FEU confers on Sunico doctorate degree, h.c.

During the 78th commencement exercises of Far Eastern University, this venerable institution conferred the degree Doctor of Humanities honoris causa on internationally acclaimed concert pianist and doctor of music Raul M. Sunico, currently dean of the UST Conservatory. The investiture and awarding of the diploma was by FEU President Dr. Lydia B. Echauz; the awarding of the scroll, by Dr. Lourdes R. Montinola, FEU chair, board of trustees.

Dean Sunico’s citation reads: "For his unusual gifts of lyricism and poetry in playing music and for earning international recognition as a concert pianist, orchestral soloist, and composer-arranger of Philippine Music/For excelling in a number of international competitions which include the Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli, Italy, and the University of Maryland International Piano Competition in the US/For being chosen one of The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines for Music in 1986, for authoring the textbook Musika at Sining/ For writing piano arrangements of different folk songs of the Philippines in a five-volume series entitled Himig which garnered the 1995 Ceres Alabado Award for Children’s Books."

To the foregoing, I might add other distinctions. Dr. Sunico is the only pianist here and abroad who has played the four concertos of Rachmaninoff, without scores, in a single evening. This was on Sept. 13, 2003 at the CCP main theater to the accompaniment of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Conductor Herminigildo Ranera. Foreign critics have written glowingly of pianists playing this or that concerto of Rachmaninoff’s four, but never of any pianist interpreting all four in one night without scores.

Dr. Sunico’s memory is so phenomenal, it retains music like a computer. He memorized Ferrucio Busoni’s Piano Concerto of over 170 pages in a month or so, committing the bulk to memory on the plane only a few days before he was to play the work in Manila for a concert! In this regard, when he performs with other pianists, he places a score in front of him merely as a token because he neither looks at it nor turns its pages.

Candidly, it is extremely difficult to surmise how Dr. Sunico accomplishes his multifarious tasks. Shortly after his conferment at the FEU, he left for abroad to fulfill concert engagements in New York and Toronto, flying back immediately for successive performances this month in Manila while attending, in-between, to his duties at the UST.

As commencement speaker at the FEU rites, Dr. Sunico gave meaningful counsel to the graduates. Herewith are excerpts from his address:

Though the present job market may not be as lucrative, your degrees will become permanent assets – which some of you may use immediately, while others may have to wait awhile before realizing their tangible results. Perhaps, you may be a bit perplexed to appreciate the value of education at a time when politics seems to be the focal point of our national activity and the virtues of honesty, integrity, and truthfulness seem to be the exception rather than the rule. And yet, this is the very situation that has made it ripe for us to make a difference. Do not think that the knowledge you have obtained from your school consists merely of theoretical principles, formulas, and creative writing. So much more has been learned outside the textbook that will ultimately guide us in how we live our life. Sure, we value all the factual data we have learned and memorized, for they are tools to develop our expertise and effective communication. But more than these, we have come to grapple with the environment together with our peers, with our professors, with the man in the street. Together, we have been molded by our school into espousing proper values, as well as a sense of cooperation, camaraderie, commitment, and compassion. Eventually, these are the traits that will carry us through life, especially as we develop into the future leaders that many of us dream about. In essence, the knowledge and specialized training we have learned act as a transitory springboard towards a more responsible role in the work force in particular and society in general.

The important message on this special occasion is that in order to make a difference, we do not have to conquer the world – or at least not yet. There is no magic wand that will instantly transform those beautiful togas into excutive robes and presidential attires. Let us not rush into achieving great things or thinking big. A great nation is not made solely by its leaders, but more so by the little people in the towns and barrios whose perseverance, hard work, and combined output actually supply the nation with its lifeblood. The leaders may run the country, but it is the people that make it run. If only we are blessed with the proper guidance of our leaders and can emulate their fine example, imagine the tremendously positive effect it would have on the nation’s productivity and guiding principles. Whether we get the job we want or are left to persevere with unrelated types of employment, or even suffer the early pangs of insecurity through unemployment, let us not lose the values and principles that we have learned to cherish and uphold.

In closing, I would like to make mention and acknowledge the support of the Amon Foundation, chaired then by Mr. Aurelio Montinola, the late husband of your beloved Chairman Lourdes R. Montinola, for their generous assistance of my studies abroad and in developing my musical career. Together, beloved co-graduates, let us be thankful for our blessings and relish this moment of achievement as we carry this academic stamp towards realizing our individual goals.