Gean Vincent Almendras had never considered himself a culture bearer.
“I consider myself a culture practitioner, because I’m always learning new things,” he says. To him, the master artists who have been his gateway into Philippine indigenous music are true culture bearers. Now ten years into his own practice, Almendras is a teacher too, passing on all he continues to learn about this art form—in particular, kulintang.
Kulintang is both an instrument and a music tradition practiced by several indigenous communities of the Philippines, notably the Maguindanao, Marao, and Sama-Taūsug. The instrument itself consists of eight pitched gongs. A kulintang ensemble also includes a drum called a dabakan and two bass gongs called agongs. Some Maguindanao music features an additional set of four gongs called the gandingan.
Learning kulintang has been “a means of self-discovery” for Almendras. “I’ve been able to uncover a lot more about my ancestral heritage [by] diving deeper into my own indigeneity and pushing past the influences of outside cultures.”
Almendras began his practice as a teenager in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when the Philippine Arts & Culture Ensemble of Michigan (PACE-MI), which he co-founded with his mother, began hosting workshops. Among the invited artists were teachers of kulintang. Through them, Almendras learned not just an instrument, but a new way of approaching music: oral tradition.
“It’s very different than classical training, which is largely relegated to studying a page of notation we’re meant to play back exactly,” says Almendras. “Oral tradition is a living tradition, so each iteration of what’s taught changes from person to person. It’s always evolving.”
Today, Almendras teaches through PACE-MI and at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. His students there range from music majors to young Filipino Americans looking to connect with their culture.
Almendras has spent time in the Philippines cultivating relationships with indigenous music practitioners. He has experienced the kulintang in action in community life, including ceremonies. “As an outsider looking in, these indigenous practitioners were so welcoming because we were so interested in learning more. It gave them a sense of validation and pride,” Almendras shares. “When I got to see the practice of kulintang in the context of indigenous culture itself, it builds bridges of community between groups of people.”
Receiving the Midwest Culture Bearers Award had a similar impact for him. “It was like what I said about [indigenous practitioners] feeling validated by our interest,” he says. “My own practice was validated.”
His next goal is to branch into scholarship, studying the music of smaller Philippine indigenous groups. He encourages individuals and organizations interested in his work to reach out.
“No matter what your traditional practice may be, it’s always of value,” he says. “There are times you might ask yourself: Is what I’m doing worth all the laborious hours, effort, and stress? As long as your heart’s in it, and you have a vision and a mission, keep going.”
Gean Vincent Almendras is a 2024 recipient of the Midwest Culture Bearers Award, which celebrates and financially supports the work of Midwest culture bearers and folk arts practitioners.
The Midwest Culture Bearers Award is supported by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts for project management.