Santiago S. Suarez(1901-1964)
He was born on May 23, 1901 in Sampaloc, Manila and studied at the Ateneo
de Manila in Intramuros. He took up music at the University of the Philippines
and trained under the noted musicians like Cayetano Jacobe, Pedro Eloriaga
and Nicanor Abelardo.At 14, he played the piano to furnish background music
for silent movies in cinema houses. In his early 20s, he left the country to
serve as band leader aboard passengers liners playing between San
Francisco, California and Vancouver, Canada.When he came home in 1925,
he worked in bodabil for eight years, his compositions heard in Majestic,
Palace, Plaza and Savoy, both as background accompaniments and as vocal
renditions by the likes of Atang dela Rama, Katy dela Cruz, Lou Salvador Sr.
and Vicente Ocampo.