Pianist Raul Sunico will hold performances in three European countries this September upon the invitation of the respective Philippine Embassies and Consulates, including Bordeaux and Paris, France (September 19 to 21), Milan, Italy (September 24) and The Hague, Netherlands (September 28). He recently concluded his concert tour in Guam, Toronto, and Xiamen, China last June and July, where he also conducted masterclasses to Xiamen Art College students.
Sunico, who concluded his term as president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines May of this year, has given solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Kosovo, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Poland, England, Sweden, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines. In the United States, he had performed at the Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall and Town Hall in New York; the Knoxville World’s Fair in Tennessee; Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as performance halls in about 20 states. He has recorded more than forty compact discs and cassettes, and has embarked on a series of projects on music education in collaboration with Tawid Publications.
An awardee for TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men), AWIT, ALIW, SM Global Pinoy, UP Alumni Association, UST Dangal, Quezon City Diamond Jubilee as well as a Presidential awardee for Overseas Filipinos when he was still living abroad, Sunico was recently conferred the title of “Commendatore” (Order of the Star of Italy) by the President of the Republic of Italy for his contributions towards the enhancement of Philippine-Italy cultural relations.
Sunico 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 from the Young Artists’ Foundation of the Philippines enabled him to attend the Juilliard School in New York, where he received a Master of Music degree. Further grants from the Amon Foundation and the New York University helped him obtain a Doctor of Philosophy degree, major in Piano Performance, from the latter, where his dissertation featured a performance guide to the Philippine Piano Concertos. He was also conferred a Doctor of Humanities degree (honoris causa) by the Far Eastern University in March 2006.
