Summer is not only for going to the beach, eating ice cream and lollipops or going on long vacations with the family. Summer is also the best time to learn and hone your talents. This summer, Cagayan de Oro has a lot to offer both the children and adults who want to improve their creative and artistic skills.

Art Workshops

One of the best ways to explore and expand your creative skills is to join art workshops, like painting and drawing workshops.

From April 8 to May 7, 2011, art workshops will be offered by Hawks and Eagle Tutorial Center. Lessons will be given by Chris Gomez and Ivan Macarambon. Below are the different workshops that you can choose from:

-Basic Art Course for Kids 7 to 12 years old

9:00 to 11:30 am/ MWF or TTHS

The PHP3,500 workshop fee includes all materials

-Advanced Art Course for Teens and Adults

2:00 to 4:30 pm/ MWF or TTHS

PHP 3,500 – also includes all materials

*This course is best for teens and adults who want to further develop their skills in

Painting and drawing. This will also educate them about art history, composition and

conceptualization.

Interested applicants may inquire or contact Mr. Irwin Jayson Neri Jamaca at 0926-6898721. You may also want to visit Hawks and Eagle Tutorial Center at the corner of 13^th and 14^th Streets in Macasandig. Mr. Jamaca may also be reached through email at Irwin_jamaca@yahoo.com.

Baking Workshops for Kids

Another fun summer activity is baking. Children, most especially, love baking goodies that they can share with family and friends. For the 2011 summer season, the Cookie Shoppe offers a Summer Baking Workshop for Kids.

Sponsored by Pine Foods, Bo’s Coffee Club and Serotonin, the baking workshop will run from April 4 to 8, 2011 at the Pine Foods Compound in Biasong, Macasandig. Parents who’d like to enroll their kids can call 856-1255 or 0917-7064837.

In the coming days, there will be more workshops to choose from, especially since a number of schools usually hold special summer classes in different creative genre. Some schools also offer refresher courses in subjects like reading and math. So aside from the abovementioned workshops, you may also want to check out your son or daughter’s school to get a list of summer programs they will be offering this year.

-Maia Fortich-Poblete-

The importance of having the liberty to express opinions via different media has never been more pronounced than these current times. The global music scene, for instance, has become a menagerie of all sorts of genres and even advocacies for various issues, either political or otherwise. Fortunately, the world has become more accepting of the occasional musician or composer who dares to go against the grain. However, that doesn’t imply that all of those who think differently or those who express conventional ideals in a somewhat radical way are nodded upon in all parts of the world. Although it’s true that the world’s taste in music has grown more diverse, there are still some regions or groups that haven’t.

A number of musicians, composers and various types of artists have been deprived of their rights to express whatever they want through music. While censorship is understandable (although not entirely appreciated by recording artists), being imprisoned or even persecuted for the kind of music one produces is somewhat extreme.

In an effort to spread awareness regarding this issue, a group of advocates initiated the celebration of an annual Music Freedom Day. This event has been observed for four years already and has successfully grown into a global event. The event aims to inspire more and more musicians, artists and concert organizers to take part in the celebration, as well as to spread the message to numerous radio listeners worldwide. These efforts are all centered on spreading the message regarding the artists’ rights to freedom of expression.

For this year, the event is scheduled to be held on March 3 in separate venues all over the world. This is expected to be a big event in music, judging from last year’s successful event. Some of the cities who took part in the preparations for last year’s event included Gdansk, Hague, Cairo, Kabul, Mumbai and New York.

Last year’s event also featured the launching of the Freemuse CD “Listen to the Banned”, as well as the handing over of the petition that pushes for the release of the imprisoned singer Lapiro de Mbanga.

In addition to its main goals, the event also provides the right excuse for musicians to examine the issue in their own perspective and language. The event and the cause it stands for provides the opportunity for all local artists and musicians to organize their own event on that date, in order to join the rest of the world.

Initially, the event was initiated in 2007 by Freemuse, an independent international organization that specifically works to defend the rights of composers, artists and musicians, as well as to support freedom of expression itself. This membership organization is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In line with their cause, Freemuse eagerly supports anyone who wishes to take part in the Music Freedom Day celebration. If you are interested in taking part in this global music event and organize an event in your local area, you can easily drop Freemuse a note in their website, www.freemuse.org, and they’ll be happy to help you out in whatever way they can.

-Mara Jayne Tismo-

Love and music often go hand-in-hand, so no matter which concert you go to, as long as you are with your loved ones, you’ll have the best Valentine fun!

For those who have the means to go out-of-town this Valentine’s Day, here’s a list of the concerts that you can go to.

