Gongster’s Paradise is a biennial kulintang event celebrating the growing community of kulintang music in North America. First of its kind, Gongster’s Paradise is a 2-3 hour celebration of kulintang music featuring different genres presenting the music in many different forms.
The festival came to fruition after the passing of the late Master Danongan “Danny” Kalanduyan in 2016. His long-time student, Ron Querian along with his wife, Lydia Querian founded the House of Gongs and put together a gathering to honor the ripples of kulintang music that he started in the late 70’s.
Community Partners
To Our Dear Gongster Community,
In these chaotic socio-political times, we hope you find grace and love within your families and pathways to continuously heal. The House of Gongs, along with our dedicated team of volunteers, supporters, and cohorts, is honored to bring another year of Gongster’s Paradise to life, paying tribute to the legacy of the Godfather of Kulintang Music, Danny Kalanduyan. As many of you in the Pilipinx arts community may be experiencing firsthand, funding has been a tremendous challenge. With shifts in leadership and an uncertain economic landscape, support for cultural work like ours continues to be diminished. Despite these hardships, we remain steadfast in our mission. For those who may not know the deeper story behind Gongster’s Paradise, it was born from a vision—one that Lydia have carried since her early days working in the radio industry. Back then, She found herself surrounded by concerts of major Hollywood music celebrities, immersed in the glitz and spectacle. While it was an exciting experience, it clarified something essential: What if Pilipinx world music, traditional music, and indigenous soundscapes were given the same grand stage, the same resources, the same production quality? We imagined a world where our ancestral music could thrive, not as a relic of the past, but as a living, evolving force in our diasporic communities. This vision, this dream, has been at the heart of our work—nurturing artists, fostering an appreciative audience, and making space for the rhythms of our motherland to be heard and felt. Truth be told, this year tested us more than ever before. With funds being cut left and right, with narratives being erased, edited, and rewritten in the very documents that determine our access to resources, we nearly made the decision to skip this year. But to step back now would be to give up. And giving up is not in our spirit. Like the ancestors who carried these sounds before us, we remain resilient. We move forward with gratitude, with love, and with the artists who have stepped up despite all obstacles—those who continue to embrace the soundscapes of the motherland while crafting new narratives in their own rhythms. This year, Gongster’s Paradise promises fresh works from an incredible lineup of artists—many of whom have journeyed through our music camps, bonded over the last 18 months, and poured their hearts into this gathering. We are humbled and overjoyed to witness this music continue to thrive, despite the struggles, despite the odds. Salamat sa Kulintang. Salamat sa Musika. "Now I know there is something stronger than fear—far stronger. The Force." – Kanan JarrusMay the gongs be with you all. Happy almost Gongster’s Paradise! We can’t wait to reunite with you all. With love and resilience, Mama & Papa Gongs