Venancio Saturno (born April 1, 1954), better known as Vehnee Saturno, is a Filipino composer, songwriter and record producer. He found success in 1982 by winning first place at the

Metro Manila Popular Music Festival The Metro Manila Popular Music Festival (also known as Metropop) was launched by the Popular Music Foundation of the Philippines in 1977 and was held annually from 1978 to 1985. It was "the country's pioneering and once foremost songwriting com ...

for the song "Isang Dakot".

Early life

Saturno was born in

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

on April 1, 1954, to a carpenter and a housewife who struggled together with his nine siblings with poverty which inspired him to write songs. His dream was to be a journalist, but due to his family's financial situation he was not able to finish his studies. He trained at the Philippine Air Force after

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and eventually did odd jobs including working as a

photocopy A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

machine operator.

Music career

In 1982, his composition "Isang Dakot" was interpreted by Sonia Singson which won the Grand Prize at the Metropop. In 1983, "Be My Lady" was interpreted by Pedrito Montaire and became a finalist at the Metropop; this song was his first major big hit when it was recorded by Martin Nievera and was released under Vicor Music. His songs "Be My Lady", "Sana Kahit Minsan", "Mula sa Puso" and "'Till My Heartaches End" became hits in the Philippines. In the late 1990s, Saturno produced hits for female artists

Jessa Zaragoza Richelle Ann Mallari Loyola-Avanzado (born January 31, 1979), better known by her stage name Jessa Zaragoza, is a Filipino commercial model, singer and actress. She is known as the "Phenomenal Diva" and "Jukebox Queen of the 90s" for her first ...

(for her album ''Just Can't Help Feelin'') and Jaya (for the album ''In the Raw'') and in 2001, for

Rachel Alejandro Rachel Jingco Alejandro (born February 18, 1974) is a Filipino singer and actress. Biography Early life Alejandro's parents separated when she was four. Her mother, Myrna Demauro, then remarried and moved to the United States. Together with h ...

. Saturno also owns his own music label, Vehnee Saturno Music Corp. He often writes songs and manages artists through this label. In 2024, Saturno composed the theme song for the Philippines' participation in the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

titled "Isangdaan Taong Laban para sa Bayan" (), as well as the theme song "Hamon" for the biographical film ''Mamay: A Journey to Greatness''.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saturno, Vehnee 1954 births Living people Filipino songwriters People from Cabuyao Filipino record producers Composers of Christian music