ABSTRACT

CASA San Miguel is a community outreach arts foundation in rural Zambales, Philippines, that combines the European classical music tradition with local communal engagement. In this essay, the author draws from both his personal experience as the director and founder of CASA, as well as secondary literature on education and cultural theory, to describe the formation, vision, and the challenges of running the foundation. Detailing the origins of the foundation and some principles of the pedagogical structure of the program, the author sets CASA within disciplinary, local, and international frameworks in order to highlight its social significance. He then moves to consider the place of the program within the context of implementing community-building and self-empowerment among students, and concludes the chapter with a consideration of the program’s political and philosophical resonance.