The story of the Philippines is one of oppression and resilience. The archipelagic nation endured more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule and occupations by the U.S. and Japan. It has struggled with instability since gaining independence after World War II. With poor job prospects in the country, millions of Filipinos have left home seeking work abroad.
Leslie Damaso, who was born in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. at age 11, struggled with the pain of immigration and felt disconnected from her roots. “It was too painful to think about my home on the other side of the world,” she says. But when she began researching and performing Kundiman, the traditional art songs of the Philippines, she saw her culture in a new way. “It makes me feel whole,” says Damaso, a vocalist who runs a teaching studio in Mineral Point. “It’s cathartic — like I’m letting go of pain, but also at the same time it feels like I’m giving love to whoever is listening.”
Damaso will perform Kundiman at the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Play Circle at 3 p.m. on Oct. 21 alongside pianist Jason Kutz and percussionist Michael Koszewski. Damaso recently released an album of Kundiman, May Laya, which translates to “There is Freedom.” “[Kundiman] is patriotic songs disguised as love songs,” Damaso says. During the 1800s the songs served as an outlet for subtle resistance against the Spanish, and later they were used during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
“The mark of Kundiman is that it usually starts in a minor key and changes to major,” Damaso says. “They’re sentimental, very beautiful and they feel very unsettled.”
