Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at a talk by Conrad J. Benedicto, author of the fantasy novel Musalaya’s Gift.  A concert by Kulintang Dialect will accompany the author talk. The entire community is invited to attend this free program which will take place In the Civic Center Library Storytime Room (1188 S. Livermore Ave.).

Musalaya’s Gift, Conrad Benedicto’s debut novel, takes readers on a whirlwind of an adventure, featuring tall tales, fantastic creatures, and everyday characters that range from the horrifying to the heroic—winged beasts that separate at the waist, giants made of stone and wood, and common-folk family members who reveal themselves as deft warriors. At the heart of the story is a young musician who must reckon with his personal talents and place in the traditional society.

Benedicto was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States at age 13. Studying with kulintang master artist Danongan Kalanduyan from 1997 to 2016, Benedicto worked as an apprentice through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts’ apprenticeship program in 2007 and again in 2013. In 2018, Benedicto received an individual artist grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to compose original kulintang music for his Kulintang Dialect project. Benedicto teaches social studies, environmental education, and kulintang music at Balboa High School in San Francisco. Musalaya’s Gift, Benedicto’s first novel, was published by KulArts in 2021.  For more information, visit his website at www.conradjbenedicto.com.

Kulintang refers to gong and drum ensembles indigenous to the Sulu and Mindanao islands in the southern Philippines and northern Borneo. Kulintang Dialect is a traditional five instrument kulintang band that performs kulintang classics, primarily from the Kalanduyan line as well as original compositions. Kulintang Dialect has released multiple albums available on all platforms via Gongs Away Music.