MALAYA: FEU Bamboo Band's Songs of Freedom
The FEU Bamboo Band returns to the FEU Auditorium with MALAYA: Songs of Freedom on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 7:30 PM. Presented by the FEU Center for the Arts, the one-hour concert brings together Philippine folk music, reggae, and international songs in a program about freedom, peace, and cultural identity.
“Kapayapaan,” “Wind of Change,” “Bayan Ko,” and “Imagine” are among the announced selections. Hearing them in a program built around Philippine bamboo instruments is the particular draw here, with the FEU Chorale and a soloist from the FEU Theater Guild joining the band for two of the evening’s collaborations.
I’ve previously featured the band’s Let It Beatles and Ang Tangi Kong Ikaw concerts on Unsaulicited. MALAYA offers another way into its work: a selection of songs connected by what they express, rather than by a single artist’s catalog.
A bamboo ensemble with roots going back to 1966
The FEU Bamboo Band traces its beginnings to the Singing Bamboo Band, also known as FEU Pangkat Kawayan, established at the university’s grade school in 1966. The group was reorganized in 2007 and adopted the FEU Bamboo Band name.
That history is worth knowing when approaching a concert like MALAYA. A student ensemble changes as its members move through university, but its musical practice can continue across generations. Each new group of performers has to learn the instruments, rehearse together, and make the repertoire its own.
The band’s past programs have included Disney-inspired music, Broadway selections, and the Beatles. That range offers some context for the mixture of songs in MALAYA: Philippine bamboo instruments are being used to perform music from several traditions, giving audiences different entry points into the ensemble’s sound.
What to listen for in the instruments
FEU identifies the marimba, bumbong, and angklung among the band’s basic instruments. The marimba carries melodies, the bumbong supplies bass and chord rhythms, and the angklung contributes melodies and counterpoints. The instruments draw on materials including bamboo and narra.
For someone hearing the band for the first time, those roles offer a useful way to follow the performance. Listen for the main tune, then shift your attention to the lower notes and the answering musical lines. A familiar song makes that easier because you can recognize the melody while noticing what is happening around it.
That is part of the interest in hearing a different ensemble take on a song you already know. The tune gives you a point of reference, but your attention can move toward details you might overlook in the recorded version. In MALAYA, the instrumentation gives audiences something to listen for beyond recognizing the next title.
From “Salidumay” to “Wind of Change”
The announced repertoire includes “Freedom at Midnight,” Tropical Depression’s “Kapayapaan,” the traditional Cordillera melody “Salidumay,” and the Scorpions’ “Wind of Change.” The selection places a Philippine folk melody alongside songs associated with very different musical styles.
MALAYA connects those choices through themes of liberty, Filipino resilience, national identity, and youth empowerment. Its program looks back at past struggles while considering hope for the future, with Philippine and international music sharing the same stage.
The inclusion of “Salidumay” is particularly worth noting within that selection. Alongside the familiar international titles, it keeps a Philippine regional tradition in the program. For listeners coming primarily for the songs they recognize, the concert also offers an introduction to music they may know less well.
The title supplies a common theme, but the pieces need not sound alike to belong together. Part of the anticipation is in hearing how the band moves between them and how the bamboo ensemble handles their different melodic and rhythmic demands.
Norbie Cads leads the band
Norbie Cads serves as the FEU Bamboo Band’s artistic director and leads MALAYA: Songs of Freedom. His work with the ensemble also includes its 2025 concert, ASCEND: Reaching New Heights in Music, which FEU’s report described as a showcase for non-music-major performers.
That student-artist background adds another reason to follow the band. A university can be where someone prepares for a profession and where they develop a sustained artistic practice. A public concert gives audiences a chance to engage with that work beyond the students’ own classrooms and immediate campus circles.
FEU Chorale and Theater Guild join MALAYA
The FEU Chorale will perform “Bayan Ko” with the band. Heleina Kirstensen Li of the FEU Theater Guild will also join the ensemble for John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
These collaborations bring both choral singing and a solo voice into the program. They also give listeners another relationship to follow: how the voices and instruments share a melody, support one another, and shape a song together.
The participation of artists from the Bamboo Band, Chorale, and Theater Guild reflects the range of performing groups supported by the FEU Center for the Arts. For audiences, it means the evening offers a look at several parts of the university’s arts community within a single concert.
A concert at the historic FEU Auditorium
The FEU Auditorium adds its own history to the occasion. Inaugurated in 1949 and designed by National Artist for Architecture Pablo Antonio Sr., the Art Deco auditorium was one of the Manila Symphony Orchestra’s homes during the 1950s.
I also discussed that connection in my feature on the MSO’s Tagalog Carmen program at FEU. For MALAYA, the same venue will host the university’s own performers, continuing its use as a space for students and the wider public to hear live music.
That continuing use matters as much as the building’s age. A concert hall’s history can be read about, but attending a performance offers a different way to get to know the place. This time, the music will come from a bamboo ensemble and its fellow campus artists.
MALAYA concert schedule and ticket prices
MALAYA: Songs of Freedom is open to audiences outside FEU. Admission is free for the FEU community with a valid FEU ID, while separate rates apply to alumni and non-FEU attendees.
Concert: MALAYA: Songs of Freedom
Presented by: FEU Center for the Arts
Main ensemble: FEU Bamboo Band
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: FEU Auditorium, Manila
Announced duration: One hour
- FEU community: Free admission with a valid FEU ID.
- FEU alumni: ₱100 with a valid FEU ID.
- Non-FEU community: ₱200.
Non-FEU students with a valid ID receive a 50% discount. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities receive a 20% discount with a valid ID. Bring the identification applicable to your admission category.
To attend, register and reserve tickets through the concert’s registration form. The corrected poster below shows the 7:30 PM performance time.
For readers who have yet to hear the FEU Bamboo Band, the announced program offers several familiar songs to start with. The invitation is to follow those melodies a little further: toward the instruments carrying them, the students performing them, and the other musical traditions sharing the evening.