The National

Music Artist of the

Philippines
National Artists of the
Philippines
▪The Order of National Artists (Orden ng
Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the highest
national recognition given to Filipino
individuals who have made significant
contributions to the development of
Philippine arts, namely: Music, Dance,
Theater, Visual Arts, Literature, Film,
Antonino R. Buenaventura
• Antonino R. Buenaventura vigorously
pursued a musical career that spanned
seven decades of unwavering commitment
to advancing the frontiers of Philippine
music.

• In 1935, Buenaventura joined Francisca

Reyes-Aquino to conduct research on
folksongs and dances that led to its
popularization.

• Buenaventura composed songs,

• He was also a conductor and restored the Philippine Army
Band to its former prestige as one of the finest military
bands in the world making it “the only band that can sound
like a symphony orchestra”.

• This once sickly boy who played the clarinet proficiently has
written several marches such as the “Triumphal March,”
“Echoes of the Past,” “History Fantasy,” Second
Symphony in E-flat, “Echoes from the Philippines,” “Ode
to Freedom.”

• His orchestral music compositions include Concert

Triumphal March
Jose Maceda
• Jose Maceda, composer, musicologist,
teacher and performer, explored the
musicality of the Filipino deeply.

• Maceda embarked on a life-long

dedication to the understanding and
popularization of Filipino traditional
music. Maceda’s researches and
fieldwork have resulted in the
collection of an immense number of
• He wrote papers that enlightened scholars, both
Filipino and foreign, about the nature of Philippine
traditional and ethnic music. Maceda’s
experimentation also freed Filipino musical expression
from a strictly Eurocentric mold.

• Usually performed as a communal ritual, his

compositions like Ugma-
ugma(1963), Pagsamba (1968), and Udlot-
udlot (1975), are monuments to his unflagging
commitment to Philippine music.
Suling [sú.ling.] - bamboo
flute
Lucrecia R. Kasilag
Lucrecia R. Kasilag, an educator,
composer, performing artist,
administrator and cultural
entrepreneur of national and
international caliber, had involved
herself wholly in sharpening the
Filipino audience’s appreciation of
music. Kasilag’s pioneering task to
discover the Filipino roots through
ethnic music and fusing it with
• Her orchestral music includes Love Songs, Legend of
the Sarimanok, Ang Pamana, Philippine
Scenes, Her Son, Jose, Sisa and chamber music
like Awit ng mga Awit Psalms, Fantaisie on a 4-Note
Theme, and East Meets Jazz Ethnika.
Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (Philippine composer,
1918-2008) - Lullaby / Ukolébavka
Ernani J. Cuenco
• Ernani J. Cuenco is a seasoned musician
born in May 10, 1936 in Malolos, Bulacan.
A composer, film scorer, musical director
and music teacher, he wrote an
outstanding and memorable body of works
that resonate with the Filipino sense of
musicality and which embody an ingenious
voice that raises the aesthetic dimensions
of contemporary Filipino music.
• Cuenco played with the Filipino Youth
• He completed a music degree in piano and cello
from the University of Santo Tomas where he also
taught for decades until his death in 1988.

• His songs and ballads include “Nahan, Kahit na

Magtiis,” and “Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na
Lupa,” “Pilipinas,” “Inang Bayan,” “Isang
Dalangin,” “Kalesa,” “Bato sa Buhangin” and
“Gaano Kita Kamahal.”

• The latter song shows how Cuenco has enriched the

Kalesa
Lucio San Pedro
• Lucio San Pedro is a master composer,
conductor, and teacher whose music
evokes the folk elements of the Filipino
heritage. Cousin to “Botong” Francisco,
San Pedro produced a wide-ranging body
of works that includes band music,
concertos for violin and orchestra, choral
works, cantatas, chamber music, music for
violin and piano, and songs for solo voice.
• He was the conductor of the much
• His civic commitment and work with town bands have
significantly contributed to the development of a civic
culture among Filipino communities and opened a creative
outlet for young Filipinos.

