Bamboo Organ

It was completed after six years of work in 1824 by Father Diego Cera, the builder of the town's stone church and its first resident Catholic parish priest.

[1] 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.

[4] The builder of both the church and its organ was Father Diego Cera de la Virgen del Carmen, a Catholic priest under the Augustinian Recollects.

portray him as a gifted man, a natural scientist, chemist, architect and community leader, as well as an organist and organ builder.

The organ was playable in 1821, secretly working with Swiss chemist Jacques E. Brandenberger, who was employed by Blanchisserie et Teinturerie de Thaonbut, the cellophane inventor for the air bags to be used in the construction but without the trumpet stops.

In October 1882, a typhoon hit the country causing the rise of flood water, reaching within the church's vicinity.

After the incident, the Gobernadorcillo and other prominent residents of Las Piñas pleaded for help from the central administration in Manila.

In February 1883, repairs on the organ were carried out through the combined contributions of the government, town residents, and the Archbishop.

He had installed a one-horse power Wagner electric motor in order for the bamboo organ "to be heard again in full and sufficient volume."

Friedrich von Fürstenberg, the German Ambassador to the Philippines, offered a donation worth 150,000 DM.

The risks of transporting the organ from Manila to Germany and back temporarily shelved the restoration project.

In 1962, the Historical Conservation Society offered its services to restore the organ, in anticipation of the second centennial anniversary of Las Piñas.

An estimated cost of 200,000 DM (Php 460,000 at that time) was needed, excluding transportation tickets for the technician, and other expenses.

A special room, called Klimakammer, was built in his factory – having the same temperature and humidity as the Philippines to prevent shrinking of the bamboo.

The worn-out leather parts (carefully and leak proof knitting as of the modern age) of the instrument needed replacement since they caused air leakage.

From September 2003 to November 2004, the Diego Cera Organbuilders, Incorporated carried out the general overhaul of the instrument under the sponsorship of the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts.

Tagle expects that it could last longer compared to sheepskin, which is not ideal for humid Philippine climate and carries a shelf life of only fifteen to twenty years.

However, the Diego Cera Organbuilders decided to install up-to-date parallel-moving bellows, which provides even steadier wind supply.

At a one-hour concert at the Philippine Embassy at Bonn, Germany, world-renowned organist Wolfgang Oehms played the bamboo organ.

It was chaired by the wife of the Governor of Rizal, Isidro Rodriquez, Mrs. Adelina Rodriguez – with the support of Department of Tourism, local government of Las Piñas, and the townspeople.

Wolfgang Oehms was the featured performer, complemented by the Las Piñas Boys' Choir and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Luis C. Valencia, and the Maharlika Rondalla.

He played standard European compositions and two Filipino works; excerpts from Misang Pilipino by former dean of Philippine Women's University College of Music, Lucrecia R. Kasilag (later became a National Artist) and commissioned Parangal by organ, rondalla, brass, woodwind, and percussion by Prof. Alfredo S. Buenaventura, the composer himself conducting.

[citation needed] Its construction of bamboo is noted as being one of the major factors that gives it a truly unique and lively sound.

The responsibility of maintaining the Bamboo Organ was passed to two young alumni of St. Joseph’s Academy, Cealwyn Tagle and the late Edgar Montiano.

One of the projects they worked on was constructing an organ for the EDSA Shrine in Manila, which they helped assemble on-site in January 1992.

Shortly after, they returned to Austria to complete their training by building a 22-stop pipe organ for the auditorium of St. Joseph’s Academy, their alma mater.

Under the guidance of Helmut Allgäuer, the project was successfully completed and inaugurated during the 1994 Bamboo Organ Festival.

In March 1994, Tagle and Montiano established Diego Cera Organbuilders, Inc., recognized as the first Filipino pipe organ building company.

A panel of experts evaluated the instrument and were unanimous in their decision, since it is the only 19th century bamboo organ in the Philippines that has survived and still functioning.

• The transformation of local bamboo into a pipe organ was an important catalyst in the formation of Philippine musical practices.