Dr. Raul Sunico, a renowned pianist, replaces Japanese violinist Ryu Goto as the featured guest soloist for the PPO Concert Series VII, slated on March 13, 2020, 8pm, at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater).
Due to the travel restrictions brought by the covid-19 outbreak, Mr. Goto has decided to postpone all his performances in Asia.
“We are happy to inform you that Dr. Raul Sunico has accepted the invitation of Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura to perform in place of the esteemed violinist. We are very grateful to Dr. Sunico for accepting despite the short notice,” shared PPO orchestra director Eugene A. De Los Santos, DMA.
Dr. Sunico will be performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F Major with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Fukumura.
The former CCP president graduated from the University of the Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor of Music (cum laude), Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and Master of Statistics.
A scholarship grant from former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos through the auspices of the Young Artists Foundation of the Philippines enabled him to finish his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School of Music and attained his doctorate degree in Piano Performances from the New York University. He was also conferred a Doctor of Humanities degree (honoris causa) by the Far Eastern University in 2005.
Sunico first attracted attention when he won the Manila Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists’ Auditions performing the Liszt Concerto No. 1 conducted by Dr. Herbert Zipper. He had performed with notable conductors including Enrique Batiz, Pierro Gamba, Garyth Nair, Helen Quach, Redentor Romero, Luis Valencia, Oscar Yatco, Ruggiero Barbieri, Sergio Esmilla, Eugene Castillo, and Herminigildo Ranera.
Sunico won the silver medal in the 1979 Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli, Italy, was a finalist in the 1979 Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy and received the Henry Cowell Prize in the 1980 University of Maryland International Piano Competition in the United States. He has also served on the juries of the Bergen Philharmonic Competition in New Jersey, Isidor Bajic Memorial Piano Competition in Novi Sad, Serbia; Piyabhand Sanitwongse Piano Competition in Bangkok, Thailand; the Manila Symphony Competition, the Jeffrey Ching Piano Competition and the Piano Teachers Guild of the Philippines Competition in Manila.
A TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines) Awardee for Music in 1986, Sunico has been conferred a 1996 PAMANA Presidential Award for Overseas Filipinos, and received the 1995 Ceres Alabado Award for Children’s Books, among his other distinguished accolades. He was also conferred the Commendatore Award (Order of the Star of Italy) by the President of the Republic of Italy in April 2017.
