Redentor Romero

Conductor Redentor Romero was the first Filipino to conduct the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and the Beijing Philharmonic. Romero composed several orchestral works, the most frequently performed of which is "Philippine Portrait. He also wrote an autobiographical book, "An American Affair". He founded the National Philharmonic Orchestra in 1961 and directed it for 40 years. It accompanied some of the world's greatest soloists, among them Russian violinist Leonid Borisovich Kogan, French pianist Philippe Entremont, American pianist Gary Graffman, Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer, Hungarian-American cellist Janos Starker, Russian violinist Vladimir Spivakov, American pianist Susan Starr, Romanian-British soprano Nelly Miricioiu, American violinist Stephanie Chase, Austrian pianist Paul Badura Skoda, and Romanian soprano Eleonora Enachescu to name just a few. He also produced several recordings in cooperation with some well-known orchestras like the London Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic and the Moscow Symphony and later established Philharmonic Records that would release many of his recordings. Romero also published several books on Philippine music, including "Great Philippine Classics for Violin and Piano" and "50 Immortal Filipino Duets." He studied music at the UP Conservatory of Music and debuted as a young conductor in Guam. He later became concertmaster of the Honolulu Symphony. He proceeded to California and took postgraduate courses at the San Francisco Conservatory. Born in 1929, Maestro Redentor Romero passed away on March 28, 2001 of lung cancer.