The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ in St. Joseph Parish Church in Las Piñas, Philippines, is a 19th-century church organ. It is known for its unique organ pipes; of its 1031 pipes, 902 are made of bamboo. It was completed after 6 years of work in 1824 by Father Diego Cera, the builder of the town's stone church and its first resident Catholic parish priest.
After age and numerous disasters had rendered the musical instrument unplayable for a long time, in 1972, the national government and the local community joined together to have the organ shipped to Germany for restoration. For its anticipated return in 1975, the home church of the bamboo organ and the surrounding buildings were restored to their 19th-century state by Architect Francisco Mañosa and partner Ludwig Alvarez in time for its scheduled return. The annual International Bamboo Organ Festival, a music festival of classical music, was started to celebrate the music of the reborn instrument and its un...Read more
The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ in St. Joseph Parish Church in Las Piñas, Philippines, is a 19th-century church organ. It is known for its unique organ pipes; of its 1031 pipes, 902 are made of bamboo. It was completed after 6 years of work in 1824 by Father Diego Cera, the builder of the town's stone church and its first resident Catholic parish priest.
After age and numerous disasters had rendered the musical instrument unplayable for a long time, in 1972, the national government and the local community joined together to have the organ shipped to Germany for restoration. For its anticipated return in 1975, the home church of the bamboo organ and the surrounding buildings were restored to their 19th-century state by Architect Francisco Mañosa and partner Ludwig Alvarez in time for its scheduled return. The annual International Bamboo Organ Festival, a music festival of classical music, was started to celebrate the music of the reborn instrument and its unique sound.
Since 1992, Prof. Armando Salarza has been the titular organist of the Bamboo Organ. He is also the Artistic Director of the International Bamboo Organ Festival, now the longest-running annual international music festival held in the country.
Recognizing its cultural significance, the Bamboo Organ was declared a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines in 2003. The St. Joseph Parish Church, featuring the renowned organ and an accompanying church museum in the old convent house, has become a favored destination for both Filipino and international tourists visiting Las Piñas.
The responsibility of maintaining the Bamboo Organ fell next to two young alumni of St. Joseph's Academy, Cealwyn Tagle and the late Edgar Montiano. Being member of Las Piñas Boys Choir, their interest in the technical side of the instrument grew and noticed by Leo Renier, former director of St. Joseph Academy and founder of Las Piñas Boys Choir. He encouraged them both to go into organ building.
Their training at Grunbach, Austria to become apprentices at Helmut Allgaeuer Orgelbau was made possible by the Bamboo Organ Foundation Incorporated.
Tagle went in 1988, followed by Montiano two years later. In 1990, they traveled to Johannes Klais Orgelbau in Bonn, Germany. one of the commissioned projects was construction of an organ for the EDSA Shrine in Manila. They took part in the construction and its assembly in Manila in January 1992. Soon, they have returned to Austria to crown their whole organ building education upon the construction of a 22-stop pipe organ for the auditorium of their alma mater, St. Joseph Academy in Las Piñas. Under the guidance of Helmut Allgaeuer, the project was completed a year later. It was inaugurated during the Bamboo Organ Festival of 1994.
In March 1994, Tagle and Montiano founded Diego Cera Organbuilders, Incorporated. It was considered as the first Filipino pipe organ building company. Since then, they have restored four historic pipe organs and built ten new tracker organs which were exported to Lithuania and Austria.
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