The Making of a Cello Prodigy
Damodar das Castillo at 16. The musical maturing process has begun (Photo courtesy of Manila Symphony Orchestra MSO).
The country has seen a lot of piano prodigies, from Nena del Rosario Villanueva to Cecile Licad, and a lot more violinists from Joseph Esmilla, Coke Bolipata to Diomedes Saraza, Jr. and the now prize-winning and Juilliard scholar Jeanne Marquez.
But who has heard of a cello prodigy?
In the ‘80s to the ‘90s, the young cellist of consequence was PHSA music scholar Victor Michael Coo now based in Taiwan.
Of course, the most visible cellist was Renato Lucas, who was principal cellist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra for 30 years. Now retired and head of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Lucas figured in an all-Bach recital at the Manila Pianos.
Lucas happens to be one of the teachers of the now sensational Damodar Das Castillo, who won five first prizes in international competitions for young artists: the 2017 First North Competition International Music Autumn (online); 2nd Talinn, Estonia 2018 Competition for Young Artists; 3rd International Artur Rubinstein Competition in Dusseldorf, Germany (2020); 4th Young Ludwig International Music Competition in Berlin, Germany (2020); 5th Musica Goritiensis in Gorizia, Italy in 2021.
On May 4, Saturday, at the Samsung Theater for Performing Arts in Circuit Makati, the young Damodar earned a standing ovation as soloist of the Manila Symphony Orchestra, playing the Dvorak cello concerto under Finnish conductor Sasha Makila.
You know that the concerto has a star soloist in the way he dispatched the first movement with sterling details. The second movement was a showcase of Damodar’s artistry as he limned the slow part with the maturity you seldom see from 16-year-old musicians. There is no doubt that he is a virtuoso cellist, but it is in the slow parts that he shone, especially in the quiet moments before the finale. The result: an ecstatic audience rising to its feet to give him a rousing standing ovation in the first part of the concert.
After several curtain calls, Damodar had to oblige with an unknown but equally satisfying encore number: Faye Miravite’s Transcendence for solo cello and voice rendered with such quiet spiritual impetus.
Have you heard of a cello encore with voice parts? Well, Damodar did it, and the audience roared with approval. “A star is born,” said Gawad CCP 2024 Awardee sculptor Julie Lluch, in Damodar’s MSO performance.
Inquirer columnist Chit Santos wrote that it was quite an experience watching the young cellist perform like a super mature musician.
“Mesmerizing!” was how piano mentor Willie Aquino described the Damodar’s performance.
Lawyer and once-upon-a-time a cello aficionado Sarah Sison remarked, “The Dvorak concerto performed by cellist Damodar Das Castillo with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and Finnish conductor Sasha Makila was exceptionally beautiful and moving!”
After his acclaimed engagement with MSO, Damodar had chamber music engagements at the Manila Pianos Showroom on last Saturday, May 25. The other featured artists were pianist Mariel Ilusorio and violinist Sara Maria Gonzales. The program consisted of Chopin’s Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65 and Piano Trio in G Minor Op. 8.
But how early did anyone notice the boy was special?
In 2017, Damodar passed the audition at Mozarteum in Vienna at age ten, almost the same age as Cecile Licad when she passed the audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Upon hurdling the Vienna audition, he had to brush up on his German to qualify. As it turned out, he not only passed the audition, he also aced the music theory requirements.
Before he could commence formal studies, he already appeared as a recitalist in the cello class of Prof. Barbara Lübke-Herzl.
At age ten, Damodar was the youngest member of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO), which won the top prize in the Summa cum Laude Festival in Vienna.
Playing the Haydn cello concerto in C with the string section of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) and the Saint-Saens cello concerto with pianist Dingdong Fiel, a potentially great cellist trapped in a ten-year old body was in evidence.
Recalled MSO executive director Jeffrey Solares, who was also the teacher of Damodar’s mom (Hannah Bartolay): “His mom heard about the MSJO and brought him to me to see if he could join. At age 6, he was much younger than many of the MSJO members who were ten years old and above. Although I could hardly hear his sound due to the small cello he had then, I could tell by just watching him play that he was special. He quickly learned the cello parts of the orchestra pieces we were studying, and soon I was featuring him as soloist of the orchestra.”
