Music and Mathematics: Have You Heard of Dr. Raul Sunico?

I have not been following the music scene in the Philippines. However, just the other day I received an E-mail from our current Philippines American Academy of Science & Engineering (PAASE) President, DR Joel Cuello, about one of the members of PAASE that is both a mathematician and a world famous pianist. His name is Dr. Raul Sunico. I have vaguely heard of his name, and had never heard him play. So I did some Internet search and here's a video of Dr Sunico that I enjoyed very much.


Here's a biography of Dr Sunico:

Raul M. Sunico graduated from the University of the Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor of Music (cum laude), Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and Master of Statistics. A scholarship from former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos through the
Young Artists Foundation of the Philippines enabled him to finish his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York and a Doctor of Philosophy degree, major in piano Performance from the New York University. In 2005, he was also conferred a
Doctor of Humanities degree (honoris causa) by the Far Eastern University.

Sunico has given solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Japan, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, England, and the Philippines. He was the
soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania), Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland), Towson Community Orchestra (Maryland, USA), Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan Normal University Wind Orchestra, Tokyo Sinfonia, Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Ho Chi Minh Symphony Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, and other major Philippine orchestras.

Sunico is concurrently the President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Dean of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. BRAVO!!

My first practical knowledge that there is a correlation between music and mathematics was in the early 1950's when I was a college student at the University of the Philippines. One of my many UPSCA ( UP student catholic action) friends was studying piano at the College of Music. She graduated with high honors from the College of Music. Later on she studied Mathematics and graduated with high honors again. She was then appointed as Instructor in Mathematics at the College of Liberal Arts. Her name: Mercy Lopez. I have no contact with her since then, but needless to say, I admired her very much and had a crush on her for being a talented pianist and mathematician.

Mercy Lopez at the Men's South Dorm Open House with Me and Room Mates, 1954

Below is a short video about Math and Music.



For additional details on music and math correlation read the following:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/serendipupdate/correlation-between-music-and-math-neurobiology-perspective