Ernani Cuenco

Ernani Joson Cuenco (May 10, 1936 – June 11, 1988) was a Filipino composer, film scorer, musical director, music teacher and Philippine National Artist for Music. 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 Symphony Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra from 1960 to 1968, and the Manila Chamber Soloists from 1966 to 1970. 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.

He was proclaimed National Artist for Music in 1999; He was an award-winning film scorer in the early 1960s, working in collaboration with National Artist for Music Levi Celerio. He was also a teacher and a seasoned orchestra player.

His songwriting credits 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 Ko Ikaw Kamahal." The latter song shows how Cuenco enriched the Filipino love ballad by adding the elements of kundiman to it. Composer, film scorer, musical director and music teacher, Ernani J. Cuenco was hailed as a National Artist in Music in 1999. His works embody a Filipino sense of musicality, and the classical sound of the kundiman is evident in some of his ballads. Up to this day, his compositions are popular and well-loved.

On May 10, 1936, Cuenco was born to Feliz Cuenco and Maria Joson in Malolos, Bulacan. As a boy, he was encouraged to learn the violin and was mentored by his mother, his godmother Doña Belen Aldaba Bautista and his first teacher, Jovita Tantoco. He finished his elementary studies at the Immaculata Academy of Malolos in 1948, then went on to study at the University of Santo Tomas High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in Music, Major in Piano at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music in 1956. He got a scholarship grant at the UST in the same year and studied the cello under Professor Modesto Marquiz, finishing in 1965. In 1968, he completed his master's degree in Music at the Sta. Isabel College in Manila.

From 1960 to 1968, he was a cellist at the Manila Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Hubert Zipper and played for the Filipino Youth Symphony Orchestra. He also played for the Manila Chamber Soloists from 1966 to 1970. His career as a musical director began in 1960 when he was discovered by Joseph Estrada playing as part of a band Cuenco formed with friends at an exclusive restaurant in Makati. In 1963, Cuenco was sent as a delegate to the International Music Conference in Tokyo, Japan. Aside from being a composer and musical director, he was also a music teacher at the UST until his death on June 11, 1988.