Professor Maria Alexandra I. Chua, PhD, Dean of the Conservatory of Music, was named one of the 2022 National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) SUDI Awardees, a national recognition for music. The award will be conferred in the Metropolitan Theater on July 27, 2025.
In a Facebook post, Chua said that her work as a musicologist has been “centered on the study, retrieval, and preservation of Philippine musical heritage—rescuing forgotten manuscripts, reconstructing histories, and amplifying the voices of musical traditions.”
Chua, who assumed the leadership of the 80-year-old Conservatory in January, is a seasoned music researcher. She was Director of the Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities and has been a recipient of several research recognitions, such as the Amb. Antonio L. Cabangon Chua research award and the Sumitomo Grant. In 2024, she received the National Book Award for her work “Julio Nakpil (1867-1960) Collected Works, Volume II: Band Orchestral Music.” She currently leads the MusikaPilipinas Research Program, which examines the Filipino music industry, its histories, policies, cultural practices, and how it continues to shape national identity.
Comprising the Board of Jury are National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, alongside former NCCA Chairman Dr. Felipe de Leon, Ma. Cristina Arceo-Dumlao, Roberto Barriero, Noel Cabangon, Lucent Letaba, Dr. Grace Nono, Vadim Sisenand “Moy” Ortiz, Dr. Raul Sunico (former Dean of the Conservatory of Music), Dr. Arwin Tan, and Melchor Villen.
The SUDI Awards, first conferred in 2020, “recognize outstanding achievements across genres and disciplines that have significantly shaped the Philippine music landscape,” according to the NCCA website. Sudi comes from the Iloko language and means celebrated, famous, or renowned.
