World-class pianist rises

A Filipina who has distinguished herself in the field of music, Mariel Illusorio is one virtuoso pianist whom this country might have lost to another field were it not for her persistence and dedication.

At one point, she had to decide on whether to continue pursuing her musical studies. At another time, she shifted to the behavioral sciences but, obviously, her heart lay in music more than any other field and so she went back to her first and only love.

Even if she had acquired her bachelor’s degree in music, all done in four years, which is quite a feat considering that many musicians take many detours in their journey toward their graduation recital, she had been asked by her father to consider a career in the stock exchange.

This is not entirely surprising considering that she comes from one of the country’s prominent and storied business families, but Mariel Illusorio obstinately kept to her passion, music.

Daily Tribune visited Mariel in her home in Alabang to listen to her story as a promising and gifted child who began her piano lessons with her grandmother Erlinda’s pianist friend. She would, in time, move on to other piano teachers, until she qualified to be a student of one of the country’s best piano pedagogues, Stella Brimo. The teacher’s brilliance, kindness, compassion and generosity combined to inspire in her student the dedication and commitment required of a pianist who would make it. Under Brimo’s tutelage, Mariel won her first major award, the first prize for Category A of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA). Elated, Stella Brimo gave her a half-scholarship, this a manifestation of her faith in Mariel and hardly out of the latter’s need for financial assistance.

“MY mother did everything to develop my talent.” While Mariel’s story as a pianist includes her concertizing in various parts of the world, including Germany, South Africa, United States, Zimbabwe and Chile and winning prizes in Italy and Spain, this Daily Tribune story focuses on her early years, a phase in a young artist’s life when one’s raw talents are honed and one’s capacity for rigorous practice is tested.

Itzhak Perlman, Israeli-American violinist, conductor and music teacher, once said, “for every child prodigy that you know about, at least 50 potential ones have burned out before you ever heard of them.” Gratefully for this country and the Filipino people, Mariel, once a promising child pianist who had so much future ahead of her, proved worthy of the attention and support accorded her by her teachers, fans, and dotting parents, especially her mother Sylvia who, just like any mother, fussed over what her daughter would wear in a recital.

Mariel’s climb to success had not been easy but she made it and today, both as a concert pianist and a piano tutor, she is one of top Filipina musicians whose music brings elation and pride to the country of her birth.

Daily Tribune (DT): What is your complete name? I hear that you have a long one.

Mariel Illusorio (MI): Susana Maria Erlinda Kalaw Illusorio.

DT: Erlinda would be your grandmother. But where did Susana come from?

MI: Because my mom, whose name is Sylvia, wanted us to have the same initial. She wanted an S for me also.

MI: It is from Maria Erlinda. My Tita Lyn is also Maria Erlinda.

DT: At what age did you start learning how to play the piano?

MI: Yes. I was born here and I grew up here until second year high school.

LIVING up to her early promise. DT: Who was your first piano teacher?

MI: My really first teacher was a friend of my grandmother, Tita Marivic Dino. She was just living with my grandmother in Antipolo, if I remember correctly. It was like she gave me an introduction to playing the piano. Soon after, I transferred to Marietta Baja of UST. That was for like one or two years. And then I switched to my main teacher in the Philippines, who was Stella Brimo. I stayed with her until she left for Canada and I left for New York. By the time I was with her, I was 11. When I won in the NAMCYA, she made me half scholar because that was her personal policy. A student who won a prize became her scholar. So I paid only half the tuition. It was quite touching because even if she knew we could afford, she still gave it to me because of my winning.

DT: What about your academics? Where were you studying?

MI: Elementary, in Assumption Antipolo. And in high school, Assumption San Lorenzo. Only until second year, and then I left for New York.

DT: How was Stella Brimo? She was such a beautiful woman.

MI: Oh, she was wonderful. She was like a second mother. I really learned a lot from her. Her dedication, her love for music, her generosity. She showered her students with so much love and attention. If she went abroad and she came back, she would bring me stuffed toys because I loved stuffed toys. She visited me in New York and even after that, she would call me every year, greet me for my birthday, until I stopped hearing from her because I soon found out she was not so well anymore. I was in South Africa when she passed away.

MI: I must have been with her for three or four years.

DT: That must have been when you became truly enthralled with piano. Or was it even before her tutelage?

MI: Well, I practiced even before her. I joined NAMCYA when I was 10. I was still with Marietta Baja. I got honorable mention. And then I switched to Mrs. Brimo and then, I joined again when I was 12. And that was when I won first. That was in 1985. And then, I left in 1988.

DT: Was your mother very encouraging from the start?

MI: Yes, she was. She did everything she could to develop my talent, to give me opportunities.

DT: I’m not sure how I should ask this…but at what point did anyone realize that you were gifted? That you had a future in music.

