The Father of Kinaray-a Music
By: Salvy Jessa M. Arnaiz Mr. Bernie Salcedo an Antiqueño from Anini-y, is known as the “Father of Kinaray-a Music” because he started the trend of composing Kinaray-a songs. Although he is a mechanical engineer, Salcedo loved to compose songs. He began writing Kinaray-a songs when he was just a teenager back in 1969. He composed Kinaray-a songs on his own and from his heart.
His first composition was “Daw sa Kanami Lang” which talks about commitment through friendship and love and how it makes relationships worth keeping. It was then followed by “Mamingaw nga Mata”, a slow, soft, wistful song about the things and memories that we leave behind in the past and remember when we grow older. He also wrote a song for Antique’s hero, Evelio B. Javier, entitled “Ang Bata.”
Salcedo got his inspiration on many subjects, themes and topics. He has written songs about his wife, on friendships,relationships and the sentimentalism of the Antiqueños as a people. He also tackles issues about the environment and social actualities like poverty and oppression. In 1977 he wrote the first part of trilogy about the history of Antique which he entitled “Maragtas.” In 1982, he wrote the second and third parts of the story. The musical was done from 1984-1988 and most songs were revised in 1998-1999 when the plot in the script was updated.
Salcedo was also considered as the Father of Kinaray-a Music because he virtually influenced the Original Kinaray-a Music (OKM) writers with his music. Because of him, many OKM artists rose like Dante Beriong, Sammy Rubido, Mark Quintella, Noel Alamis and Edmund Infante. But only Salcedo can compose extraordinary songs that other artists cannot. Even if he uses ‘dalum nga Karay-a’ (native Karay-a), people are able to understand and enjoy his songs. He is even considered by the young generation of artists as avant