"Before my mother died she asked my father not to allow any of the children to take up music as a career. She knew how hard life was for a musician financially," he recalls. The music lessons stopped and the piano pieces were packed away but Totoy’s passion for music wasn’t easily extinguished. He chanced upon the old pieces and relearned them on his own with only his older sister’s casual mentoring. He recalls how he struggled with the notes while his older sister hollered from across the room, from the garden or even from the toilet, "Mali! Dapat D flat yan (Wrong! It’s supposed to be D flat)!" This was Totoy’s first training towards excellence.
From humble beginnings, Totoy or Ryan Cayabyab as we know him now, propelled himself to greater heights with nothing but passion, hard work and a few old and yellowed piano pieces. Cayabyab is the nation’s top composer and musician, boasting of a long line of national and international awards and countless full length ballets, theater musicals, sacred chorale works, orchestra pieces, commercial recordings, film scores and television specials tucked under his generous belt. It is of little surprise that he was awarded the TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men) recognition in 1978 for contemporary Filipino Music, an award that was made especially for him. Of the many awards he has on his multi-tiered shelf, he admits that the TOYM is one of the most significant.
The TOYM is awarded by the Jaycees to young professionals who excel in their chosen field. Jaycees opened a new category for then 21-year-old Cayabyab because he had a music style all of his own. The previous awards were for classical musicians and Cayabyab didn’t really belong under this category. "I have earned the reputation of being too classical for a pop musician and too pop for a classical musician," Cayabyab recalls with a hearty laugh. "But it doesn’t really matter because I think it was already a given that I can make my own box. I make my own niche."
1978 was a promising and rewarding year for Cayabyab. The same year he got the TOYM he was also awarded by the Metro Pop, Famas and the Seoul Song Festival in Korea. Dazzled by the overwhelming recognitions, he still was not prepared when he got the call from the TOYM committee informing him that he was one of the finalists. "I did not expect anything at all because it was too big for me at that time. It’s still my most prestigious trophy. I think it belongs to one of the top."
For Cayabyab, the TOYM is not just a trophy to add to his already crowded display of honors. The TOYM is a responsibility that he carries seriously. "Once you get it you have to strive more to attain higher levels of excellence in whatever you do. With such an award people expect you to be excellent in what you’re doing," explains the Maestro.
However, he stresses that the TOYM, or any award for that matter, is not something that one should dream about. "You shouldn’t occupy yourself in trying to reach that award," he advises. "I always say it’s the icing on the cake because what I do I like doing and I put my best into it." He says he is just happy to be a good example and to be doing what he loves doing best. "You don’t have to shoot for any award. I think what is important is you learn everything about what you are doing and stretch it to the limit and really make a mark. You have to set yourself apart from everybody," Cayabyab adds.
According to him life was a series of chances he took head on. "Looking back, it is something that I don’t think I had power over," Cayabyab recalls. For him, opportunities just materialized from nowhere and the trick was to take chances. "Grab the opportunity without even thinking of what is in store for you in terms of monetary rewards."
He doesn’t like to work under the limits or pressures of a given amount. For Cayabyab, you can’t put a price into something you love to do. "It’s (success) not measured with pesos and cents. You just have to learn everything about your chosen career. If you learn everything and take everything that comes your way and put your best foot forward then you will be rewarded."
With this principle Cayabyab took on the TV project. He didn’t expect much and was prepared if he got canceled only after two shows. All that mattered to him was the chance for a new experience. The result was five beautiful years of melody and music in the popular Ryan, Ryan Musikahan. It went on to garner several awards and recognitions nationwide.
Ryan is presently head of the San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts, another break that materialized out of nowhere. He and his family were packing their bags to migrate to the USA with an "Extraordinary Alien Visa" when fate in the form of SMC’s chief, Eduardo Cojuangco, posed him a challenge he couldn’t resist.
The offer was for him to form a philharmonic orchestra and chorale from scratch. "I have never held an administrative position in my life. I don’t know how corporate works, how different structures work. No background at all but from out of the blue I get a call from SMC," recalls Cayabyab with a laugh. In spite of this, Cayabyab took the chair as executive artistic director for the Performing Arts of the San Miguel Foundation.
Cayabyab embraced the responsibility because it gave him the opportunity to develop Filipino music by breaking tradition and convention especially in the classical area. "The market for classical music the way we know it has been dwindling. There are very few people who really watch classical shows because it is not ensconced in our culture. We have to reinvent ourselves just to open up the market. The best possible way to do it is to focus on Filipino music first," explains Cayabyab. He just completed his album of classical Filipino music from the regions, which includes Usahay and Si Filimon.
In the past, seeing how his family had a difficult time, his main mission was to bring his family out of poverty. Now that he has gained all these and more, his mission in life is to bring Filipino music to greater heights. Through it all he remains grounded never forgetting his roots and keeping his eyes focused on excellence always with laughter and humor to spare. That is Ryan Cayabyab. Truly a TOYM awardee in every sense.