MI: I don’t know if it was about having a future in music, but it was more that I learned quickly, that my teacher said that I should join a competition because I was good enough. So, we did that, and then we agreed that I could then move on to a better teacher. And my teacher also encouraged me a lot, so it kind of went that way. Then, I needed a lot of time for practice so everything else was put on the side. So, piano became the priority. Sometimes I needed to skip school so I could practice more for a competition.

DT: But did you also play kiddie stuff when you were growing up? All those games like Chinese garter, and jackstone? Did you have playmates in the neighborhood?

MI: Not so much. I think I kind of focused on the music already. In that way, I really didn’t have a normal childhood, although everything is relative.

DT: Well, I guess it was okay because it was what you loved to do, anyway.

MI: Well, I can say that I did not grow up well-rounded. I specialized right away, and there are pros and cons to that.

DT: But then, you were not really frivolous, or the kind who was engrossed with fads and fashion.

MI: No, I was not. My focus on the piano also suited my being introvert and my spending time by myself.

DT: So, to go back to NAMCYA. How did you feel about winning first prize?

MI: I was 12 and I was really very happy because it was really a goal. I was really so motivated because I had gone to an Asian competition in Taiwan and I saw all these kids who were much younger than I and they were playing all these difficult pieces and I didn’t even know the composers they were playing. I was shocked. Then my mom let me go to this music camp in the United States. In Michigan. And I got inspired there also because I was around musicians.

MI: Interlochen. It’s a high school but it’s also a summer music camp.

MI: Yes, and when I was exposed, that really got me very excited. So, when I came back, I really wanted to win this competition. I worked really really very hard for it.

DT: That’s nice. It means you really loved what you were doing, and you were not just being forced into it.

MI: Well, I wanted to do well, but as a child, I was also seeking approval. If I made them proud, that was also my satisfaction. I wanted to make them proud.

AT the Pam Golding Autumn Leaves concert. DT: So, how was your education after you left Assumption?

MI: I really focused on music already. So I went to New York and finished my last two years of high school in this institution called Professional Children’s School. It’s the least demanding school because all the kids who go there have professions. So, these were the Cosby kids.

Midori went there. Macaulay Culkin. You can study by correspondence. So, they had very little requirements. The musicians could concentrate on practicing. While my friends back home were doing Chemistry, Trigonometry and so on, I didn’t have that anymore and that made me feel kind of insecure. I even lost more of my well-roundedness.

But at the same time, I had more time to devote to practice. Nowadays it is even more difficult to teach kids who are so busy in school. So many extracurricular activities, and on top of that, so much homework. And really, it’s very difficult and it needs so much time and work.

MI: I had classes in the morning. In the afternoon I could practice. It was in Manhattan, across the street from where I lived. On the 60th street. Just six blocks from Juilliard.

MI: Yes. I was staying with my aunts. Tita Lin was my guardian. And then, my younger aunt, Shereen.

DT: But what about your other subjects? So, you had a little English and a little Math and all that?

MI: For piano, it was once a week. Richard Fabor was my teacher in precollege. But he passed away. He was great.

MI: When we went there, we went to Juilliard and listened to some concerts and so we asked who the teacher of that guy was and so we were told and my mom contacted him and I played for him. Then he helped me prepare for the audition. So, I was in Juilliard for my precollege. Every Saturday, I would be at Juilliard, so I had to have theory, chamber music.

The piano lesson…because I lived in the city, I went to his house. The ones who came to him on Saturday to Juilliard were the ones coming from out of town. So, I had my high school during the week and the precollege of Juilliard during the weekend.

DT: Do you recall if there were certain don’ts for a piano student? Like don’t play basketball or archery or don’t wash clothes?

MI: Those are kinda superstitious. Like when you were younger, don’t wash the dishes…

MI: It depends on your own philosophy. (smiles) If you believe that, that is true for you. Teachers never told me anything like those. Some people would say piano and tennis don’t match because tennis makes you kind of stiff, but I think it is a personal thing.

MI: I was there for two and a half years. I finished two years of pre-college and I started college there. And then I continued because of some family drama. And my family decided I shouldn’t do music anymore. So they sent me back here. So, I came home and studied in La Salle and St. Scholastica for a while. I took up Behavioral Science. Although I continued my music at St. Scholastica but not for a degree. It was just on the side. That was a hard chapter. Still, I had my piano teacher, Jose Contreras. But it was hard for me because I came from Juilliard and I didn’t think I was gonna come back here. But I had to come back and I ended up leaving home and going my own way because I didn’t want to really stay here.

MI: I found some scholarships. I went to Iowa because I got a full scholarship there. Some of Mrs. Brimo’s students went to this teacher, Howard Able. He’s been here also to play. So they gave me this full scholarship but when I got there it was such a big difference from Juilliard in terms of the standard and the atmosphere. But then, I auditioned for Oberlin Observatory of Music in Ohio just to see what would happen. It is the oldest continually operating American Conservatory. And since they gave me a scholarship too, I transferred to Ohio. So for the four years of a Bachelor’s degree, I went to four different colleges. But in four years, I got a degree, which was Bachelor of Music in Oberlin.