Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab (born May 4, 1954), known professionally as Ryan Cayabyab (), is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named National Artist of the Philippines for Music in 2018.
His works range from commissioned full-length ballets, theater musicals, choral pieces, a Mass set to the unaccompanied chorus, and orchestral pieces, to commercial recordings of popular music, film scores and television specials.
He composed the Da Coconut Nut Song performed by his Smokey Mountain band, Cayabyab's current project includes the Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS), a group of seven singers comparable to Smokey Mountain in the early 1990s. After FreemantleMedia decided not to renew the ''Philippine Idol'' franchise, Cayabyab transferred to rival show '' Pinoy Dream Academy,'' replacing Jim Paredes as the show's headmaster. PDA 2 started on June 14, 2008. He also became the chairman of the board of judges for
GMA Network
GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...
's musical-reality show '' To The Top''.
He is the executive director of the PhilPop MusicFest Foundation Inc., the organization behind the Philippine Popular Music Festival.
Early life and education
Born Raymundo Cayabyab on May 4, 1954. At age four, Cayabyab was learning piano from music students' boarders while accompanying his mother in the UP campus. He was also often brought to music rehearsals in the Abelardo Hall by his mother. When Cayabyab was six years old, his mother died due to cancer at the age of 43. According to Cayabyab later in life, that his mother discouraged him and his sibling from pursuing a musical career due to hardship his mother herself experienced as a musician.
After his mother's death, Cayabyab stumbled upon a box full of piano pieces left behind by UP music students, and used the manuscript to teach himself play the piano. By age 14, he was able to perform
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
's '' Rhapsody in Blue''.
Graduating from high school, at age 15 he was able to secure a job as a pianist of a bank's chorale group. His earnings would later fund his collegiate studies. Cayabyab initially took up a bachelor's degree in business administration major in accounting at the
University of the Philippines, Diliman
The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...
, as a way to honor his mother's request.
In 1972, Cayabyab became involved with the Philippine Madrigal Singers and became acquainted with Victor Laurel, a film and theater actor at the time, who often worked with actress-singer
Nora Aunor
Nora Cabaltera Villamayor (May 21, 1953 – April 16, 2025), known professionally as Nora Aunor (), was a Filipino actress, producer and singer. Known for her leading roles with patriotic, feminist and Political sociology, socio-political th ...
. Senator Salvador Laurel, taking notice of Cayabyab's talent, convinced him to pursue collegiate studies in music and offered him a scholarship. With the consent of his father, Cayabyab moved to the UP College of Music the following year.
Cayabyab took ten years to graduate from the UP College of Music due to doing tours within that period. He earned a Bachelor of Music, Major in Theory degree in 1983.
Career
After graduating from college, he became a full-time professor for the Department of Composition and Music Theory in the UP Diliman for almost two decades.
At the turn of the 21st century, Cayabyab was considering a move to migrate abroad with his family. Danding Cojuangco (President of the San Miguel Corporation) offered him a position to produce and perform new music to add to the Philippine music scene; Cayabyab accepted the offer as Executive and Artistic Director of the San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He served there for several years until the sudden closure of the foundation.
As music director, conductor and accompanist, Cayabyab has performed in the United States with Philippine music figures, at venues including
Avery Fisher Hall
David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic.
The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...
in the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...
in New York City;
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
(both the Main and Recital halls) in New York; the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
and the
Washington Convention Center
The Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. was a convention center located at 909 H Street NW, occupying the city block bounded by New York Avenue (Washington, D.C.), New York Avenue, 9th Street, H Street, and 11th Street.Orpheum in Vancouver; and
Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian language, Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot racing, chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine Hill, Avent ...
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
.
He has traveled as music director in most of the Southeast Asian cities, in the cities of Australia as well as in Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States. He has worked in the same shows with Sammy Davis Jr. and
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...
,
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
,
King Fahd
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 1 ...
of
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, and U.S. President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts.
In Manila, he has conducted the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines for a concert of Philippine and American contemporary music; and the Manila Chamber Orchestra for a concert of his original works.
Cayabyab only wrote three songs in the 2010s, due to focusing on promoting Original Pilipino Music for most of the period. In 2020, due to the idle time caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Cayabyab was able to write at least ten songs in 2020 alone, two of which was made available in
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
.
Advertising
Cayabyab composed a jingle for an advertisement of the soft drink brand Sarsi, entitled "Sarsi: Angat sa Iba" (Sarsi: Different from Others) in 1989.
Under collaboration with Philippine fruit juice brand Locally, Cayabyab did the composition for "Prutas Pilipinas" a 2020 contemporary folk song which featured fruits cultivated in the Philippines. The lyrics was written by Noel Ferrer and the song was performed by The Company.
Television
'' Ryan Ryan Musikahan'', the television show, has won a total of fourteen awards as Best Television Musical Show and for Cayabyab, the Best Show Host in various television award-giving bodies. Likewise, as an artist, producer, arranger, and composer, he has won a total of eighteen awards from the recording industry for various commercial recordings. He has produced albums of the Filipino teen group Smokey Mountain, Broadway and West End's diva, Lea Salonga, and Spanish singer
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...
.
In 1987 he rearranged the classical tinged version of
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...
jingle (composed by Dominic Salustiano), which was used in the network's Station ID from 1987-1995. He also composed the "ABS-CBN Millennium Overture", which was used in the ABS-CBN New Millennium Station ID in 2000.
Theater
His theater musicals ''El filibusterismo'' (1993) and '' Noli Me Tángere'' (1995) have won acclaim and have been performed extensively in the cities of Japan in 1994 and 1996. They received a special
NHK
, also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee.
