Capitol hopes to revive interest in guitar thru workshops

Cebu’s famous Mactan guitar draws crowd at Shangrila’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa bazaar. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

The Cebu Provincial Government has initiated a guitar workshop for musically-inclined children from all over the province, hoping to revive the youth’s interest in the symbolic instrument.

Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, co-chairperson of the Provincial Council on the Welfare of Children (PCWC), said she believes that music is a medium in developing a child’s interest to revive the music and guitar-making industry.

“We thought of training the children (because) there are a lot of out-of-school youth who don’t know how to read notes but they know how to play the guitar well,” she said in a report published in the provincial government’s website on June 3, 2015.

Twenty-four children, representing all six districts of Cebu, were handpicked to undergo a workshop called “Gitara Cebuana” in the coming months.

These talented children will go through a workshop session every Saturday for the next six months starting June 20 and will be trained by music enthusiasts from Cebu Guitar Foundation (CGF) and the provincial government.

“Gitara Cebuana” will be launched this coming June 20 at the Capitol Legislative Building.

The guitar is a popular emblem of Cebu and playing the instrument is synonymous with Cebuano music, the website report reads.

Cebu’s reputation in music is known far and wide, not only for producing the best musicians and singers but also for world-class guitar craftsmen.

Magpale initiated the project through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) after her observation that electronic equipment and gadgets have caused the young generation’s interest to shift away from tradition and culture.

The vice governor said they have been working to improve the craft as well.

PCWC has been conducting guitar duet competitions for the past three years as part of the Children Month’s celebration in October.

“We are trying to perfect the craft and what they have learned by introducing professional mentors … hoping that these trained children will eventually become mentors in their own respective towns,” said Magpale.

She added that aside from this, it is also the PCWC’s goal to form a guitar ensemble with the 24 children.

Magpale said she looks forward to seeing them perform in activities and festivals throughout the province as well as to entertain foreign guests.

The talents of PCWC are expected to perform a solo guitar, duet and an ensemble piece during the “Halad sa Kabataan” and the Provincial Founding Anniversary in August this year.