Phillipine composers and their background

1. By: Loulizerl C. Infante

2. Nicanor Abelardo
 Abelardo was born in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan. His mother
belonged to a family of artists in Guagua, the Hensons. He was
introduced to music when he was five years old, when his father
taught him the solfeggio and the banduria. At the age of 8, he
was able to compose his estoryahe first work, a waltz entitled
"Ang Unang Buko," which was dedicated to his grandmother. At
the age of 13, he was already playing at saloons and cabarets
in Manila. At age 15, he was already teaching in barrio schools
in San Ildefonso and San Miguel Bulacan
 Among his works were "Nasaan Ka Irog," "Magbalik Ka Hirang,"
and "Himutok." He died in 1934 at the age of 41, leaving a
collection of more than 140 works.

3. Fransisco Santiago
 Francisco Santiago (January 29, 1889 – September
28, 1947), was a Filipino musician, sometimes called The Father
of Kundiman Art Song.
 Santiago was born in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines, to
musically-minded peasant parents, Felipe Santiago and Maria
Santiago. In 1908, his first composition, Purita, was dedicated to
the first Carnival Queen, Pura Villanueva, who later married the
distinguished scholar Teodoro Kalaw.
 Santiago's masterpiece was the "Concerto in B flat minor" for
pianoforte and orchestra. His most famous piece
"Kundiman, (Anak-Dalita)", was sung upon the may apat nah
tanga pang lima ang bumasa.
 His other compositions are the kundiman "Sakali Man", "Hibik ng
Filipinas", "Pakiusap", "Ang Pag-ibig", "Suyuan", "Alaala
Kita", "Ikaw at Ako", "Ano Kaya ang Kapalaran?", "Hatol Hari
Kaya?", "Sakali't Mamatay", "Dalit ng Pag-ibig", "Aking
Bituin", "Madaling Araw" and "Pagsikat ng Araw". He was named
UP Emeritus Professor of Piano, on May 25, 1946. When
the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music was
celebrating its 30th anniversary, the patriotic musician died of a
heart attack. He was buried at the North Cemetery, Manila.

4. Fransisco Buen Camino
Sr.
 Early years
 Born on November 5, 1883 in Bulacan, Buencamino, Sr. is a son
of a musically inclined couple, Fortunato Buencamino, a church
organist and a band master and Luisa Beltran, a singer.
 He studied music composition and harmony at Liceo de Manila
which unfortunately, he was not able to finish. He also taught at
the Ateneo de Manila and Centro Escolar de Señoritas. At Centro
Escolar de Señoritas, he founded its Conservatory of Music. He
also created the Buencamino Music Academy in 1930. Nicanor
Abelardo was one of his students. Expanding his career, he also
ventured into musical direction and scoring, composing music for
Sampaguita Pictures, LVN, and Excelsior. He also wrote several
sarswela and kundiman. He died on October 16, 1952.
 As a musician
 Buencamino created several piano compositions which includes
vocal works and piano solos and duets as well as piano pieces for
children. Among his many piano works are "Mayon", a descriptive
fantasy for piano and orchestra (also arranged for solo
piano), and "Ang Larawan" for piano and orchestra (also arranged
for two pianos) which are in the romantic bravura

5. Antonio Molina
 Si Antonio Jesus Naguiat Molina, (1894-1980), Pambansang
Alagad ng Sining sa Musika ng Pilipinas, ay isang
musikero, kompositor, at guro na kabilang sa triumvirate ng
Pilipinong kompositor na nanguna sa pagsusulong ng musikang
Pilipino. Kasama niya sa triumvirate sina Nicanor Abelardo at
Francisco Santiago. Ipinanganak si Molina noong 26 Disyembre
1894 sa Quiapo, Maynila at supling nina Juan Molina at Simeona
Naguiat. Sa gulang na 12, marunong na siyang tumugtog ng
biyulin, at kinalaunan ay natuto rin siyang magpatugtog ng
bandurria, mandolin, gitara, laud, bajo de unas, oktabina at cello.
 Pumasok siya sa Escuela Catolica de Quiapo at sa Colegio de San
Juan de Letran. Nag-aral din siya ng disenyong
arkitektural, landscape sketching at malayang pagguhit. Noong
1919, pumasok siya sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Konserbatoryo ng
Musika para sa isang teacher's diploma sa violoncello. Naging
guro niya sina Nicanor Abelardo at Robert Schofield.

6. Antonio Buena Ventura
 Antonio Buenaventura also known as Colonel Antonio Buenaventura, was
born on 4 May 1904 in Baliuag, Bulacan. He inherited his interest in music and
military from his father, Lucino Buenaventura. He was born to a family of
musicians and actively involved in the band.
 He had formal music lessons in Solfeggio when he was in grade IV. He learned
how the band instruments sounded through observation and experimentation. He
organized a seven piece school orchestra, a children's group in his school.
 In 1922, he composed two pieces, a march and a foxtrot entitled "Only You". He
was admitted as clarinetist to the University of the Philippines Symphony
Orchestra. He was a student in composition and conducting and the captain of
cadet corps of the university when he organized the first student
orchestra, the UP Junior Orchestra.
 After he completed his Teacher's Diploma in Composition and Conducting in the
University of the Philippines (UP), he was appointed faculty member of the
Conservatory of Music. He was the UP President's Committee on Folksongs and
Dances when he composed the "Pandanggo sa Ilaw", a dance accompaniment.
 In 1937, he was commissioned to the military service where he became a music
instructor and band conductor at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio
City in 1939. He was also appointed as the assistant conductor of the Manila
Symphony Orchestra. He was designated the 'Municipal Symphony
Orchestra's co-conductor and toured in Hongkong, Japan, Guam, and Hawaii in
1948. He also organized the University of the East Student Orchestra.
 In his compositions, he tries to capture the Filipino spirit as a whole. He also
composed short piano pieces to full-length ballets.

