Contributors
Prof. Patricia Brillantes-Silvestre (University of the Philippines) researches the importance of Spanish chronicles as documentation of Filipino contributions to the celebratory life of key neighborhood churches in eighteenth-century Manila. She dhas also conducted extensive research on feast of the Black Nazarene celebrated annually in Quiapo. She seeks to provide a thick, historically based discussion of this legendary event in the religious life of the principal suburb of Manila that has been celebrated for more than 200 years.
Prof. Alexandra Iñigo-Chua (University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music/Centre for Intercultural Studies) investigates the remarkable four-volume music collection published by the Poor Clare sisters, Manila (1870-74). This was the most extensive body of sacred and liturgical music to be published in the Philippines. Its circulation to all parts of the country had a profound impact upon music for almost a century. Professor Chua has also undertaken an ambitious oral-history project with the cantoras of Loboc parish, Bohol, an undertaking that has recovered both the music history of a parish, and the intricate way people who live with natural disasters deal with the transmission and continuity of their culture.
Dr. Elena Rivera Mirano (University of the Philippines) researches the Subli, a form of traditional celebratory festival from Batangas. In addition, her pioneering efforts have resulted in the publication of the first life-and-works study of a Filipino composer, Marcelo Adonay.
Rev. Ted Milan Torralba (Office of the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines) is a member of the Philippine National Commission of Culture and the Arts and researches the the Cultural Heritage movement in the Philippines, both within the Roman Church and through community and governmental agencies. He seeks to elucidate the historical and current theological foundations for cultural preservation as they apply to all regions and religious traditions within the Philippines. He also provides an essential link between the historic use of art within the Church in the Philippines, and the continuing effects of this historic stance on contemporary Church Rite, Ritual, and Spectacle.
Prof. Regalado Trota Jose (University of Santo Tomas) researches the unique features of church architecture in the Philippines, including "earthquake baroque," and also has undertaken an exhaustive investigation of the production and use of bells in the life of Philippine communities throughout the archipelago.