Elena Mirano

Background

Rivera was born in 1951. Rivera grew up on the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City.

Education

Subsequently, she obtained her first Master of Arts in Comparative Literature, and then her Doctor of Philosophy in Philippine Studies, all three at the University of the Philippines.

Career

She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English, ""cum laude"". She obtained a second Master"s degree at Stanford University in the field of Humanities. She is a professor in Art Studies at the College of Arts and Letters at the University of the Philippines.

Here she did an extensive research on the traditional culture of southern Tagalog and the musical heritage of the Philippines.

In 1986 she mounted a one-woman show of her music album Kumintang: Awitin ng mga Tagalog na taga Batangas, which she had recorded through a United Presbyterian Centennial Grant. This was toured by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

With the choir she has produced the theater piece Awit ni Pulau. In 1998, she served as the Research Director for the Philippine Program at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

She also served as Research Consultant for the Museo ng Batangas.

In 1998 her book Ang Mga Tradisyonal na Musikang Pantinig sa Lumang Bauan, Batangas was proclaimed best book at the United Presbyterian Diliman Gawad Chancellor Awards. The jury described her as a contemporary renaissance musician.

Achievements

• Rivera"s book Subli: One Dance in Four Voices was awarded a National Book Award in 1989 under the category art book She was principal author and editor-in-chief of "The Life and Works of Marcelo Adonay" volume 1, which won the National Book Award, art book category, in 2009. In 2001 Rivera was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands. In 2007 she received the Achievement Award in Humanities of the National Research Council of the Philippines.