7. Lusio San Pedro
 Lucio San Pedro was a Filipino composer
and teacher. He was born on February
11, 1913 in Angono, Rizal, the Philippines.
He is known in the Philippines as the
composer of the popular lullaby Sa Ugoy
ng Duyan and the symphonic poem
Lahing Kayumanggi.

8. Rodolfo Cornejo
 Born: 15 May 1909 — Philippines
 Died: 11 August 1991 — USA
 The Philipine composer Cornejo received his Teacher’s
Diploma in piano (1930) and Teacher’s Diploma in science
and composition (1930) from the Conservatory of Music,
University of the Philippines. He received his Bachelor of
Music major in piano and theory (1932) from the Chicago
Musical College of the Roosevelt University, Master of Music
major in composition-conducting (1933), and Doctor of
Music (honoris causa, 1954). He received his Doctor of
Philosophy major in composition from the Neotarian College
of Philosophy in Kansas City (1947). He served as pianist-
director of a USO concert unit that entertained the Allied
Forces at the E.T.O., the Marianas, and the Hawaiian
Islands in World War II. Since 1978 he held concerts in the
United States and appeared as composer-conductor at the
Seattle Opera House and the Seattle Playhouse.

9. Julian Felipe
 He was born in Cavite City, Cavite. A dedicated music
teacher and composer, he was appointed by then-
President Emilio Aguinaldo as Director of the National Band
of the First Philippine Republic. He died in Manila.
 He studied at a public school in Cavite and Binondo, Manila
for his primary education. At an early age, he showed his
talent in music. He also learned how to play the piano and
the organ. Later, He became an organist in St. Peter's
Parish Church. As an organist, Felipe was given the chance
to hone his gift. Soon after he was composing songs.
 Among his early popular compositions were Moteti el
Santesisimo, Sintos y Floras Rogodones, Amorita Danza
and Reina de Cavite (In honor ofNuestra Señora de la
Soledad de Porta Vaga). He impressed many music
enthusiasts with the said pieces. Though still young, his
works were already at par with the seasoned musicians.
 In recognition of his remarkable contributions in the field of
music, he was given awards and accolades.

10. Juan Nakpil
 Juan F. Nakpil (1899–1986) was a Filipino architect,
teacher and a community leader. In 1973, he was named
one of the National Artists for architecture, and tapped as
the Dean of Filipino Architects.
 He was one of eight children of the Philippine
Revolution veterans Julio Nakpil and Gregoria de
Jesus (who married the former after the death of her first
husband Andrés Bonifacio).
 Among Nakpil's works are San Carlos Seminary,
Geronimo de los Reyes Building, Magsaysay Building,
Rizal Theater, Capitol Theater, Captain Pepe Building,
Manila Jockey Club, Rufino Building, Philippine Village
Hotel, University of the Philippines Administration and
University Library, and theRizal Shrine in Calamba,
Laguna. He also designed the International Eucharistic
Congress altar and improved the Quiapo Church in 1930
by erecting a dome and a second belfry. He was hailed as
a National Artist for Architecture in 1973.Juan Napkil died
in Manila, Philippines in 1986

11. Lucricia R. Kasilag
 Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (August 31, 1918- August 16, 2008) was a noted
composer, educator, cultural and arts administrator, and performing artist. She was
named National Artist in Music in 1989. She pioneered the fusion of Filipino ethnic
and Western music. She dared to mix indigenous Filipino instruments with Western
orchestra in her prize-winning "Toccata for Percussions and Winds, Divertissement
and Concertante," and the scores of the Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino and De Profundis.
She was fondly called "Tita King".
 She was born in San Fernando, La Union on August 31, 1918. Her mother, Asuncion
Roces-Kasilag, encouraged her in her music studies. Her piano teachers were Concha
Cuervo and Pura Lacson-Villanueva. She attended Paco High School and graduated
as valedictorian in 1930. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Philippine
Women's University. In 1939 she received a diploma in music teaching at St.
Scholastica’s College, where she was a student of Sister Baptista Battig.
 In 1950, she completed her graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, New York under a Fulbright Travel Grant. In 1953 she became dean of
the PWU College of Music and Fine Arts in 1953. She established in 1957 the
Bayanihan Folk Arts Center to research Philippine music. Through her efforts she
made Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company the primary artistic and cultural
ensemble of the country.
 In 1977, she retired from her position as Dean and she was honored when she was
named Dean Emeritus of the PWU College of Music and Fine Arts. During the Marcos
years, Kasilag was very much involved with First Lady Imelda Marcos' Cultural Center
of the Philippines. Under the term of President Corazon Aquino she served three
years as special consultant of the Office of the President.
 Her compositions as her own preferences are influenced by her professors and Ralph
Vaughan Williams, who was introduced by professor, Allan Irving McHose. It is with
the so called "East-West flavour."

12. I think the
picture is
MOVING!!!
Thank You