National Artists of the Philippines for Music (PDF)

National Artists of the Philippines for Music  Although the Philippines is located in Southeast Asia, its popular and contemporary musical tradition is Western because of the Spanish and the American colonization periods.  Because Christianity – particularly Catholicism – was a dominant...

National Artists of the Philippines for Music  Although the Philippines is located in Southeast Asia, its popular and contemporary musical tradition is Western because of the Spanish and the American colonization periods.  Because Christianity – particularly Catholicism – was a dominant force during the Spanish era, Philippine music is described as “religious music connected to and outside the Catholic liturgy and a European-inspired secular music adapted by the Filipinos and reflected in their folk songs and instrumental music”. During the American period, Corazon Canave-Dioquino, a musicologist, explained that Philippine music changed when music started to be taught in schools, zarzuela entered the scene, and Filipinos were exposed to pop culture, which “gave rise to music created by Filipinos using Western pop forms.” Today, the talent of Filipino musicians is appreciated both here in the country and abroad. National Artists for Music Antonino R. Buenaventura 1904-1996 Year of Conferment: 1988  He popularized folksongs by creating music based on the wide array of folksongs from various ethnic groups in the Philippines. His notable works include Ode to Freedom, Echoes of the Past, Echoes from the Philippines, History Fantasy, and Triumphal March.  Also, Buenaventura brought the Philippine Army Band to its former glory, which was recognized as “the only band that can sound like a symphony orchestra”.  According to the NCCA, his musical career spanned seven decades of unwavering commitment to advancing the frontiers of Philippine music. Awards and honors Band Conductor of the Year (1951, from the Music Lovers Society) Republic Cultural Heritage Award for Music (1966, for his Symphony in C) Araw ng Maynila Cultural Award (1971) Award of Merit for Outstanding Contribution to Philippine Music (1976, from the Philippine Army) Director Emeritus of the University of the East (1981) National Artist of the Philippines (1988) Doctor of Humanities (1991, from the University of the Philippines) Diwa ng Lahi Award (1995)  Ernani J. Cuenco 1936-1988 Year of Conferment: 1999  Ernani Joson Cuenco, according to the NCCA, had written “an outstanding and memorable body of works that resonates with the Filipino sense of musicality and which embodies an ingenious voice that raises the aesthetic dimensions of contemporary Filipino music”. Cuenco’s repertoire as a musician include being a music teacher, a composer, a musical director, and a film scorer.  As a film scorer, he composed music for the films Wild, Wild, Jess and El Vibora, which earned him the Best Music Award at the Metro Manila Film Festival in 1982 and the FAMAS awards, respectively.  Cuenco is also known for his Filipino love ballads such “Kalesa”, “Bato sa Buhangin”, “Gaano Kita Kamahal”, and “Inang Bayan”, which were enhanced by adding the elements of kundiman to the song.  Awards and recognition Metro Film Festival Awards, 1971 Rajah Soliman Award, 1972 11th Manila Film Festival "Best Musical Scoring" for El Vibora Rajah Soliman Award 1973 18th Manila Film Festival "Best Musical Scoring" for Ang Mahiwagang Daigdig ni Pedro Penduko 14th Pista ng mga Pelikulang Pilipino, Best Music, Hanggang sa Kabila ng Daigdig, 1973 Metro Film Festival Awards, 1974  FAMAS Awards Best Musical Score, Diligin Mo Ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa, 1975 Best Original Theme Song, "Bato sa Buhangin", 1977 Best Musical Score, Bakya Mo Neneng, 1977  Jovita Fuentes 1895-1978 Year of Conferment: 1976  In 1976, Jovita Fuentes made Philippine history by being given the honor as the first female National Artist for Music.  Trained to play the piano at age of five, famous Italian singer Salvina Fornani mentored her to be a star.  Jovita Fuentes performed roles in major productions such as Mimi in Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme and Princess Yang Gui Fe in Li Tai Pe. Her role in the New York production of Madama Butterfly was one of her proud moments.  Jose Maceda 1917-2004 Year of Conferment: 1997  Jose Maceda was a highly acclaimed Filipino composer and ethnomusicologist. Personalities working in ethnomusicology have training in music, cultural anthropology, legend, performance studies, dance, and cultural studies, making the understanding of such music interdisciplinary.  Maceda’s works have resulted in a vast collection of recorded music taken from the remotest regions in the country.  You will see that most of his compositions were performed as a communal ritual, such as the “Ugma-ugma”, (1963), “Pagsamba” (1968), and “Udlot-udlot” (1975).  His other famous compositions are “Ugnayan”, “Aroding”, and “Suling-suling”. Lucio D. San Pedro 1913-2002 Year of Conferment: 1991  An educator, master conductor, and a brilliant composer, national artist Lucio Diestro San Pedro through his works “evoked the folk elements of the Filipino heritage.” Coming from a family of musicians, he started his musical career at a young age following the footsteps of grandfather who was the organist at the local church.  