In her parents' footsteps

MANILA, Philippines - Multi-awarded composer, arranger, musical director and conductor Ryan Cayabyab was immediately modest when told his daughter, Krina, took after him when it comes to musical excellence.

Recently, Krina graduated with the highest honors of summa cum laude from the University of the Philippines College of Music, with a degree of Bachelor in Music major in choral conducting. Her grade point average is 1.15.

“Mana sa ina,” counters Ryan, who is fondly called Mr. C. Mom, of course, is noted soprano and theater artist Emmy Punzalan-Cayabyab, also a graduate of the UP College of Music. “Emmy graduated cum laude. Ako naman suma rin — suma-sampung taon,” Mr. C jests.

Krina, the eldest of the couple’s two children, attests there wasn’t any pressure for her to pursue a career in music in spite of her parents’ enviable achievements. However, since music is in her genes and she was exposed to beautiful melodies while growing up, she did not surprise everyone when she displayed her innate talent early on.

 “All my life, I have been exposed to my dad writing music at home and my mom rehearsing with choirs and groups and doing theater work,” 23-year-old Krina grants. “My parents say that when I was two, I would sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in a naturally-placed voice, with no sharps or flats.

“I remember a video of myself when I was around three years old, singing Kailan with my undies, my hair held up like Geneva Cruz’s. I think that scene was very clear to me — I had always wanted to do music.”

Understandably, Krina credits the influence of her mom and dad for her career choice. “Both my parents have rubbed off their creativity, innovativeness, generosity and their being go-getters on me,” Krina offers. “If there is one real thing I took after my dad, that would be the addictiveness to working into late hours and getting the best results for my work and studies. From my mom, I got the discipline, responsibility and industriousness.”

Getting into the UP College of Music was no easy task for Krina even if her parents were distinguished alumni of the institution. And obtaining the grade point average of 1.15 is definitely not a walk in the park.

“To be accepted in the program of the UP College of Music, one has to pass a qualifying theory entrance exam,” Krina explains. “Only after passing that can the applicant apply for talent auditions. Whether one passes the UPCAT (UP College Admission Test) or not, an applicant has to go through very rigid steps to enter the college.”

A source from the UP College of Music disclosed that Krina topped the theory exam during her entry. From day one of her freshman year, she was enrolled in the prestigious college, with tenor Montet Acoymo as dean.

Just like any other university student, Krina took up, alongside her music subjects, the required load of general education units in math, the sciences (anthropology, biology, marine science, geology), languages, behavioral sciences, education, social sciences and even community service.

“I studied really hard during my first year in college and when I got good grades, I couldn’t help getting addicted to receiving high marks,” Krina proudly beams. “I was inspired all the more to work hard as a student.”

Krina delivered the valedictory address for the 2010 graduating class, the way her mom did when the latter finished the same course in 1984.

After graduation, Krina wants to pursue performing and teaching. “Actually, even before graduation, I’ve been doing a lot of work — songwriting, arranging for choirs, singing with ensembles and bands,” she offers. “My parents have stopped giving me allowance because I’ve been making little money already.”

Her modest earnings come from being part of a singing trio called Baihana, for which she also works as a musical director. “We sing tunes in the feel of the ‘40s jazz, bebop and trio harmonies like those of the Andrews Sisters,” Krina says.

She also teaches voice and gives workshop classes in the family-owned Ryan Cayabyab Music School at Robinsons Galleria, apart from assisting in administrative tasks. She arranges songs for individual singers, choirs and bands. She has written three children’s musicales that are being performed by children’s classes in their music school. She is also the second keyboardist of the Ryan Cayabyab singers.

For the soundtrack of the film, Batanes (which starred Taiwanese superstar Ken Zhu of Meteor Garden fame with Iza Calzado), Krina wrote her first commercial song Pag-Abang. Another original composition, Isaw, is a finalist in the FILSCAP (Filipino Society for Composers and Publishers) songwriting competition, with finals set in May.

Krina attributes her accomplishments to her very supportive parents.

“My brother Toma and I are really fortunate to have not only very successful individuals as parents, but also most especially, wonderful and overly-loving people as parents,” Krina affirms. “They have strongly rubbed off on me good work ethic — to be patient, generous and not to expect any reward even if you have done your best. The important thing is you have made many people happy in a good way. Together with work, they have always imbibed in me to pray and be thankful for all the blessings and challenges that come my way.”