Thesis abstract:

«p»Amongst communities in the Philippines, musical instruments produced from bamboo are diverse and widespread, and considered crucial both for cultural maintenance and socio-economic survival. This research aims to investigate the significance of bamboo music for the purpose of cultivating cultural resilience in the pursuit of sustainability in the Philippines. This is an ethnomusicological research study that draws on ethnographic research methods, and three themes in musicology: organology, indigeneity, and applied ethnomusicology. Deriving from ethnomusicologist Jeff Todd Titon’s resilience framework (Titon 2015), the research hypothesises that bamboo music can be used as one of the tools in building resilience (strategy) to obtain sustainability (goal) by overcoming certain disturbances (obstacles) in a particular culture. Specifically, the study intends to dismantle idealisations about bamboo music as a space for displaying performative elements signifying "resilience," and instead look at ways in which resilience can serve as a strategy towards cultural sustainability by examining the different strategies of prevailing used by bamboo music communities to overcome their challenges through their music. Ultimately, the research would serve as a scholarly background for projects intending to develop Philippine traditional music and boost the bamboo industry in Philippine communities.«/p»