Composers/Percussionists Susie Ibarra and Roberto Rodriguez founded Song of the Bird King,LLC to preserve Indigenous Music, create platforms for Indigenous artists to work collaborately with and address environmental issues that are affecting culture. Song of the Bird King has begun archiving with its title film on the Philippines, the music and dance of seven Filipino Indigenous groups and their national Eagle which face extinction. It umbrellas the outreach work of Electric Kulintang and Mundo Niños with music and workshops to underserved children, schools and Indigenous communities.

About the Artists

Susie Ibarra

Filipina-American Composer/Percussionist Susie Ibarra is known for her innovative style, virtuosity and cultural dialogue. 2010 Ibarra will be in residency with Pulitzer Poet Yusef Komunyakaa, at Music Theater Group NYC to workshop Saturnalia, an opera addressing AIDS in Thailand. She has recorded and performed with numerous artists and can be heard on Drum Sketches, Dialects, Folkloriko. Whether performing a concerto at Carnegie Hall, performing Electric Kulintang, or field recording in Mindanao, Ibarra listens to the musical dialogue. It is a language of traditions and avant-garde. This language has brought her to serve children and Indigneous communities globally. In 2008 Ibarra received an Asian Cultural Council Fellowship to research Philippine Indigenous Music. She founded with Cuban Composer/Percussionist Roberto Rodriguez SONG OF THE BIRD KING LLC, to preserve with film and music Indigenous culture and ecology. Their title film, Song of the Bird King, tells the stories of land and loss of seven endangered Indigenous Philippine Tribes and the near extinct Philippine Eagle through music and a musician’s journey home. Ibarra is honored to receive a 2010 TED Fellowship.

Roberto Juan Rodriguez

Born in East Havana, Cuban Composer/Percussionist Roberto Rodriguez draws upon his diverse influences music, making him one of the most versed and unique artistic voices today. Rodriguez, a Grammy nominee and American Music Award Recipient, Rodriguez received the BBC3 Radio Best World Music Award 2007. He has performed with notable artists such as: Rufus Wainwright, Joe Jackson ,John Zorn ,Marc Ribot, Celia Cruz, Israel “CACHAO” Lopez, Paquito D’Rivera, Julio Iglesias, Miami Sound Machine, Paul Simon, Lloyd Cole, Dr. L Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurti, Lester Bowie and Wadada Leo Smith. Rodriguez work can be heard on his recordings Maurice el Medioni meets Roberto Rodriguez: Descarga Oriental, Piranha Records, Roberto Rodriguez ~ Baila! Gitano Baila! ~El Danzon de Moises (Tzadik Records), Electric Kulintang: Dialects (Susie Ibarra & Roberto Rodriguez) Plastic, Records and his recent release of compositions titled, Timba Talmud, Roberto Rodriguez Tzadik Records 2009.