For the 2024 Graduate School (GS) Hooding Ceremony, the UPLB GS has chosen renowned composer, ethnomusicologist, and National Artist Ramon Pagayon Santos as its speaker.

Santos was born in Pasig City in February 1941, where his love for music was cultivated at a young age. He graduated with a Bachelor in Music from the University of the Philippines, majoring in music composition and conducting. He earned his Master of Music, with distinction, at Indiana University, and his PhD in Music Composition at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

As a composer, Santos is known for blending Western classical music with traditional Filipino and Southeast Asian elements, using orchestral instruments, Javanese gamelan, Philippine indigenous instruments, and different styles of vocal production to create unique and distinctly moving compositions. 

Some of his most well-known pieces such as “Badiw as Kapoonan,” “Awit ni Pulau,” “Daragang Magayon,” “Ta-O,” “Sandiwaan,” and “Nagnit Igak G’nan Wagnwag Nila” (Alingawngaw ng Kagitingan) integrate music, dance, drama, and poetry to showcase in full the rich complexity and beauty of Asian performing arts.

Santos has contributed invaluably to the field of ethnomusicology. His academic work includes research in Philippine and Asian contemporary music, Javanese gamelan music and dance, and Nan Kuan or Taiwanese folk music. He has also conducted field studies of traditional and indigenous Philippine music, such as those of the Ibaloi, Mansaka, Bontoc, Yanan, and Boholano.

His exceptional talent and passion for Filipino music traditions have garnered Santos recognition and acclaim for decades. He was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Artes et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1987, the Achievement Award in the Humanities by the National Research Council of the Philippines in 1994, the Gawad CCP sa Sining Musika in 2013, and the UPAA Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award in 2017, to name a few. He was named a National Artist in Music in 2014.

Santos’ story of rising from humble beginnings to international acclaim and his dedication to strengthening Filipino culture and identity through innovative musical works align with UPLB’s recent launch of its fifth AGORA focus area of social justice and cultural flourishing. His presence and speech is expected to serve as a powerful inspiration and motivation for the upcoming GS graduates.

The UPLB Graduate School Hooding Ceremony will be held on August 2, 2024, 7AM, at UPLB’s Copeland Gymnasium. (Albert Geoffred B. Peralta)