Call for Participants: Udlot-Udlot

Western Front and the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre invites community members to learn and perform José Maceda’s composition Udlot-Udlot. The call is aimed at anyone interested in music and does not require knowledge of music theory. Those who register will have the option to choose between vocals and percussion, and will receive instruments and instruction. The process will involve two rehearsals across two consecutive Saturdays, culminating in a public performance of 100 – 150 participants at George Wainborn Park, Vancouver.

About José Maceda and Udlot-Udlot

José Maceda (1917–2004) was a Filipino composer, pianist, and musicologist recognized for bridging his fieldwork on traditional Filipino music with techniques of European avant-garde music. His work uniquely fuses cutting-edge compositional techniques such as spatialization, attention to timbre, and musique concrète with traditional Asian instruments, rhythms, and structures.

Udlot-Udlot is a 40-minute composition for 30 up to 1,000 performers. Composed for simple traditional bamboo instruments, wooden percussion sticks, and voices, the work was designed so performers without musical expertise could equally participate. Modelled on tropical rain forest rituals and ceremonies, Udlot-Udlot implies a fundamental connection between human activities and nature, and explores how drone, colour, and melody come together as independent elements in performance. Udlot-Udlot was first performed in 1975 by 800 students at the University of the Philippines, and has since been presented internationally and recognized as a key work within Maceda’s career and the canon of avant-garde performance.

Acknowledgements

Presented in partnership with the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre. More information at roundhouse.ca