Fort St. John artist designs trophies for inaugural Filipino Music Awards

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John artist designed the trophies for the inaugural Filipino Music Awards this year. 

In conversation with Moose Media’s program director and afternoon host Chris Walker on Moose FM, Ovvian Castrillo-Hill revealed she created the sculptures for the prestigious event. 

Castrillo-Hill described it as a “breakthrough” for her.

“All the top Filipino acts holding my trophy is a very exciting visual for me,” Castrillo-Hill told Walker. 

The awards event took place on October 21st at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines, with more than 500 musicians and industry leaders coming together to celebrate 18 awardees. 

Categories included album, artist, concert, music company, song and tour of the year, as well as lifetime achievement and tribute awards.

The event was presented by Modern Media Group Inc, the home of titles such as Billboard Philippines and Rolling Stone Philippines.

In an interview with Rolling Stone Philippines, Castrillo-Hill said the trophies’ fan-like design deliberately shifts when viewed from different angles.

“The word ‘daluyong’ was given to me during the designing stage,” Castrillo-Hill told the music magazine.

“The ‘daluyong’ is intended to depict how the awardees have disrupted the local music scene: they have so much power that they left an impact. At the same time, the anahaw leaves are meant to show the Filipino aspect of the awards.”

The brass trophies were brought to life in Castrillo-Hill’s family studio in the Philippines by her brother. 

Castrillo-Hill came to Fort St. John from the Philippines in 2009 to be with her husband, and has since been active in the community, including designing the ‘landform’ obelisk at Festival Plaza. 

She is an organizer of the World Fair in May, is involved with the North Peace Fil-Can Community Bayanihan Association and sits as a director of the Fort St. John Arts Council and the Arts North East, formerly the Peace Liard Regional Arts Council. 

A documentary filmmaker and podcaster, Castrillo-Hill was appearing on Moose FM to discuss her new Telus Storyhive video podcast series entitled ‘Life, Love and Lumpia.’ 

Through eight episodes, Castrillo-Hill learns about local people and how they came to Fort St. John through casual conversation. 

This is Castrillo-Hill’s fourth project funded by Storyhive, with previous projects including Ex-Situ: Thriving In Our New Bayan in 2022 and Bayanihan Spirit in 2023. 

‘Life, Love and Lumpia’ is not yet available, but Castrillo-Hill expects it to be on Telus Optik TV and the Storyhive YouTube channel in April or May next year.  

Watch the full interview on Moose FM, which is also owned by Energeticcity.ca‘s parent company Moose Media, here.