Grace Nono

Born and raised in Agusan, Northeastern Mindanao, Southern Philippines, Grace Nono is a Philippine music performing artist, Philippine studies researcher/author, and cultural worker/ administrator. A product of the University of the Philippines where she earned her bachelor's degree in Humanities and master's degree in Philippine Studies, Grace is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Ethnomusicology. She’s also received further training from the Asia-Pacific Performance Exchange residency, the Asian Cultural Council residency, the Asian Institute of Management Arts Management Program, and the Asia-Pacific Cultural Center for UNESCO’s training on Intangible Cultural Heritage. For the past fifteen years, Grace studied sung oral traditions from Philippine elders, infusing these with her own contemporary spirit to advance issues of living identity, environmentalism, women's rights, and inter-faith dialogue. She has been a featured artist at the House of World Cultures in Berlin, Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona, Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, the Music Village Festival in London, concerts in Paris and Monte Carlo, WOMAD in Yokohama, the Exposition on Nature’s Wisdom in Aichi, the Asian Fantasy Orchestra tours of New Delhi, Bombay, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Miyazaki, Bangkok, Vientiane, Yangon, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Hong Kong Asian Arts Festival, the National Museum of Singapore and the Singapore Arts Festival, performances and conferences in Huairou, Bangkok, Jakarta, Nanning, Shanghai, Seoul, Penang, Taipei, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, and many different parts of the Philippines. Her book, The Shared Voice: Chanted and Spoken Narratives from the Philippines (ANVIL Publishing, Fundacion Santiago) recently won in the 28th National Book Awards, Arts category. She is also working on a second book on the music of the Philippine babaylan (shaman). In collaboration with composer Bob Aves, Grace has produced an audio and print series on Philippine oral traditions and instrumental music, which are being used by a number of teachers and students in the study of Philippine music, arts and culture. Grace herself has taught Philippine Traditional Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and Philippine Oral History at Miriam College. As cultural worker/administrator, Grace serves as Founding Director for the Tao Foundation for Culture and Arts, a non-governmental organization engaged in cultural regeneration and holistic development initiatives, for which she has been granted support by the Toyota Foundation, the Ford Foundation, UNESCO, the British Council, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and Arts, Advocates of Philippine Fair Trade, AusAID, and other institutions. To date, Grace has won over 40 awards, including TOYM or Ten Outstanding Young Men Award, TOWNS or The Outstanding Women Award in the Nation’s Service, National Book Award, numerous Catholic Mass Media, Katha, Awit, National Press Club, and other awards for her artistic and cultural contributions. For further information on Grace Nono as artist, please visit: http://www.gracenono.com