THE UST Conservatory of Music marked its 80th anniversary with an exhibit tracing its development from classes held at the old UST Gymnasium to its eventual transfer to the Albertus Magnus Building.
Opened on Aug. 26 at the UST Museum, “Legacy in Harmony” uses archival documents, photographs and music to recount the Conservatory’s history through the places it occupied and the people and events associated with them.
“Naisip ko at napag-aralan ko na why not do the history according to the places they have been to,” Assoc. Prof. Mary Ann Bulanadi, a research fellow at the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities, said.
(I thought about it and studied it, and wondered: Why not tell the history according to the places they have been to?)
The exhibit traces the Conservatory’s history across three locations: the old UST Gymnasium, the Quonset Hut and, beginning in 1967, the Albertus Magnus Building.
Archival issues of the Varsitarian were among the sources used to reconstruct the Conservatory’s history for the exhibit.
Music at UST before the Conservatory
Organized musical activity at UST preceded the establishment of the Conservatory.
The UST Symphony Orchestra was established in 1927 under Manuel Casas, a conductor who was then a student at what is now the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.
Other musical groups on campus included the Estudiantina and the Seminary’s choir and orchestra.
Beginnings at the UST Gymnasium
The Conservatory of Music was inaugurated in March 1946 following the approval of a student petition by the rector, Fr. Eugenio Jordan, O.P.
Founded under Fr. Gregorio Garcia, O.P., it was the first music school established in UST’s then-three-century history.
The Conservatory was initially housed at the old UST Gymnasium, now the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building.
It underwent a change in leadership in 1947 when pianist Julio Esteban Anguita succeeded inaugural director Manuel Cuerva.
Under Anguita, the Conservatory redesigned its curriculum, reorganized its faculty and acquired new musical recording equipment.
The revised curriculum in 1948 allowed graduates to receive an undergraduate diploma. Previously, Conservatory graduates could obtain only a teacher’s certificate.
Move to the Quonset Hut
In 1952, the Conservatory moved to a one-story structure on the eastern side of the campus between UST Hospital and the Roque Ruaño Building. The structure became known as the “Quonset Hut.”
The 1952–1953 academic year featured graduation recitals and concerts, including a Conservatory concert with the Manila Symphony Orchestra in November 1952.
The following academic year, enrollment reached 305 students.
In a special year-end report, the Varsitarian described the Conservatory’s achievements as “personality-oriented” and listed prominent figures associated with the school that year.
Settling at the Albertus Magnus Building
The Conservatory moved to the Albertus Magnus Building in 1967, where it remains today.
The period included a gala concert featuring several musicians, including Sergio Esmilla Jr., flutist Domingo Vicente and soloist Nilda Meneses-Redoblado, as well as performances of the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto in G minor and songs rendered by Gloria Dizon Coronel.
Pianist Benjamin Tupas became director of the Conservatory in 1968 and established its Jazz Department.
The following year, Tupas planned weekly music education classes for students who could not travel to Manila daily, free piano and guitar lessons for indigent music students and an arts workshop for children.
The exhibit places these developments alongside archival materials documenting the Conservatory’s concerts, recitals and other activities over eight decades. Rhamiel Mae T. Vicente, Lianne Therese G. Espiritu and Inah Denise A. Manansala, with reports from Kirsten Therese C. Barrameda
