THE MUSIC  composition of a law student from the University of Santo Tomas bagged the top prize in the Composition Competition at the 2021 Busan Choral Festival and Competition.

Ryle Nicole Custodio’s a capella piece titled “Tagu-Taguan” bested the entries submitted by 54 other participants from 28 countries.

Custodio said the piece was inspired by his childhood.

“(It) inspired me to write a song constructed from my memories and experiences, and at the same time a musical vignette that harked at the Filipino culture among children,” he said.

‘Tagu-Taguan’ was premiered by the Philippine Madrigal Singers.

Anton Armstrong (USA), Ki-Sun Lee (South Korea), Soon-Jung Kim (South Korea), Young-Jo Lee (South Korea), Yu-Chung John Ku (Taiwan), and Zoltan Pad (Hungary) served as the judges in the competition.

“This is also the second time that a Thomasian has bagged the gold medal in BCFC. Previously, in 2019, Mark Agpasa of the Conservatory of Music and the world-renowned UST Singers received the gold medal for his piece entitled, Jubilate Deo,” UST said in a statement.

Custodio earned a degree in Bachelor of Music major in composition, minor in viola and kulintang performance at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

He was also the first Filipino young composer to win in the Asian Composers League Young Composers Competition in 2018.