Lea releases new album Bahaghari
Curve Entertainment, Inc. and GLP Music have announced the release of the album Bahaghari, Lea Salonga’s latest music endeavor wherein she focuses on presenting the rich and colorful music of the Philippines to the world.
The album is a cultural celebration carrying 15 beautiful traditional folk songs that represent various regions, languages and dialects — Tagalog, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Bicolano, Bisaya and Ilonggo. The release is aimed to reach the consciousness of the young Filipino generation to revive our traditional music’s heritage and preserve the importance and beauty of this art.
The album was produced by our National Artist for Music, Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, whose deep knowledge of Filipino music proved as key to the project. He was able to make the album musically interesting not only with the diverse selection of the songs’ languages, but also with the line-up of arrangers tapped for each song, including Lea’s brother, Gerard.
“The songs had to be varied in subject, in emotion and in tempo and rhythm,” Cayabyab notes. “The collection could not all be slow songs or only celebratory songs. We had to have a good representation not only of lan- Lea Salonga’s album, which is produced by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab, is a cultural celebration carrying 15 beautiful traditional folk songs guage but of a variety of subjects and are just as informative as the lyrics, emotions. This would hopefully make so I latched on to them.” for a lovely aural spread.” The project was initiated when Lea
Lea’s voice is the thread tying was introduced to GLP Music founders Bahaghari together. “Because the Angela Jackson and Rex Niswander. arrangements were all so different The label produces music that from one another, I needed to stylistiwould introduce children to world cally adapt my vocals to fit them languages and world cultures. “We while holding on to my own voice were focused on world music, music and how I sing,” reflects Lea. “The in languages other than English, but more playful stuff, like Pobreng Alindahaw, we had not considered an album in was just so much fun to do the languages of the Philippines,” says in the studio, and some of the more Niswander. “That all changed when dramatic music, like Matud Nila, was we met Lea Salonga. Thanks to her, straight from the heart. The melodies we began to appreciate the significance of an album that would present the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Philippines.”
“There is a large Filipino diaspora around the world. They have very tight ties to their homeland, yet many children in the diaspora don’t learn Tagalog or one of the other languages. We hope this album can become a resource for families, to inspire interest in these languages and their wonderful songs,” explains Angela.
The project felt like the perfect opportunity to introduce the languages of my country to a bigger world,” Lea explains. “A world that might not be aware of the intricacies and differences between these languages. Many of these tongues feel very foreign and strange, and since there’s always a danger that these languages won’t be spoken by future generations, there was a need on our part to preserve them in some way.”
Bahaghari is now available in Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer and all digital platforms worldwide. Physical CDs with a special booklet containing cultural notes written by award-winning writer and director Floy Quintos, and original lyrics with English translations will be available at local record stores beginning Dec. 17.