As UP Diliman (UPD) ushers in August, the UPD College of Music (CMu) mourns the passing of one of its cherished members, former dean Mauricia D. Borromeo, on Aug. 2.
The college responded to this somber news by recalling with reverence Borromeo’s many achievements and her enduring impact on the CMu community.
Borromeo served the CMu as dean from 2000 to 2004, and was widely recognized as an “esteemed music educator and piano pedagogue.”
According to the college’s Facebook post, her deanship was marked with “rigorous general academic review at the onset that sought to re-examine the College’s position in the global arena of music education.”
The College remembers her dictum, “scholarliness in music,” which encouraged the development of scholar-performers at the CMu. This was highlighted in a July-August 2000 issue of UPDate, where Borromeo was noted for leading the CMu in research initiatives, such as studies in T’boli music and a master’s thesis involving research conducted in Bohol.
According to the CMu, she was “a respected piano pedagogue and mentor [who] nurtured students to become recognized both here and abroad.”
While in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, she performed and directed several cultural presentations, and co-founded PUNLA, a musico-cultural school for Filipino-American children. Borromeo earned her Master in Music Education degree at the University of Michigan, where she received the Levi Barbour Scholarship for Oriental Women twice, and was elected to the Pi Kappa Lambda, Chi Chapter—the National Music Society of the United States.
Though her service to UP was interrupted in the 1970s, Borromeo rejoined the CMu faculty in 1986, teaching piano, music theory, and music education. The University stands with the CMu in honoring the life and legacy of Borromeo, remembered for her “firm yet gentle and caring [in her] stewardship of the college and [in] her remarkable contributions to Philippine arts and music education.”