San Pedro led local bands such as the Banda Angono Numero Uno, the San Pedro Band of Angono, and the Peng Kong Grand Mason Concert Band as master conductor.  Some of his popular works include The Devil’s Bridge (orchestral music), “Sa Mahal Kong Bayan” (choral music), Lahing Kayumanggi (band music), and “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” (vocal music), a famous Filipino lullaby.  Levi Celerio 1910-2002 Year of Conferment: 1997  Levi Celerio was a highly talented lyricist, with more than 4,000 songs under his name. This volume of lyrics is perhaps Celerio’s contribution which has greatly enriched the Philippine music for no less than two generations and has appealed to all social classes.  He was also known as an excellent leaf player, using a leaf to create music as cited by the Guinness Book of World Records.  He is also famous lyricist for love songs such as “Saan Ka Man Naroroon” and “Ikaw”.  He also wrote some of the most well-liked Christmas songs such as “Misa de Gallo” and “Pasko na Naman”. Felipe Padilla De Leon 1912-1992 Year of Conferment: 1991  Felipe Padilla De Leon is a multitalented musician who was a composer, a conductor, and a scholar. His works have “Filipinized Western music forms”.  De Leon’s body of works include concertos, sonatas, and marches which often described how Filipinos express their feelings and their aspirations in times of strife and peace. Some of the maestro’s notable works include Mariang Makiling Overture, Orchestertuk, and Lupang Tinubuan, and the opera adaptation Noli Me Tangere.  Lucresia R. Kasilag 1917-2008 Year of Conferment: 1989  Lucresia Roces Kasilag, a native of La Union, was a renowned Filipino composer. Her legacy in Philippine music, according to NCCA, is “to discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music and fusing it with Western influences”. This led to Kasilag to create the Bayanihan Folk Arts Center for research and theatrical presentations that urges to integrate native Filipino instruments in orchestral productions. She popularized the following orchestral music: Her Son, Jose, Sisa, and the Legend of Sarimanok.  Antonio J. Molina 1894-1980 Year of Conferment: 1973  The Dean of Filipino Composers is no one else but Antonio J. Molina. This national artist was a multitalented musician, writer, and music educator. He was the last of the musical triumvirate. At a young age, he learned to play the violoncello. It did not take long before this young talent was playing for the Manila Grand Opera House.  Molina taught some of the most astonishing Filipino artists such as Felipe Padilla de Leon. “Hatinggabi”, a popular serenade for solo violin and piano supplement, can be credited to him. He also popularized the following music such as “Kung sa Iyong Gunita”, “Awit ni Maria Clara”, and “Larawan Nitong Pilipinas”.  Andrea O. Veneracion 1928-2013 Year of Conferment: 1999  Andrea Ofilada Veneracion founded the Philippine Madrigal Singers. This group is one of the most passionate and talented musical groups in the country. It acquired several international awards including the UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2009. Aside from the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Veneracion was also the creator of the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music (AILM) Chorale.  By founding the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Veneracion , according to the NCCA, had been responsible for “spearheading of the development of Philippine choral music.”  Francisco Feliciano 1941-2014 Year of Conferment: 2014  Francisco Feliciano was a prolific composer of over 30 major works. He studied music composition at the University of the Philippines, the Hochschule der Kuenste in Berlin, Germany, and Yale University School of Music.  He was mentored by internationally renowned conductors and composers such as Martin Behrmann, Jacob Druckman, Isang Yun, H.W. Zimmerman, and Krystof Penderecki.  He composed operas including La Loba Negra, Ashen Wings, Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam (Beyond the Farewell), and Yerma.  He received the John D. Rockfeller Award in Music Composition in 1977.  Ramon Santos National Artist for Music (2014) 1941 -2019  Ramon Pagayon Santos, is a composer, conductor and musicologist, and currently the country’s foremost exponent of contemporary Filipino music. A prime figure in the second generation of Filipino composers in the modern idiom, Santos has contributed greatly to the quest for new directions in music, taking as basis non-Western traditions in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.  He graduated in 1965 from the UP College of Music with a Teacher’s Diploma and a Bachelor of Music degree in both Composition and Conducting. Higher studies in the United States under a Fulbright Scholarship at Indiana University (for a Master’s degree, 1968) and at the State University of New York at Buffalo (for a Doctorate, 1972) exposed him to the world of contemporary and avant-garde musical idioms: the rigorous processes of serialism, electronic and contemporary music, indeterminacy, and new vocal and improvisational techniques.  