The inspirations and aspirations of Klyde Ledamo

Culture Carousel features a young and vibrant pianist, Klyde Ledamo.

Klyde completed his Master of Music degree from Lynn Conservatory-Florida, USA in 2019. He attended the academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

Klyde is an avid chamber musician and has concertize in the Philippines, Austria, Italy, Germany and around the US, collaborating with numerous notable artists, orchestra, choral groups, dance and theater companies and chamber ensembles.

Currently, Klyde holds a teaching assistant position and is pursuing a Doctoral of Music degree at the University of Iowa. On the lighter side, Klyde loves traveling, enjoys fine cuisine and exotic dishes and likes doing extreme adventures.

We interviewed Klyde recently and here is that interview.

What is the biggest highlight of your career, and how has it affected you?

Playing the piano is a huge experience that builds my desires, helps me achieve my goals, and defines my capabilities. Perhaps the most ambitious career choice for a pianist is becoming a concert pianist. Becoming a concert pianist has been my long dream. The first thing is there is no path to becoming a concert pianist. Some people do it through competitions but there are certainly other paths.

I have participated in more than a dozen of competitions and there is no question that all of them gave me a fundamental training on how to play under great pressure. The best thing about these opportunities is that it enables me to work very hard towards a goal, to be heard , and to establish connections. Winning prizes brought me to performances in many venues around the Philippines, Europe, and throughout the USA, and has given me opportunity to meet many people. I can say that this is one of my biggest highlights of my career.

Through these experiences and more than every first prize, I saw the vastness of the world and how important music is to the cultures of every nation, and I realized that making music can be a great way to help others, to give back to my community, and make the world a better world.

Back in my hometown, I see a lack of development in the arts. My hometown in Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines is located about 600 miles from Manila. Being so far from civilization, my hometown has a shortage of opportunities and exposure in the arts. I witnessed it firsthand when I, accompanied by my mother, had to commute 40 miles once a week for three years to get to my piano lessons. I was apart from my family for long periods of time at the age of 12 (to begin my studies at the Philippine High School for the Arts) to develop my skills because there were no opportunities near my hometown.

I have always dreamt of doing something to help this situation in my community. To start with, I brought the internationally acclaimed choir, The University of the Philippines Concert Chorus, and other artists and myself, to my hometown to present concerts in 2018. The response from the people in my hometown was elated, since it was their first experience of such a thing, and they saw the potential to develop this further.

Thus, my main drive for pursuing further studies in music, concertizing and participating in competitions to build wider network, is to expose my town-mates to the arts and inspire a community of artists in Southern Leyte. I want to bring more artists possibly including from abroad to my hometown and make a two-way exposure between the artists and the communities, sparking interest and inspiring other artists to give back to their communities as well.

Recently, I have presented concerts to raise funds to support medical workers and needy constituents during the pandemic. These projects would have been successful without the inspirations and learnings I have acquired from my travels and the support from many people I have met from different parts of the world.