NHK ope ...
broadcast in November 1996, and in
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
in the same year. Another musicale, ''Magnificat'', has had nearly 200 performances.
His other musicals include ''Katy'' (words by Jose Javier Reyes), ''Alikabok'', ''Ilustrado'' and the classic pop-ballet ''Rama Hari'' (words by 2006 National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera). ''Katy'' would become Caybyab’s most famous musical in the 1980s.
His latest opera, ''Spoliarium'' (libretto by Fides Cuyugan-Asensio), premiered in February 2003 at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the CCP, and is to be followed by another opera also with Asensio, ''Mariang Makiling at Ang Mga Nuno sa Punso'' (Maria Makiling and the Old Men on the Mound), with music also by Ryan Cayabyab.
In 2011, he composed for the concert ''Ageless Passion'' (libretto by Kristian Jeff Agustin), which was commissioned by the family of retired Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, and staged at the Meralco theater. In 2016, "Ageless Passion" was staged as a full musical, reuniting Cayabyab and Agustin.
''LORENZO'', a musical on the life of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, also showcases music composed and arranged by Cayabyab. ''LORENZO'' started its runs in September 2013.
Other
Cayabyab composed "Mabuhay", the opening song of Miss Universe 1994 pageant, held in Manila, Philippines.
In 2005, Cayabyab composed the official soundtrack for the 23rd edition of the
Southeast Asian Games
The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...
in Manila.
In 2006, Cayabyab signed on as a resident judge for the first season of '' Philippine Idol'', offering critiques for the contestants on the reality-talent show. He was chosen by the top guns of ''Philippine Idol'', while the other two judges, Pilita Corrales and the late Francis Magalona, had to undergo auditions. He also composed the themes of TV Patrol and
The World Tonight
''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on dome ...
in 1993 and it was used until 1996 for TV Patrol (The World Tonight has since been using his composed theme from 1996).
In 2019, Cayabyab composed the theme song for the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, "We Win as One"; with lyrics by playwright Floy Quintos, and sung by Lea Salonga.
Achievements
Ryan Cayabyab is 2004's Gawad CCP para sa Sining in MUsic. On February 2, 1999, he was selected as one of the 100 awardees of the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts . He became the first recipient of the Antonio C. Barreiro Achievement Award on May 4, 1996, for significant and lasting contributions to the growth and development of Filipino music. Likewise, on June 18, 1996, Awit Awards, the recording industry awards, awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award for "invaluable contribution and outstanding achievements in the promotion and development of Filipino music." The
University of the Philippines
The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...
Alumni Association has conferred upon him the Professional Award in music for the year 1998. In 2012, Ryan won the MYX Magna Award in the Myx Music Awards 2012 for his achievements in music and in the OPM industry. The Music School of Ryan Cayabyab specializes in developing outstanding performance artists is run by Emmy Cayabyab, Ryan's wife. Established in 1986, the music studio has trained a whole generation of young singer-performers who have become nationally known Filipino performing artists.
SMFPA
Ryan Cayabyab was also the Executive and Artistic Director of the San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts for several years. He was the conductor of the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra (SMPO) and the San Miguel Master Chorale ( SMMC). Under his direction, the SMPO and the SMMC recorded seven albums to date: ''Great Filipino Love Songs'' (2004), ''Great Original Pilipino Music by Ryan Cayabyab'' (2004), ''The Sacred Works of Ryan Cayabyab'' (2004), ''Pasko I'' and ''Pasko II'' (2005), ''Great Original Pilipino Music from the Movies'' (2006), and ''Dancing in the Rain'' (2006).
National Artist of the Philippines
In 2018, Ryan Cayabyab was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines for his contribution to Filipino music.
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
In September 2019, the Ramon Magsaysay Award was presented to Cayabyab – the only Filipino among the honorees in 2019 – recognizing him for "showing us all that music can indeed instill pride and joy, and unify people across the many barriers that divide them."
Personal life
Cayabyab married Emmy Punsalan in 1985. They have two children.
Cayabyab is a Roman Catholic, and has written various masses and other religious compositions throughout his career, including the song "Say Yes to Life" which he wrote with Steve Latorre and Louie C. Reyes for the Pro-Life Philippines advocacy group in 1988.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
awarded him the highest papal award for Laity for his many contributions in the field of religious-themed compositions and sacred works. Among his ecclesiastical works are, "Eclesiastes" for choir and piano, his first large religious composition; "Misa" for unaccompanied choir; stage musicals like "Magnificat," “Birhen ng Caysasay" and, "Lorenzo;" and church songs such as or "I Believe in Peace," “The Prophet," “Asin ng Pamayanan," “Live Christ, Share Christ," and "Icthus" in ''St. John's Mass.''
He is also a TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men) awardee for contemporary Filipino music in 1978. He won the Grand Prize award at the first Metro Manila Popular Music Festival for the song "Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika".
*2001, Ryan Cayabyab is a laureate of the Onassis International Cultural Competitions (2nd Prize), having won for original music composition for dance.
*As of 2006, he has won three international Grand Prix awards for his compositions; in the First Seoul Song Festival, in the Voice of Asia Song Festival in the former U.S.S.R., and in the Tokyo Music Festival. *He won the Jingle of the Year award from the Philippine advertising industry
*Bronze Awardee at the New York Film and Television Awards.
*He has won a total of ten best movie score awards from the various film award-giving bodies.
He received in September 2019 the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, highlighting "his compositions and performances that have defined and inspired Filipino popular music across generations...", being cited, among other achievements, "that have defined and inspired Filipino popular music across generations."