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| Henry Turalde |
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Music in his consummate love and the family is happily into the same passion. It is simply in the genes and in the blood: his grandfather and father both had insatiable addiction to music and they both sang, played musical instruments and composed songs. Now his children are also deeply immersed in music and are headed right into the magical world of songs.
Henry Palmeda Turalde, composer of the Bicol song “Boses ni Lolo” immortalized at the First Bicol Music Festival in 1982, is so engrossed in and dedicated to composing Bicol songs that he left a lucrative job in Libya because in the land of Khadafi he could not find enough motivation and inspiration to pursue his love for music.
Thursday evening, December 28, at the Universidad de Sta. Isabel Auditorium the name of Henry Turalde again rang loud and clear: he was first prize winner once again for another Bicol song – Maogmang Pasko – in the Original Bicol Christmas Songs category.
Winning songwriting competitions isn’t new anymore to him. Since his Boses ni Lolo copped second place in the 1982 First Bicol Music Festival (separated only by hairline from the first place Bicolano Ako by Ferdinand Dimadura) he had composed more than 20 Bicol songs many of which won in contests sponsored by Popcom, Kaogma Festival and in Goa, Camarines Sur where the local government has been also conducting songwriting contests.
But Henry, 46, is a step ahead of his peers because he performs his own compositions. He sang his Boses ni Lolo with Honey Cledera and Thursday evening the trio who belted out Maogmang Pasko included himself, his daughter Feona, 20, and son Henson. Feona is in fourth year music course at UP Diliman where she is a scholar while Henson is in fourth year high school at the Philippine Science High School for the Arts where he is also a scholar.
Henry was been hooked on music since he was in the elementary. He started composing songs at age 17; at 18 he was already a folk singer in Japan. In 1984 he won in the classical guitar category in the NAMCYA.
But while music is his love he earns his daily bread elsewhere. He and his wife, the former Fe Bagamasbad, a pharmacist, are presently both instructors at the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges in Nabua, Camarines Sur. An engineer with an scholastic record par excellence, he could always land a high paying job if he wishes to.
He had worked in Libya with a German company for 12 years from 1988 to 2000 but his academic credentials are even more amazing. He had finished his Master in Engineering Technology cum laude and is currently still pursuing his Master of Science in CE, major in transportation at UP Diliman under a CHED scholarship. In 2003 he was 6th placer in the board examination for master plumber. In 2004 he passed the real estate broker examination and he is also an accredited materials engineer at the DPWH.
Born in San Miguel, Bula, Henry now resides with his family in San Roque, Iriga City. Always optimistic that he will continue to scale mountains of musical wonders he is even more spurred these days with his only two children both relishing the ride in his same both.
