CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS

RODOLFO
CORNEJO
(MAY 15, 1909- AUGUST 11,1991)
• Rodolfo Cornejo is the only Filipino composer with two
doctoral degrees in music.
• He finished Doctor of Philosophy Major in Composition
from Neotarian College Kansasin 1947 and Doctor of
Music Degree honoris causa from Chicago College in
1954.
• He is noted for his extraordinary ability to do impromptu
classical improvisation.
• Cornejo is considered as “child prodigy”.
• He became the organist at the Pasay Catholic Church at
the age of 8.
• He wrote his 1st composition at the age of 10 entitled
“Glissando Waltz”.
• He enrolled at the University of the Philippines,
Conservatory of Music at the age of 14 while he was still
in High School.
• He was mentored by Francisco Santiago, Nicanor Abelardo and
Alexander Lippay.
• By the age of 16, he had 26 composition published by the United
Publishing Company, Inc.
• In 1950, he graduated in UP and was offered a teaching position
by then UP President Rafael Palma.
• Some of well-known musicians like Lucio San Pedro, Felipe de
Leon, Candida Bautista and Flora Zarco studied under him in UP.
• He was able to compose around 300 vocal and instrumental pieces
combined.
• Dr. Cornejo’s parents are Miguel Cornejo, Sr. and Crisanta
Soldevilla.
• Some of his famous composition are:
• Piano Trio
• Beneath this Heart of Clay
• Call of Day
• Ruby
• Philippine Fantasy
FELIPE PADILLA DE LEON
(MAY 1, 1912 – DECEMBER 5, 1992)
• He was a Filipino classical music composer, conductor,
and scholar.
• He was known for composing different sonatas, marches,
and concertos that reflect the Filipino identity.
• He was also recognized as a composer who experienced
different regime change throughout the course of his
lifetime.
• He was the third of four children by the second marriage of his
mother Natalia Padilla to Juan de Leon. His father died when he
was three years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his elder
half-brother, Pedro P. San Diego.
• In 1927, he took up Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines,
but he had to abandon his studies to make a living.
• He played the trombone in cabarets and circuses, and later worked
as an assistant conductor of the Nueva Ecija High School
Orchestra, where he started composing music.
• To improve his composing skills he again enrolled to the
University of the Philippines, and graduated in 1939 with
a diploma of music teacher and conductor.
• He continued his studies under Vittorio Giannini at the
Juilliard School in New York, U.S.
• He was married to Iluminada Mendoza with whom he
had six children.
Some of his compositions are:
• Bagong Pagsilang
• Noli Me Tangere
• Awit sa Paglikha ng Bagong Pilipinas
• Magtanim Ay Di Biro
• El Filibusterismo
• Noche Buena
LUCIO D. SAN PEDRO
(FEBRUARY 11, 1913 – MARCH 31, 2002)
• He was a Filipino composer and teacher who was proclaimed a
National Artist of the Philippines for music in 1991.
• He came from a family with musical roots and he began his career
early.
• When he was still in his late teens, he succeeded his deceased
grandfather as the local church organist.
• By then, he had already composed songs, hymns, and 2 complete
masses for voices and orchestra.
• After studying with several prominent musicians in the
Philippines, he took advanced composition training with Bernard
Wagenaar of the Netherlands.
• He also studied harmony and orchestration under Vittorio
Giannini and took classes at Juilliard in 1947.
• His other vocation is teaching.
• He has taught at the Ateneo de Manila University, virtually all the
major music conservatories in Manila and at the College of Music
of the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
• He retired as a full professor in 1978.
• He later received the title “Professor Emeritus” from the
University in 1979.
• He became a faculty member of the Centro Escolar
University Conservatory of Music in Manila.
• On May 9, 1991, President Corazon C. Aquino
proclaimed San Pedro a National Artist of the Philippines
for Music.
• San Pedro died of Cardiac Arrest on March 31, 2002 in
Angono, Rizal at the age of 89.
• Many peers from the Order of National Artist attended his
tribute at the Tanghalang Pambansa, including:
Napoleon Abueva, Daisy Avellana, Leonor Gokingco,
Nick Joaquín, Arturo Luz, José Maceda and Andrea
Veneracion.
• Lucio San Pedro was buried in his hometown of Angono,
Rizal.
• He was married to Gertrudes San Pedro with whom he had 3
children.

Lucio Diestro San Pedro’s compositions:

• Sa Ugot ng Duyan
• Sa Lupang Sarili
• Simbang Gabi
• Payapang Daigdig
• Lahing Kayumanggi