Levi Celerio

Levi Celerio was a Filipino lyricist, composer, poet, violinist, and performer whose unusually broad body of work helped shape twentieth-century popular music in the Philippines. Born in Tondo, Manila, in 1910, he studied violin as a boy, attended the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music for a period, received a scholarship at the Academy of Music of Manila, and became a young member of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. A wrist injury ended his early orchestral career, after which he increasingly turned to songwriting and lyric writing.

From the 1930s onward Celerio wrote for film, radio, popular song, and adapted folk repertories. His widely known works and collaborations include Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, Saan Ka Man Naroroon, Gaano Kita Kamahal, Waray-Waray, and numerous Filipino Christmas songs. NCCA materials credit him with a body of more than four thousand songs and note his gift for writing direct, singable Filipino texts across many subjects.

Celerio also became internationally known for producing melodies with a leaf, a performance skill recognized by Guinness. In 1997 he was proclaimed National Artist in recognition of achievements in Music and Literature. Available authoritative biographical sources do not securely establish a denomination, so none is assigned here.