Jude Gitamondoc (complete name Jude Thaddeus Gitamondoc) is a Filipino songwriter, record producer, and musical director based in Cebu, Philippines. He had won several awards including two Awit Awards, ABS-CBN's Himig Handog TFC Choice Award, StarStudio Reader's Choice Award, Cebu Pop Musical Festival, and Golden Screen Awards.

He had composed, arranged, produced and/or contributed songs for Filipino singers and artists including Regine Velasquez, Piolo Pascual, Toni Gonzaga, KC Concepcion, Gary Valenciano, Eric Santos, Kyla, among others. In addition, he was commissioned in the production of several musical plays both original and adaptations, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer's best musical play of 2017 Gugmang Giatay. He also co-founded the Visayan Pop Songwriting Campaign (Vispop), a yearly songwriting competition for songs written in Cebuano language.

Early years

Gitamondoc hailed from Surigao del Norte, Philippines. His musical interests started early at age six when his brother brought home a keyboard. He went to study in Don Bosco Missionary Seminar in Lawaan, Talisay City, Cebu,^[1] and was mentored by Salesian administrators and musicians who taught him the rudiments of songwriting and piano-playing.^[2]

Later, he left the seminary and pursued his interests in music by enrolling at the College of Music in University of the Philippines - Diliman but quit after two years upon realizing that the curriculum was more focused on classical studies, and he was more interested in mainstream pop genre. It was during this time that he encountered Katha,^[3] an organization made up of Filipino musical talents including the 1995 World Youth Day theme song composer Trina Belamide and Arnel de Pano, who composed the Basil Valdez hit song Lead me Lord.^[1]

Career

Gitamondoc began his professional music career in 2001. He had created several commissioned songwriting gigs such as producing commercial jingles (Casino Rubbing Alcohol, Happy Booster Hotdogs), theme songs (Mantawi Festival Theme Song), school hymns and wedding songs.^[4] His first big break was Gary Valenciano's Relevance album in 2006, to which he contributed five songs: Kailan Pa, Only a Friend, Sana Bukas, Wait forever, and In Another Lifetime.^[2] The album, however, took three years before it was released.^[1]

Musicals

Visayan Pop Songwriting Campaign (Vispop)

Gitamondoc was one of the founders of the Visayan Pop Songwriting Campaign, a contest for songwriters producing music in Cebuano language with the objective of coming up with Cebuano pop songs that could be aired as part of FM radio playlist. In 2009, Gitamondoc and Atty. Philip Landicho proposed the idea to Ian Zafra, Cattski Espina, and Lorenzo Ninal of Artists and Musicians Marketing Cooperative (Artist Ko), a local multipurpose cooperative for artists, musicians and entrepreneurs.^[19] The first Visayan Visayan Pop Songwriting Campaign (Vispop) was slated to be staged in 2010, but it was not implemented due to inadequate funding.^[20]

In 2012, the first Vispop was launched with the support of the Artists and Musicians Marketing Cooperative (Artist Ko) and the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (FILSCAP).^[21] In November 2017,^[19] Gitamondoc left Artist Ko and his affiliation with the competition. He also made his reasons for leaving public when Vispop 2019 was launched in 2019.^[22]

Influences

Gitamondoc credited his years and the formation he received in the seminary for his decision to pursue music later in his life, acknowledging the influences of Salesian administrators,^[2] as well as David Foster, Michael Smith and Diane Warren, as well as Jose Mari Chan, Louie Ocampo, Trina Belamide, Gary Granada, and Ryan Cayabyab.^[23]

Teaching

Gitamondoc had conducted songwriting courses and workshops such as the Children's Pop Music Festival in 2008^[24] and in 2009,^[25] which was organized by the Cebu provincial government through the Provincial Council for the Welfare of Children.^[24] In 2010, he facilitated the Harmony Songwriting Workshops organized by The International Buddhist Progress Society of Manila, Philippines,^[26][27] and produced the songs that were composed by the participants during the workshop.^[28]

At the Cebu-based Brown Academy of Music, he taught a course on songwriting.^[29] He had also facilitated the following: Cebu Music Creators Growth Summit in 2016,^[30] and VISPOP Song Writing Workshop conducted in several colleges and universities in 2012,^[31] in 2014,^[32] and in 2017;^[33] and Tagumpay Songwriting Bootcamp on July 2–4. 2017 organized by the Tagum City government.^[34]

Works

Awards

See also

• Visayan Pop Songwriting Campaign

References

External links

• Jude Gitamondoc in SoundCloud