The music of the Philippines includes the musical performance arts in the Philippines and the music of Filipinos composed in various local and international genres and styles. Philippine musical compositions are often a mixture of indigenous styles, and various Asian styles, as well as Spanish/Latin American and American influences through foreign rule from those countries.
Pinoy rock, or Filipino rock, is the brand of rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself, and bands adopting this style are now further classified under more specific genres or combinations of genres like alternative rock, post-grunge, ethnic, new wave, pop rock, punk rock, funk, reggae, heavy metal, ska, and recently, indie. Because these genres are generally considered to fall under the broad rock music category, Pinoy rock may be more specifically defined as rock music with Filipino cultural sensibilities.
Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab, known professionally as Ryan Cayabyab, is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor. Regarded as one of the pillars and icons of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named National Artist of the Philippines for Music in 2018.
Bayani Casimiro Sr. was a Filipino dancer who was among the leading stars of bodabil (vaudeville) in the 1930s and 1940s. He also appeared in musical films and later in life, in comedic roles. A tap dancer, he was frequently dubbed as the "Fred Astaire of the Philippines".
Canuto Francia, better known as Canuplin, was a Filipino stage performer and magician who gained fame for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin in Filipino movies and the local bodabil circuit.
Sitsiritsit, also known as Sitsiritsit Alibangbang, is a Filipino folk song. This humorous song describes a flirtatious woman threatening a storeowner that the ants are going to get him if he is not going to extend credit, as well as unusual situations of exchanging a child for a doll or bagoong. It is said to have originated during the country's Spanish colonization, as its lyrics suggest the ordinary life during that time. The melody of the song is similar to Fly, Fly the Butterfly, another Filipino folk song but in the English language.
Vaudeville in the Philippines, more commonly referred to as bodabil, was a popular genre of entertainment in the Philippines from the 1910s until the mid-1960s. For decades, it competed with film, radio and television as the dominant form of Filipino mass entertainment. It peaked in popularity during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines from 1941 to 1945. Many of the leading figures of Philippine film in the 20th century, such as Dolphy, Nora Aunor, Leopoldo Salcedo and Rogelio de la Rosa, began their showbusiness careers in bodabil.
Leopoldo Ganal Salcedo Sr. was a Filipino film actor dubbed as "The Great Profile" who specialized in portraying dramatic heroes.
Katy de la Cruz was a leading Filipina singer who specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a long career that lasted eight decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines. De la Cruz also appeared in films and received a FAMAS Best Supporting Actress Award in 1953.
SinoSikat? is a Filipino band that started September 2004, performing music influenced by a number of musical genres, but which has been described as "Filipino soul", reflecting an expansion of genres active within the Philippine music industry during the mid-2000s. The band released its eponymous first album in 2007, receiving media attention and critical acclaim when vocalist Kat Agarrado won Vocalist of the Year at the NU107 Rock Awards. The band has been named as a nominee for the People's Choice Award at the 2008 Awit Awards.
Luis "Lou" Salvador Sr. was a Filipino basketball player, stage actor, and talent manager. Salvador was born in Tacloban, Leyte, to a Spanish father and a mestiza mother.
Comedy in the Philippines has had a significant presence in Philippine culture for as long as Filipinos have had mediums of entertainment, and has transformed to reflect changing Filipino life.
Bethany is an alternative rock band formed during 2008 in Cebu, Philippines by brothers Luis Quibranza III, Angelo Quibranza, and Paolo Quibranza. In 2009, longtime friend and musician Jan Osbert Dela Cerna completed the line up. Dela Cerna had to attend to personal matters and is now based in Australia, leaving the bassist spot vacant. Kevin Borromeo assumed bass playing duties in 2013. The band is primarily known for their melodic songwriting, intricate guitar hooks, and electric live performances.
Maria Amapola Cabase, better known by her stage name Amapola, is a Filipina singer, actress, musician, television and radio host. She is widely known in the Philippines as the original artist for the song "Kapantay ay Langit", which was later popularized by Pilita Corrales. Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos dubbed Cabase as a "Music Ambassador" for the country in 1973 in celebration of Amapola's first concert in New York, November 3, 1973, at New York's Town Hall. In 1984, she released her international debut album produced in collaboration with jazz pianist Bobby Enriquez, who led the Cal Tjader Trio for Amapola's debut jazz album, Sophisticated Lady.
Anna Fegi is a Filipino singer and actress. She has performed internationally in over seventy countries and is known for her work on the popular show ASAP on the ABS-CBN television network and The Filipino Channel (TFC), her performances in the Himig Handog competitions, as well as her two solo albums released under the Sony BMG label. Fegi is recognized by her powerful voice, high vocal range, and trademark curly hair.
Brown Academy of Music is a performance-based music school located in Cebu City, Philippines. It is located on the 2nd Floor of Northgate Centre in Banilad on Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue, across the street from Gaisano Country Mall and next to University of Cebu-Banilad. The school serves as one of the premier sources of music education in the city of Cebu. The school not only serves as the foundation of music study for its students, but also provides performance venues for the students to showcase their talents.
Adam Brown is an American drummer and music educator from Cincinnati, Ohio. He started his formal music education in elementary school and continued while a student in Fairfield High School in Ohio. After graduating Summa Cum Laude in high school, he went on to earn a music scholarship at the University of North Texas and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Brown earned his Master of Science in Education Summa Cum Laude from Walden University. He is most known as a musical director for Royal Caribbean International, drummer and musical director for Anna Fegi-Brown, and owner and Chief Operating Officer of Brown Academy of Music located in Cebu City. Philippines.
Manila Carnival was an annual carnival festival held in Manila during the early American colonial period up to the time before the Second World War. It was organized by the American colonial administration to celebrate harmonious US and Philippine relations. The Carnival also showcased the commercial, industrial and agricultural progress of the Philippines. The highlight of the event is the crowning of the Carnival Queens.
Jude Gitamondoc is a Filipino songwriter, record producer, and musical director based in Cebu, Philippines. He had won several awards including two Awit Awards, ABS-CBN's Himig Handog TFC Choice Award, StarStudio Reader's Choice Award, Cebu Pop Musical Festival, and Golden Screen Awards.
Budots is a grassroots electronic dance music (EDM) genre that originated in Davao City, Philippines, and is considered as street style hiphop. It eventually spread in Bisaya-speaking regions. Based on house music and indigenous Badjao beats, it is regarded as the first "Filipino-fied" electronic music, characterized by its heavy use of percussion, hypnotic bass, high-pitched "tiw ti-ti-tiw" whistle hooks, and organic noises that surround the city. It is created to complement a form of freestyle street dance that bears the same name.
