Meet oboist Reynato Resurreccion, Jr.

LAST october 2014, I interviewed Reynato (Don-don) Resurreccion, Jr. — assistant principal oboist of the Philippine Philharmonic orchestra (PPo) and assistant conductor of the UST orchestra — for my classical radio program Culture Carousel at 98.7 DZFe-fm, the master’s Touch.

I enjoyed my interview with Don-don, he even played a few bars for me. It’s not the instrument alone that inspires one to stop and listen — I saw the sincerity of Don-don in playing music as an oboist. Below is an excerpt from the interview: Tell us about your up-bringing. Is your family into music?

my lolo was a clarinet player in our neighborhood in Pandacan, it is called the Banda Zamora. Since I was six years old, my lolo would bring me along to band practices. So I asked him to teach me how to play the clarinet.

So you started with clarinet, when did you shift to oboe?

I played the clarinet until high school. Actually, I wanted to study engineering. But my classmates told me that the engineering course has a lot of expenses, plus I am poor in drawing. Since I was already playing the clarinet, I decided to major in it at the UST. But every time we perform in the band, I noticed that there are more clarinet players in school and in the community band. We had a neighbor, mr. Ludovico mendoza, who was an oboist with the PPo. He invited me to his house to play the oboe and that was the start of the shift from clarinet to oboe. I started to take oboe lessons from mr. mendoza at age 16.

With school and your everyday practice, wasn’t it hard not to hang out with your barkada?

Not really. I managed both my academic lessons and music practice and personal activities. I was able to balance them all.

Which of your teachers do you admire most? And do you still use the knowledge they taught you?

I learned a lot from mr. mendoza. I used his teachings even when I was studying in elizabeth University in Hiroshima, Japan. The technical aspect of teaching in Japan is advanced and I brought that with me when I joined the PPo. I became a PPo member in 1997, almost the same time as maestro Ruggero Barbieri, former PPo music Director and Conductor.

Among all your musical activities, which do you find the most challenging?

Conducting because you have to study the different parts of the music. You have to study how to conduct each movement and how to put together the whole piece. Unlike if you are a player, there is a conductor who will tell you how he wants the piece played out. When you are conducting, you have to study each and every instrument like 1st clarinet, 2nd clarinet, 2nd bassoon and so on. Not just the melody but everything.

Do you think it’s advantageous for music students to join competitions?

Just the preparations in joining the competition make you a winner already because with each procedure, you are learning — you will be adding to your technical and music skills, your repertoire will keep on adding. So whether you win or lose, you are still a winner because of the experience. So I advise music students to join competitions like NAmCYA [National music Competitions for Young Artists]. Who are your idols in oboe playing? When I was in school, I greatly admired Heinz Robert Holliger, his technique and musical side are super. When I joined the PPo, I admired Albrecht mayer, principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra. I admired him as a soloist and a member of the orchestra. I also convince my students in UST Conservatory of music to admire the skills of Albrecht mayer.

As a teacher, what are some of the skills that you teach your music students?

There is a technique in oboe playing called scraping. There is the American method and there is the european style. I teach my students the european method of scraping. The difference between the

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