• His orchestral music include The Devil’s Bridge, Malakas

at Maganda Overture,Prelude and Fugue in D
minor, Hope and Ambition; choral music Easter
Cantata, Sa Mahal Kong Bayan, Rizal’s Valedictory Poem;
vocal music Lulay,Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, In the Silence of the
Night; and band music Dance of the Fairies, Triumphal
March, Lahing Kayumanggi, Angononian March among
Sa Ugoy ng Duyan
Antonio J. Molina
• Antonio J. Molina, versatile musician,
composer, music educator was the last of the
musical triumvirate, two of whom were
Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago,
who elevated music beyond the realm of folk
music.
• At an early age, he took to playing the
violoncello and played it so well it did not
take long before he was playing as orchestra
soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House.
• Molina’s most familiar composition is Hating-
gabi, a serenade for solo violin and piano
accompaniment. Other works are (orchestral
music) Misa Antoniana Grand Festival Mass, Ang
Batingaw, Kundiman- Kundangan; (chamber
music) Hating Gabi, String Quartet, Kung sa
Iyong Gunita, Pandangguhan; (vocal
music) Amihan, Awit ni Maria Clara, Larawan
Nitong Pilipinas, among others.
Hating-Gabi
Francisco Feliciano
• Francisco Feliciano’s corpus of
creative work attests to the
exceptional talent of the Filipino as
an artist. His lifetime
conscientiousness in bringing out
the “Asianness” in his music,
whether as a composer, conductor,
or educator, contributed to
bringing the awareness of people all
• He brought out the unique sounds of our
indigenous music in compositions that have
high technical demands equal to the
compositions of masters in the western world.
By his numerous creative outputs, he has
elevated the Filipino artistry into one that is
highly esteemed by the people all over the
world.
• Major Works: Ashen Wings (1995), Sikhay sa
Pokpok Alimako
Levi Celerio
• Levi Celerio is a prolific lyricist
and composer for decades. He
effortlessly translated/wrote
anew the lyrics to traditional
melodies: “O Maliwanag Na
Buwan” (Iloko), “Ako ay May
Singsing” (Pampango),
“Alibangbang” (Visaya) among
• Born in Tondo, Celerio received his scholarship at the
Academy of Music in Manila that made it possible for him
to join the Manila Symphony Orchestra, becoming its
youngest member. He made it to the Guinness Book of
World Records as the only person able to make music using
just a leaf.

• A great number of his songs have been written for the local
movies, which earned for him the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Film Academy of the Philippines. Levi
Celerio, more importantly, has enriched the Philippine
Ako ay May Singsing
(Pampango)
Ramon P. Santos
• Ramon Pagayon Santos, composer,
conductor and musicologist, is
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
• Simultaneous with this was a reverting back to more
orthodox performance modes: chamber works and
multimedia works for dance and
theatre. Panaghoy (1984), for reader, voices, gongs
and bass drum, on the poetry of Benigno Aquino, Jr.
was a powerful musical discourse on the fallen
leader’s assassination in 1983, which subsequently
brought on the victorious People Power uprising in
1986.
Panaghoy
Jovita Fuentes
• Long before Lea Salonga’s break into
Broadway, there was already Jovita
Fuentes‘ portrayal of Cio-cio san in
Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly
at Italy’s Teatro Municipale di
Piacenza. Her performance was hailed
as the “most sublime interpretation
of the part”. This is all the more
• In recognition of these achievements, she was
given the unprecedented award of
“Embahadora de Filipinas a su Madre Patria”
by Spain.
• Her dream to develop the love for opera among
her countrymen led her to found the Artists’
Guild of the Philippines, which was responsible
for the periodic “Tour of Operaland”
productions.
Ahay Kalisud
Felipe Padilla de Leon
• Felipe Padilla de Leon, composer,
conductor, and scholar, Filipinized
western music forms, a feat aspired for
by Filipino composers who preceded
him.The prodigious body of De Leon’s
musical compositions, notably the
sonatas, marches, and concertos have
become the full expression of the
sentiments and aspirations of the
• He is the recipient of various awards and
distinctions: Republic Cultural Heritage Award,
Doctor of Humanities from UP, Rizal Pro-Patria
Award, Presidential Award of Merit, Patnubay ng
Kalinangan Award, among others.

• De Leon’s orchestral music include Mariang

Makiling Overture (1939), Roca Encantada,
symphonic legend (1950), Maynila
Overture (1976), Orchesterstuk(1981); choral
Sapagka’t Mahal Kita
Andrea Veneracion
Andrea Veneracion, is highly
esteemed for her
achievements as choirmaster
and choral arranger. Two of
her indispensable
contributions in culture and
the arts include the founding
of the Philippine Madrigal
• A former faculty member of the UP College
of Music and honorary chair of the
Philippine Federation of Choral Music, she
also organized a cultural outreach program to
provide music education and exposure in
several provinces. Born in Manila on July 11,
1928, she is recognized as an authority on
choral music and performance and has
served as adjudicator in international music
Bituing Marikit