Solares noted that the cello prodigy behaves like any other normal child but shows a different temperament when it comes to music. “When it comes to music, he is very mature. He knows what he wants and he knows how to express it to me when I accompany him with the orchestra.”
As a kid, it was just natural that Damodar would be lured by gadgets and video games in the middle of his Salzburg schooling.
Recalled his father Alvin Castillo: “When he started regular school some years back, he lost interest in music and had very little time to practice. Then I told him if he wants to stop regular schooling, it’s up to him. Then he slowed down on gadgets and now he enjoys playing music again and back to being a happy kid.”
After hearing Damodar perform with the PPO when he was 12, I decided to bring him to Iloilo City’s historic heritage house, the Nelly Garden, where earlier I brought Cecile Licad in an all-Chopin recital.
12-year old Damodar as cover of Music News and Features Magazine.
As it turned out, then-12-year-old Damodar sent a select Ilonggo crowd cheering to his well-nuanced opening number, Pezzo Capriccioso by Tchaikovsky. That he was a young musician with enormous potential was obvious as he wrapped up Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 73 with great dispatch. By the time he was done with Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33, the excitement was too much for the crowd. Senior citizens and millennials all wanted to hug the child and kiss him right there on stage. A dream collaborative artist was Dingdong Fiel, who went through every piece in no-fuss perfect harmony with the soloist.
But the best was yet to come.
A commissioned piece by this writer (based on a popular Ilonggo folksong also popular in Bicol) was played by the cellist and pianist and drew ripples of delight from the crowd. Midway into the music, the piece had some parts of the crowd singing.
Indeed, the popular folksong, Ohoy Alibangbang, left many Ilonggos teary-eyed, so that it elicited a standing ovation led by Sen. Franklin Drilon. Many Iloilo old-timers admitted they had not listened to the Ilonggo lullaby for a very long time and, as a result of the performance, they retreated into mass nostalgia and fond memories of their parents singing the folk song to put them to sleep.
The last encore, Saint-Saens’ Dying Swan, capped an evening of pure cello magic. Within hours after the recital, the cello version of Ohoy Alibangbang was on the Internet, posted by excited concertgoers.
“That long-forgotten piece left me in tears and brought back memories of innocence and the simple joys of yearning just to be,” said actor-filmmaker Bibeth Orteza.
“What a poignant song! No wonder there was pandemonium in the audience,” posted writer Elizabeth Lolarga on Facebook.
Poet Marne Kilates said, upon hearing the encore piece on Facebook, “That boy is special and his playing brought out the harsh beauty of memory … I couldn’t help crying.”
Now 16, Damodar says he is focused on his music career and not just in the area of classical music. “There are other things I wanted to do. Now I want to write songs. I want to have a music career not just classical music. But let’s see what happens. Now I also enjoy learning some sound editing, song writing and earning on the side.”
He says performing now at age 16 is better than making music during his precocious boyhood years. “It is easier now because I know what and how to do study the pieces.”
Damodar is still in touch with his teacher, Prof. Barbara Lübke-Herzl with whom he studied in 2018 during his pre-college years. “When I left Mozarteum, we begged her to still teach me through online classes. She doesn’t like online classes, but she agreed on a weekly online class. My teacher is like my mother in music.”
His advice to young musicians: “Just pursue your goals, never give up and just focus.”
How do you explain the dedication and hard work that this young kid shows?
Cello icon Yo-Yo Ma probably has the answer when he said: “Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you’re passionate about something, then you’re more willing to take risks.”
Pablo A. Tariman with cello prodigy Damodar das Castillo
Pablo A. Tariman contributes to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Vera Files and The Diarist.Ph. He is author of a first book of poetry, Love, Life and Loss – Poems During the Pandemic. He was one of 160 Asian poets who made it in the anthology, The Best Asian Poetry 2021-22 published in Singapore. He was recipient of the Philippines Graphic’s Salute Award for poetry in 2023 and the 2024 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards. Born in Baras, Catanduanes, he has three daughters and six grandchildren.
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