OPM Concerts:

Pre-Valentine

-ASAP Sessionistas: February 05, Araneta Coliseum

-A Night With Jose Mari Chan: A Valentine Concert: February 12, Island Cove Hotel & Leisure Park

-What Love Is with Martin Nievera and Sarah Geronimo: February 12, 8pm at the Araneta Coliseum

-The Diva & The Hitmakers: The Greatest Love Songs of All Time: February 12 & 13, PICC  (Kuh Ledesma with Rico J. Puno, Nonoy Zuñiga, Marco Sison and Rey Valera)

Valentine’s Night

-Piolo Meets The Maestro (Piolo Pascual & Maestro Ryan Cayabyab): February 14, PICC  (With Sitti & Yeng Constantino)

-My Beautiful Girls: Featuring Christian Bautista (with Venus Raj & Krista Kleiner, Miss Philippines International): February 14, Resorts World Manila

-The Balladeers on Valentine’s Day: Erik Santos, Mark Bautista & Danita Paner: February 14, Manila Hotel (with special guests: Ms. Pilita Corrales, Ms. Carmen Pateña and Ms. Carmen Soriano)

-The Company: A Big Band Love Affair: February 14, New World Hotel

-Moonlight Acoustic Serenade: Paolo Santos at MGM Resort, Dologon, Maramag, Bukidnon, February 14 (Php600 with dinner and surprises)

Foreign Acts:

-Janet Jackson Number Ones: Up Close and Personal Tour: February 4, PICC

-DEFTONES: Diamond Eyes Tour: February 12, World Trade Center (with Slapshock & Urbandub)

-Per Sorensen of Fra Lippo Lippi: February 13, Hyatt Hotel.

There you have it, music lovers! If you’ve got the means, take your pick from the list above and get yourselves ready for a music-filled Valentine with your loved one!

For those who are interested and would want to purchase tickets, you may do so by getting in touch with Ticketworld at 02-891-9999. You may also check out their website.

-Maia Fortich-Poblete-

For years now, independent Filipino filmmakers have been given the chance to showcase their works through the Cinemalaya Film Festival and Cinema One Originals. Through these festivals, unknown Filipino talents were given the opportunity to tell their stories using a popular medium: the cinema.  Stories like Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, Endo, Sa North Diversion Road, and 100 tell interesting tales that we can all relate to.

However, for Kagay-anons, since movies like these do not really get shown in the city’s movie houses, the experience is not quite satisfying. Nowadays, however, that has changed. Kagay-anon indie film lovers can now have their own taste of film festivals like Cinemalaya and Cinema One Originals by way of the Cinemagis Digital Short Film Festival in Northern Mindanao. The best thing about this festival is that it does not only give Kagay-anons the chance to watch interesting films, it also gives Kagay-anon filmmakers a chance to share their stories.

As part of Cinema Rehiyon, the flagship project of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Cinemagis Digital Short Film Festival encourages promising filmmakers from Cagayan de Oro and other parts of Northern Mindanao to showcase their stories in film.  It is one way of inviting Northern Mindanao’s filmmakers and artists to contribute to our country’s cinema industry.

This year, Cinemagis stages its 3^rd Digital Short Film Festival by inviting Kagay-anons to view the film entries from January 24 to 27 at the XU Little Theater and SM CDO’s Cinema 2. There’s no ticket or fee required; avid film viewers only need to share their blessings by bringing school supplies and relief goods.  Film viewers can take their pick from the following donation packages:

• Grade 1 pad paper and a can of beef loaf (any size)
• Grade 2 pad paper and two packs of noodles
• Grade 3 pad paper and two packs of noodles
• Two pencils and a can of beef loaf (any size)

The following is the schedule of Cinemagis film screenings and related activities:

January 24

3:00 pm

Cinemagis Publicity
AVR 1 Entrance

6:00 pm
Cinemagis press presentation and presentation of nominees
Little Theater

January 25

9:00 am
Sine Likha: A Crash Course in Film Production
Little Theater

7:00 pm
NCCA-funded film screening
Little Theater

January 26
9:00 am
NCCA-funded film screening
Little Theater

1:00 pm
2009-2010 Cinemagis Entries Screening
Little Theater

Regular Film Screening Cinemagis 2011 Entries
SM City Cagayan de Oro Cinema

4:00 pm
Evaluation and Feedback (with the Jurors and Filmmakers)
University Board Room

6:00 pm
Festival Dinner
AVR 1 lobby

7:00 pm
NCCA-funded film screening
Little Theater

January 27
Regular Film Screening Cinemagis 2011 Entries
1:00 pm
SM City CDO Cinema

6:30 pm
Cinemagis 2011 Awards Night
SM City CDO Atrium

Some of the film entries for this year’s Cinemagis film festival include Pan de Sal by Ryan Lao, Dyip by Cosette Rivera, Lokal by Javey Martinez, Uray by Shaun Alejandrae Yap Uy, Use Somebody by Cloyd Winstanley and Gahani by Jenriel Lagat.

