The Lives and Works of Filipino

Theater Musicians and Composers

Ladislao Bonus

Father of the Filipino Opera

Native from Pandacan
Organized the Filipino Opera in 1886
Achievements: Sandugong Panaguinip
Conducted the Arevalo Band
Wrote the music for several sarswelas

Florencio Lerma
Directed orchestras that provided the music in
local theaters
Worked with several troupes engaged in
performing zarzuelas touring the Philippines
Implicated with the revolutionary movement
and was executed
One of the Bicol martyrs

Bonifacio Abdon
Violinist and conductor
Worked with Patricio Mariano in writing the
music for the sarswelas: Ang Sampaguita,
Deni, Ang Tulisan, Luhat Dugo,
Declaracion de Amor, Carnaval No.1,
Huwag Lang Lugi sa Puhunan

Alejo Carluen
Composed music for some thirty-one sarswelas,
including six librettos
Composed the music of Ang Mga Pusong
Dakila ang Mga Pinagpala
Wrote the music for two early Tagalog operas,
Magdapio and Gayuma

Prominent Filipino
composers that
contributed in the Musical
Arena

Nicanor Abelardo
Nicanor 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. All of these happened even before
young Abelardo finally took up courses under Guy
F. Harrison and Robert Schofield at the UP
Conservatory of Music in 1916. By 1924, following a
teachers certificate in science and composition
received in 1921, he was appointed head of the
composition department at the Conservatory.

Levi Celerio
Levi Celerio was born on April 30, 1910,
in Tondo,Manila to parents that hailed from Baliuag,
Bulacan. He received a scholarship to the Academy of
Music in Manila and became the youngest member of
the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He wrote several
number of songs for local movies, which earned for him
the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Film Academy
of the Philippines. Celerio has written lyrics for more
than 4,000 Filipino folk, Christmas, and love songs,
including many that became movie titles.

Known for being a good lyricist, his songs cherish life,

convey nationalistic sentiments and utter grand
philosophies. Celerio wrote more than 4,000 songs, among
them are popular pieces, which many consider to be
immortal. At one time or another, no Filipino could miss
the tune or lyrics of Levi's Christmas songs
Celerio, for a time, was also recognized by the Guinness
Book of World Records as the only man who could play
music with a leaf. Because of his talent, Celerio was invited
to The Mery Griffin Show, where he played "All the Things
You Are" with 39 musicians. Using his leaf, Levi wowed the
crowd and got the attention of the Guinness Book of World
Records. The Book later listed the entry: "The only leaf
player in the world is in the Philippines". He would also
later appear on Thats Incredible!

Ryan Cayabyab
born on May 4, 1954 in Manila but known as Mr. C is a
Filipino musician, composer and conductor; he was
Executive and Artistic Director for several years of the
defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts.
He was also a resident judge for the only television
season of Philippine Idol broadcast in 2006.
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's current project includes the Ryan

Cayabyab Singers, a group of seven young adult
singers comparable to his group Smokey Mountain in
the early 1990s. After Freemantle Media decided not
to renew the Philippine Idol franchise, Cayabyab
transferred to rival show Pinoy Dream Academy
season 2, replacing Jim Paredes as the show's
headmaster. PDA 2 started on June 14, 2008.
He is the executive director of the Philpop Music Fest
Foundation Inc., the organization behind
the Philippine Popular Music Festival. This
songwriting competition for amateurs and
professionals puts the spotlight on songwriters and
encourages Filipinos to preserve their unique musical
identity.

Katy dela Cruz

Catalina Katy Mangahas was born on February 13,
1907. Her path to stardom as Bodabil queen started
when she was only seven years old.
She eventually resided in the United States, but
visited the Philippines in 1989 to watch a musical
based on her life story. Entitled Katy!, the musical
featured music by Ryan Cayabyab and a libretto
by Jose Javier Reyes. Mitch Valdes played
the bodabil queen.

Francisco Buencamino
belonged to a family of musicians. He was born on November
5, 1883 in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan. His father
Fortunato, a church organist and band master, taught him
music at a very early age. His mother Luisa, meanwhile, was
a singer. At age 12, he could already play the organ.
His early exposure to music was complemented by education
in composition and harmony at the Liceo de Manila,
where Marcelo Adonay, an eminent composer and
conductor in the late 19th century, served as his mentor.
After graduating from the Liceo, Buencamino composed a
number of Tagalog operettas or sarswelas,
including Marcela(1904), Si Tio Selo (1904), Yayang (1905),
and Pangakong Hindi Natupad(1905).

Buencamino taught at the Ateneo de Manila in

the early 1900s. He also taught at the Centro
Escolar de Seoritas and headed its Music
Department for 30 years. He founded the
Buencamino Music Academy in 1930, and
had Nicanor Abelardo as one of his students. He
also became a musical director
for sarswela productions, and composer of music
for films produced by Sampaguita Pictures, LVN,
and Excelsior.