Conrad J. Benedicto, musician and author of Musalya's Gift, visits Medicine for Nightmares for a reading and Kulintang performance. Musalaya's Gift is Benedicto's debut fantasy novel, combining Philippine folklore with anti-colonial resistance in a world of mythic beasts and battles that will appeal to readers looking for diverse voices in fantasy.

Conrad J. Benedicto is a teacher, author, and kulintang musician who studied with kulintang master artist Danongan Kalanduyan from 1997 until his passing in 2016. Conrad was Danongan Kalanduyan’s apprentice through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts’ apprenticeship program in 2007 and again in 2013. In 2018, Conrad received an individual artist grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to compose original kulintang music for his project, “Kulintang Dialect.” His album by the same name was released worldwide by Gongs Away Music in 2020. Kularts, the premier presenter of tribal and contemporary Pilipino Arts, published Conrad’s debut novel “Musalaya’s Gift” also in 2021.

Kulintang Dialect is a traditional five instrument kulintang band that performs kulintang classics mostly from the Kalanduyan line as well as Conrad Benedicto’s original compositions. Kulintang Dialect has released five EP’s available on all platforms beginning in 2021, and is scheduled to release five more in the next two years through the label Gongs Away Music. 

Kulintang Dialect performs for festivals, cultural events, educational programs, and art projects, as well as our own shows or parties. We strive to play traditional kulintang that is beyond reproach even as we enjoy mastering original compositions.  We perform the traditional kulintang music passed down by the late Master Danongan Kalanduyan with fidelity, while also exploring with joy and courage how this music can express itself through new ways that are nourished by our own specific context on this American soil.