Yatco is a rarity in the musical world earning a Teacher’s Diploma at the University of the Philippines at the age of 16
Yatco is a rarity in the musical world earning a Teacher’s Diploma at the University of the Philippines at the age of 16

From 1966 to 1973, Yatco served as the first Filipino conductor—music director of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. Earlier, he was its youngest member at 14; its youngest soloist at 15. Under him, the MSO introduced contemporary titans so uncompromisingly that when he left for Germany in 1974, the MSO was Southeast Asia’s best. Since 1982, Yatco was the music director of the Philippine Philharmonic, the country’s national orchestra. His standards were so unrelenting, he risked small audiences rather than cater to popular taste while conducting awesome masterpieces.

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