Her awareness of the culture and arts that define the Batonhon started in 1949 when she became a 5-year-old participant in of the annual Holy Week celebration highlighted by the Hosana, Aleluia and  later, Flores de Mayo.  They were under the tutelage and directions   of  Nang Piyay and Coleta Rodulfo, mother-daughter team who handled the rituals of the Semana Santa. Later, Salud Eco mentored her as a singer and joined veladas as a contestant where she laughingly added that she always ended up a second placer.

At age 13, she became a catekista. At 23, when she was into her second year of teaching, she turned director/composer, a self-imposed responsibility she has handled for the past 45 years. She became the adviser of the Bato Parish Choir. She went on to organize the Rondalla and Harmonica groups. Later, the late Nellie Pereyra, Liling Trono and herself formed the dula-tula group Saha, issue-oriented theatre group that employed Teatro Banhi  style to put across community concerns and school themes through short plays. Members of her rondalla group came from Bagamanoc, Baras, Gigmoto and San Miguel, training both teachers and pupils.

This did not really come as a surprise to parents Tang Aboy and Nang Cayang as her great grandfather Jose Mendoza was a well-known musikero of his time apart from being the presidente (equivalent to the mayor) of Bato. Ma’am Connie considers him a “great influence.”

Some of her compositions include Himno ning Municipio ning Bato, Mutya ng Bato, Himno ng Silangang Purok ng Bato, Alma Mater Hymn of Bato Central Elementary School, Camia:Burac ning Bato, Senior Citizen, A Child’s Request. How did she come up with such compositions? She wrote the lyrics as a poem, set the words to music by oido (by ear), memorized the  melody, wrote down the basic notes so she won’t forget then played the song in her harmonica.  She made the whole process sound very simple.

She submitted to the municipality of Bato a compiled work of Bato’s cultural heritage titled Pamana ng Bato which includes history, literature and music. It was supposed to be published. Her own 20-year-old art work the size of one plywood, a Manila paper- art paper- used magazines mosaic of the Last Supper, adorns their dining room,

She is sad, though, as she observes the culture and the art fading away after she retired. She turned to coaching Catleyas to bloom profusely. Even the flowers respond to her motivations, I tried to remark to console her. For the feast of Mary, the Virgin Mother, she said, the flowers would surprisingly bloom.

Most of all, her shared music and her art adorn the hearts of the thousands of learners who were lucky enough to be under her care. Some of them are now successful artists here and abroad, all because at one time in their young life, a teacher inspired them to discover their gift of talent and honed it.

This is her legacy - Ma’am Connie’s legacy of love for music and the arts.