His return to the Philippines marked a new path in his style. After immersing himself in indigenous Philippine and Asian (Javanese music and dance, Chinese nan kuan music), he became more interested in open-ended structures of time and space, function as a compositional concept, environmental works, non-conventional instruments, the dialectics of control and non-control, and the incorporation of natural forces in the execution of sound-creating tasks.  Raymundo ‘Ryan’ Cayabyab National Artist for Music (2018) Ryan Cayabyab also known as Mr. C is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor. He was Executive and Artistic Director for several years of San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named as National Artist of the Philippines in 2018. His works range from commissioned full-length ballets, theater musicals, choral pieces, a Mass set to unaccompanied chorus, and orchestral pieces, to commercial recordings of popular music, film scores and television specials. Cayabyab is the executive director of the Philpop MusicFest Foundation Inc., the organization behind the Philippine Popular Music Festival. As a music director, conductor and accompanist, Cayabyab has performed in the US with leading Philippine music figures at New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Las Vegas. He has also played in Southeast Asian cities in Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands and Japan. He also perfomed for King Hasan II in Rabat, Morocco, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Queen Beatrix in Netherlands and US Pres. Bill Clinton in Boston, Massachusetts.  Fides Cuyugan-Asensio National Artist for Music (2022)  Fides Belza Cuyugan is born on August 1, 1931, in Lucena, Philippines. She is the daughter of Gervasio Santos Cuyugan and Jacinta Belza. During the war she directed, wrote, performed, and designed short musicals and plays. She studied at the Philippine Women's University and finished two courses - a Bachelor of Arts in English, specializing in Drama in 1950 and a Bachelor of Music, Major in voice and minor in piano in 1951.  Since 1955, she has become one of the leading performers and producers of opera in the country. She made her operatic debut in 1955 singing as Adele in Strauss' Die Fledermaus. She also performed in many world premiere performances of Filipino operas, like in Rosendo Santos' Mapulang Bituin, Eliseo Pajaro's Binhi ng Kalayaan, Kasilag's Dularawan, and most notably as Sisa in Felipe de Leon's Noli me Tangere in 1957.  Honors and awards  Asensio is among the people listed in the 1999 book Outstanding Woman of the Philippines by Victoria Paz, She was also awarded the PAMA-AS Gintong Award for the Musical Arts by the NCCA in 2005 and the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining Award in 2015  Essential Learning  Music has truly been one arena that Filipino excel at. It is a fact that Filipinos are music lovers. The National Artists for Music have definitely contributed to the enrichment of the country’s music through research, composition, and outreach. Their works have truly inspired many Filipinos to embrace a love for music. And this love for music has given birth to several internationally acclaimed musical talents and varied musical landscapes, ranging from the songs of Ernani Cuenco to the unforgettable tunes of Levi Celerio.  Evaluation Directions: Identify the national artist that is referred to in each of the following descriptions.  1. He brought the Philippine Army Band to its former glory, which was recognized as “the only band that can sound like a symphony orchestra”.  2. The first female National Artist for Music.  3. Most of his compositions were performed as a communal ritual, such as the “Ugma-ugma”, (1963), “Pagsamba” (1968), and “Udlot-udlot” (1975).  4. He was a highly talented lyricist, with more than 4,000 songs under his name. He was also known as an excellent leaf player, using a leaf to create music as cited by the Guinness Book of World Records.  5. The one who created the Bayanihan Folk Arts Center for research and theatrical presentations that urges to integrate native Filipino instruments in orchestral productions.  6. The Dean of Filipino Composers.  7. She founded the Philippine Madrigal Singers.  8. He was a prolific composer of over 30 major works. He composed operas including La Loba Negra, Ashen Wings, Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam (Beyond the Farewell), and Yerma.  Assignment:  Almost all Filipinos believe that the kundiman is the traditional form of Filipino love song that expresses undying devotion and sacrifice. But music scholar Felipe Mendoza De Leon enlightens in his essay the true nature of the kundiman. Read the essay at http://www.himig.com.ph/features/24-more-than-a- love-song and answer the questions below:  1. What Filipino ideal is the kundiman representing? How does it represent this ideal?  2. What makes the kundiman more than a love song?