Maestros in the house
Even as music raged loudly in their kids’ genes, Mr. and Mrs. C—aka National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab and wife Emmy—did not really expect them to follow in their footsteps since they weren’t consciously pushing Krina and Toma toward that direction.
And Toma could have gone on a different path. In fact, his love for visual storytelling drove him to take up film in college instead. But eventually, he slid back into music, becoming an educator, conductor, composer, arranger, and performer.
“Music started calling back. It felt smoother for me to make music than to make film,” said Toma, who would later find a way to meld both worlds working as an orchestra conductor for musicals. He also teaches music theory and Filipino film society in Ateneo de Manila University.
But while the children did eventually join the parents in the same industry, they were largely encouraged to carve their own paths. Leaning more into jazz, Toma performs with his band Debonair District, while Krina had Baihana.
Not to say they strayed too far. In fact, both kids were also bitten by the academia bug, just like their parents. And Mr. C’s chest puffs up in pride talking about how they have gone further than he and his wife did.
While he did not graduate with Latin honors and Mrs. C graduated cum laude in choral conducting, Krina graduated summa cum laude in choral conducting for her undergraduate course and is now taking up her doctorate in ethnomusicology. Toma went even further, graduating magna cum laude from his second course of choral conducting.
“Sabi ko, ‘Talo tayo!’” said Mr. C, laughing. “We’re very proud and very happy that they went further.”
Lessons from Papa
Toma’s exposure to the music culture started very early, when he used to pick up his Papa from the University of the Philippines College of Music.
“When he was around 3 years old, he would bring my baon to me in class,” related Mr. C. “So he would come inside the room and sit in the class. And my students who knew him from back then even became his teachers.”
Toma would also sit in during performances when Mr. C was still with the San Miguel Master Chorale. “It was really helpful because I learned a lot,” he said.
Not that the kids ever really came to Mr. C for help during their years of studying music. “They’re receptive to my input, but when it comes to details about their subjects, they never ever consulted with me,” said Mr. C.
Part of it is not wanting to take much of their father’s busy schedule, Toma said. But a part of them also didn’t want to depend too much on their parents. “We want to prove ourselves. I wanted to do things on my own because I want to prove that I could do them and I learned them on my own.”
So there really wasn’t a student-mentor relationship between father-and-son. That’s not to say Toma didn’t learn anything from his father. One of the biggest lessons he picked up is humility.
“The way you approach your work should be not to be a know-it-all, not to be arrogant or bossy. And I agree because, as human beings, we want to relate with each other in a very positive light and to be able to lift each other up. Especially in this developing age when we’re trying to look after each generation.
“Being humble enables you to learn more genuinely, and at the same time, it’s okay for you to make mistakes because you’ll be able to learn something at the end of the day,” said Toma.
Colleagues
“There will always be somebody better than you, eventually,” added Mr. C. “So that’s why you cannot stop learning because if you want to be ahead, if you want to be competitive, you have swallow your pride and learn more. That’s also what I learned in the past. If you want to gain respect, you have to be an authority in what you’re doing. But to gain the authority, you have to learn everything.“
More recently, the two are finding themselves working on some projects together.
“It’s good to work alongside him in choirs or in orchestra, we become colleagues. It’s a humbling experience to be able to share the music culture, learn from each other and be able to make music at the end of the day together,” said Toma.
As colleagues, Mr. C said they look at scores as professional musicians not as father-and-son. And there are perks of having grown up with the Ryan Cayabyab. “Sobrang vibe kami when it comes to work,” said Toma. “We already get what he wants, what we need to fix.”
Recently, father and son worked together on Mr. C’s new musical, “Florante at Laura.” Toma conducted the entire run. He also conducted “Rama Hari” in September last year and February.
This Dec. 13, they will flying to Turkiye for the the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Turkiye, where Toma will be conducting Abelardo Galang’s performance of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2.
“Now, it’s in Toma’s hands,” said Mr. C, who will be conducting a Turkish orchestra performing Filipino folk songs.