The 3^rd Cinemagis Digital Short Film Festival is brought to you by the Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA), the Xavier Science Foundation (XSF) and the NCCA. Proceeds of the film festival will go directly to XCCA’s Research and Social Outreach office and will be used for their outreach program.

For more information about Cinemagis and this year’s film entries, please contact 088-8583116 local 2059, or 0915-8265305.

See you at the movies, fellow Kagay-anons!

-Maia Fortich-Poblete-

When Jay-R Calixto (Story of My Scab and Twelve O’clock in English) and long time friend Rage Fajardo (Kill Mickey) realized that the local music scene was struggling, they sought efforts to keep it together by adopting a concept used by Drive-Thru Records (USA). Thus, in December 2004, embracing its commitment of helping the independent, unsigned and underground musicians of Cagayan de Oro; the Corridor Music Group was born.

Iligan City, one of Cagayan de Oro City’s closest music contemporaries, which already established a solid foundation for underground music through its Defiance Network, worked hand in hand with CDO musicians to create rock shows in both cities and help strengthen each other’s endeavors. The Corridor Music Group (or CMG) brought the two groups together. The name CMG came to be as a result of the two cities’ geographic location and corridor connection.

The name of the group was based on both cities’ geographic location, which is linked through the “corridor” connection.

Although the earlier days of the group were not as successful, it eventually did succeed as a band of loyal supporters clung on to the goal of making a name for themselves in the music scene. Through CMG, more and more young bands were forming and performing in its shows until later on, it gained popularity as older bands (those that were already around even before the group was formed) gave notice to it. Bands from various cities like Davao, Ozamis, Iligan, Cebu and Malaybalay would sometimes be invited to perform in its events.

Among the first batch of bands to frequently perform at Corridor Music Group’s shows were Felicity, Story of My Scab, Picking Up Carrots, The Superflirts, Four Pointed Star, Smoking Kangaroos, Ecru La Dacapo, Last June, Canadian Kind and Boobietrap. They were the first ones to get the chance to own the stage for a span of 10 to 15 minutes; timeslots were usually cut short due to the long list of bands performing in one night. Some of the mentioned bands have already disbanded, but there are still some that exist; while others just changed their band names (without replacing any members).

Currently, Cagayan de Oro City’s Corridor Music Group is manned by Salvador “Budit” Dela Cruz II, as Calixto and Fajardo are now unable to manage it; Jay-R is now living in the United States and Rage has a demanding job that involves business trips. Under the leadership of Budit, the group continues to form friendly ties with its counterpart, Iligan’s Defiance Network. CMG has become a family and a home for several acts that have the potential to produce original music; from ska to punk, emo to metal, and even hardcore.

The official members of Corridor Music Group are:

• Mishap and Mayhem
• A20
• First Protest
• One Seat Apart
• Stronghold for the Brave Men
• May Just
• Dementia
• Devil May Cry
• Worst Day Happened
• Requiem for a Glass Heart
• Bedroom Dropouts (formerly Ecru La Dacapo)
• The Superflirts
• Fly by Juniper
• Based on My Experience
• Sound Machine Bidong
• Leave Me a Note
• Teachers Stand Together
• Skotchtape (soon to form a new name)
• Picking Up Carrots

Below is a list of the earlier batch of CMG bands:

• Maria Mystar
• Ecru La Dacapo
• Story of My Scab
• Four Pointed Star
• Felicity
• Canadian Kind
• Smoking Kangaroos
• Maudlin
• Last June
• Fall Comes Velvet
• Polly
• An Evening Blue
• Facefly
• Hare and Houndz
• Muumuu
• Past Ends
• Boobietrap
• No U-Turn
• My Lost Weekend
• I See Butterflies
• Skyflakes
• My Unforgettable Weekend
• Bedsize
• Bukstored

Apart from these bands, there is a long list of other non-members – from Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and other cities – that have been invited to play for the group’s various small and large events, in cooperation with Punchbowl Productions and other music groups/productions.

Here are some of the many local talents that have taken part in past CMG events: Porcelene, Swerve, Audiophile, Lemon Grass Combo, Red Whisky, Love at First Fight, Hoodswhite, Daddy’s Bad-Ass Joint, Outnumbered, Chaos Cycle, Furtherance, KBC (Kural Basketball Classics), In the Shadows, Kill Mickey, Double Whammy, K9, Switch, Supercharger, Thoughts and Notions, MC Fella, Contrapasso, Ashley on Sepia and 123 Kids.

-Rose Anne Quirante-