Gean Vincent Almendras is one of nine winners of the 2024 Midwest Culture Bearers Award. This award celebrates artisans and folk arts practitioners whose work is rooted in cultural preservation and sharing knowledge with the next generation.
“As a Philippine music practitioner, much of my work revolves around preserving and celebrating Kulintang, an indigenous Philippine musical tradition featuring eight melodic gongs, accompanied by an ensemble of larger gongs and drums.
Immigrating to Michigan at the age of eight, I grew up immersed in Western pop culture and the English language, which distanced me from my Filipino community and my roots. In late 2013, my mother and I, alongside dedicated scholars and elders from the Filipino-American community in Michigan, co-founded the Philippine Arts & Culture Ensemble of Michigan (PACE-MI), a nonprofit organization committed not just to build community, but also to teaching and preserving Philippine traditional arts and culture through the performing arts. Through PACE-MI, I began an immersive journey to reconnect with my heritage, discovering the rich and beautiful oral tradition of Kulintang music by learning directly from indigenous Philippine master artists, scholars, and cultural bearers.
Through these practices, we have been able to contribute to our Filipino-American cultural identity by offering educational workshops, staging authentic performances, and developing curricula that highlight the historical and artistic significance of Kulintang, among other Philippine art forms. This work not only supports an ancient tradition but also ensures its relevance for future generations in the diaspora. By honoring this musical practice and the practitioners who came before me, I seek to affirm its place within our broad and diverse culture, enriching our community’s understanding and appreciation of our ancestral heritage.”
