Angeles City composer Conrado “Titus” del Rosario will be part of the Philippine Delegation of Composers and Musicians invited to the China ASEAN Music Festival in Nanning, China in May this year.
His latest composition “SUNIS” for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano will be premiered by the Ripieno Ensemble in the festival. The Philippine Delegation includes National Artist Ramon P. Santos and UP Composition Prof. Jonas Baes.
“Sunis” is a Kapampangan word and has several inter-connecting meanings; first used to describe the sounds birds make, it then developed into a term for melody and later was also used to refer to literary verses.The composition SUNIS explores the the play of the musical representation of these meanings, exploring their potential and expands them to new musical combinations.In it one can also hear musical material inspired by traditional Filipino chant.
Conrado “Titus” del Rosario was born 1958 in Angeles City, Pampanga. He won a scholarship to study composition, conducting and flute at the University of the Philippines College of Music with Lucio San Pedro, Francisco Feliciano, Ramon Santos, Eric Barcelo and Sonny Yangco. He won 3rd prize in solo instrument category (flute) in the National Competitions for Young Artists NAMCYA.
He conducted the Young Artists’ Chamber Orchestra and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In 1982 he won the first prize in the League of Filipino Composers Chamber Music Composition Competition with his String Quartet No.1 and received a Young Artists of the Philippines Foundation Scholarship for further studies at the Berlin Hochschule der Kuenste (now Berlin University of the Arts) where he studied composition with Isang Yun and Witold Szalonek. He won the 1985 Hambacher International Composition Competition Prize. 2nd prize at the 1988 Hitzacker International Composition Competition.
He also won Work-Scholarships from the Berlin Cultural Senate in 1988, 1991 , 1992 and 1997 which provided funds to create compositions and have them performed. His chamber music piece “pine whispers“ was chosen as one of the four finalists in the 1995 IRINO International Composition Competition in Japan. He was invited for a Concert-Lecture tour in the 1997 Pacific Music Festival in Canada. In 1998 he was the Berlin representative for a half year Working-Scholarship at the Cite International des Arts in Paris, France. He was a member of the Gamelan-Ensemble, Banjar Gruppe Berlin. In 1989 he founded B I C E -The Berlin Improvising Composers Ensemble and has performed with with this group in various european and american cities. His comprehensive list of works include works for orchestra, chamber music, pieces for improvising ensembles, electronic music, music for radio and a chamber opera. Performances and broadcasts of his chamber music and opera in different European, Asian and American cities and festivals.
In 2013, he returned to his home in Angeles City and will continue his musical activities in his country. At the moment, he is working on a comissioned solo piece in different versions for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon to be used as a contest piece for the 2017 NAMCYA (National Music Competitions for Young Artists).