. 

Inaasahang ipapalabas kada buwan ang Beauty and the Beast: The Musical sa Events Center upang mabigyan ang ibang mga indibidwal ng pagkakataon na mapanood ito ng live habang sinisiguro ang kaligtasan ng mga Bayambangueño.

Sources: Joey Ferrer, Iluminada Junio Mabanglo, Clarita F. Tagab, Ma. Celia Fernandez