Dick Zamora, cultural icon

ZAMORA. Composed songs for pioneering musicals.

Since 1949, the mere mention of the name, “Dick,” at UP’s oldest fraternity, the Upsilon Sigma Phi, only meant Ricardo “Dick” Zamora. I first knew of him when I was a young boy vacationing in Iloilo City. The fraternity toured its original musical using Dick’s Broadway-style music and Mart Martell’s lyrics and directed by the daring Teddy Yabut.

Dick wrote a Tagalog version of “Our Father” and composed other musical pieces that borrowed strains from the Cordilleras, as well as music from Korea and Spain. For his part, Mart wrote memorable lyrics in English, Tagalog and Spanish. The first performer to sing his Spanish lyrics was a very young Spanish mestiza from Cebu named Pilita Corrales.

The fraternity’s original musicals were great contributions to Filipino music. They are incomparable in scope and daring and predated the so-called Original Pilipino Music (OPM) by over 30 years.

Cavalcades

After graduating from the College of Music, Dick returned to the Diliman campus to teach his music in the cavalcades, as original musicals were referred to then. Dick and Mart also composed “Hanako” and “Linda.”

Then, Dick composed music for “Interior #14” in 1958, which fraternity leaders, Antonio Rosales and Christian Monsod, toured in Bicol and the Visayas.

The poignant lyrics of “In the Hastening Evening Hue” were written by Monsod and were dedicated to his lady love, Winnie Collas, more known today as the feisty Mareng Winnie.

Dick was vital to the fraternity’s cultural development. His presence encouraged younger Upsilonians to pursue a life in the performing arts, and his dedication to his craft was exemplary. He passed away last September10.

I expect the fraternity’s members to find time to thank Dick for his musical and artistic contributions to the group. Let’s all toast Dick Zamora!