KW Sentro is a vibrant musical, linguistic, and cultural registered charitable organization based in Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), ON. Our primary aim is to provide high-quality music instruction and musical and cultural programming to our multi-generational Filipino Canadian community. Also known as the Kitchener-Waterloo Centre for Filipino Canadian Music, Language, and Culture, we are dedicated to (re)connecting Filipino children, youth, and adults to their culture while addressing and challenging inter-generational language and cultural loss in the Filipino community of KW through musical, linguistic, and cultural education.
The KW Sentro Children’s Choir
In September 2023, we established the KW Sentro Children’s Choir, where children from all communities had the opportunity to join and learn Filipino music through developmentally appropriate pedagogy. In regular rehearsals, choristers practice their Tagalog language skills, as well as immerse themselves in Filipino customs and values in an open and welcoming environment.
The KW Sentro Adult Choir
The KW Sentro Adult choir was established in February 2023 as a community music research project investigating racism, discrimination, and culture reclamation in the Filipino Canadian diaspora. The choir welcomes members of all communities in KW as well as members of the Filipino Canadian community. The choir has performed extensively across Southern Ontario, collaborating with Inshallah Community Choir, performing at Junior Treble Fest, and singing the anthem at the KW Multicultural Festival. Through each performance, we celebrate our pride and passion for Filipino music and culture through communal singing.
“These choirs are integral to our language and culture reclamation efforts, as they challenge the effect that historical colonization and White supremacy have had on our minds, bodies, and communities. As an organization, we work together and support one another in developing our values, mission, and vision that are in line with authenticity and reverence for our ancestral heritage.“
Dion Flores, Executive & Artistic Director
KW Sentro employs kwentuhan (Filipino discussion) as a critical methodology. Below are the proposed chapters of future publications of the KW Sentro Community Magazine. Each chapter addresses a critical issue in the Filipino Canadian diaspora that hopes to lead to Filipino Canadian Community Psychological Theory, Practice, and Praxis in order to treat intergenerational trauma and colonial mentality in the Filipino community.
Guiding Principle: Developing and implementing Filipino Canadian indigenous and diasporic community psychological theory and practice as a curriculum and mechanism to treat and mitigate the effects of colonialism in the Filipino communities of Southern Ontario.
- Addressing Intergenerational Language and Cultural Loss in a Multi-generational Filipino-Canadian Community in Southern Ontario
- Truth and Reconciliation in the Filipino Diaspora: (Re)discovering Precolonial Filipino Indigeneity
- Pathways to Mental and Structural Liberation from Oppression in the Filipino Diaspora
- Colonialism and White Supremacy’s Effect on Filipino Mental and Physical Health
- Filipino Diasporic Dissent and Activism: Resistance against Colonizing and Imperialist Powers
- Fostering Solidarity and Social and Political Organization between Equity/Justice-demanding groups to Confront Systemic Injustice and White Supremacy: The Filipino Canadian Perspective