Lucio D. San Pedro

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National Artist of the Philippines for Music, Lucio D. San Pedro

Lucio San Pedro (1913-2002) was born on February 11, 1913 in Angono, Rizal, the Philippines. He was a composer and teacher in the Philippines. San Pedro, known in his home country as the composer of the popular lullaby Sa Ugoy ng Duyan (in collaboration with Levi Celerio) and the symphonic poem Lahing Kayumanggi, taught composition at a number of colleges and universities, including the University of the Philippines College of Music, where he served as Chairman of its Composition and Conducting Department from 1970 to 1973.

San Pedro came from a family with musical roots and he began his career early. When he was still in his late teens, he became a church organist, taking over the job after the death of his grandfather. By then, he had already composed songs, hymns and two complete Masses for voices and orchestra. After studying with several prominent musicians in the Philippines, San Pedro 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 was 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, where he retired as a full professor in 1978. He received the title Professor Emeritus from the University in 1979.

On May 9, 1991, President Corazon C. Aquino proclaimed Lucio D. San Pedro a National Artist of the Philippines for Music.[1]

He died of cardiac arrest on March 31, 2002 at the age of 89. A number of national artists attended his tribute at the Tanghalang Pambansa, including: Napoleon Abueva, Daisy Avellana, Leonor Gokingco, Nick Joaquin, Arturo Luz, Jose Maceda, and Andrea Veneracion. He is buried in his hometown of Angono, Rizal.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ National Commission for Culture and the Arts. (n.d.). National Artists of the Philippines. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts.