𝐋𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲

Prof. Niño Cesar B. Tiro of the Liceo de Cagayan University Conservatory of Music achieved another international milestone as his original piano composition, "First Light," received its world premiere in Bonn, Germany on June 14, 2026.

The work was performed by acclaimed German concert pianist Susanne Kessel at the historic Pantheon Theater as part of Freiheit! ("Freedom"), a major international composition project commemorating the upcoming 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's death in 2027. The initiative brings together contemporary composers from around the world to explore contemporary concepts of freedom through music.

A composer, arranger, pianist, and educator, Tiro serves as a faculty member of the Liceo Conservatory of Music. He is the sole Filipino invited to participate in the Freiheit! project, a distinction that mirrors his participation in an earlier Beethoven commemorative initiative marking the composer's 250th birth anniversary.

His contribution to that global project earned him the prestigious Ani ng Dangal Award for Music, conferred by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in recognition of outstanding artistic achievements by Filipinos on the international stage.

Composed in response to the project's theme of freedom, "First Light" reflects hope, renewal, and human possibility through music.

The composition is also slated for publication in a forthcoming international anthology by Editions Musica Ferrum, a contemporary music publishing house based in London, United Kingdom. The publication will allow the work to reach wider audiences, performers, and institutions across the globe.

This achievement highlights the growing international presence of the Liceo Conservatory of Music and underscores Liceo de Cagayan University's commitment to excellence in the arts, creative scholarship, and global engagement.

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Niño Tiro - his music and his life

 

Niño Tiro (*1980)

Niño Tiro's music is anachronistic, eccentric, and outright melodic. Born in Cagayan de

Oro City, Philippines, he started piano lessons at the age of five. During his High-School

days, he then explored Rock and played electric bass in a band. Realizing his passion

for music regardless of genre, he pursued playing the piano for his Bachelor's degree in

music while playing Jazz and Rock during his spare time. He also taught piano in a

family-owned studio while pursuing his Bachelor's degree. After he graduated, he was

faculty of the Lourdes College School of Music for 13 years, where he became a

prestigious piano pedagogue and an avant-garde music teacher. He also plays Jazz,

Blues, and Rock as a professional session player in various local bands. In 2004, his

band's song was a radio hit and was #1 for eight weeks on the local airwaves. He

worked in the United States as The Life Teen Music Director in Santa Barbara Catholic

Church. He is currently pursuing a second Bachelor's degree in Music, majoring in

Composition under the tutelage of Horst-Hans Bäcker. He is presently faculty of The

Conservatory of Music, Theater, and Dance of Liceo de Cagayan University, the

Principal Double bass player of the Cagayan De Oro Symphony Orchestra, continuing his passion for 

teaching  and making music.

"Phantasie für Ludwig"; by Philippine composer Niño Tiro (*1980) is dedicated to Susanne

Kessel.

It is part of Vol. 9 of Susanne Kessel's global composition project "250 piano pieces for

Beethoven".

Susanne Kessel invited 250 composers worldwide to write new piano pieces for Beethoven's

250th anniversary in the year 2020. All pieces refer to Beethoven's music and his life.

Susanne Kessel played the world premieres of all the piano pieces in Beethoven's birth town,

Bonn. There will be more performances also in other cities and countries by the pianist herself.

All pieces are published within a high-quality sheet music edition by EDITIONS MUSICA

FERRUM / London.

The sheet music of this piece will be in Vol. 9 of the project's edition.

All information about the project - and SHOP:

www.250-piano-pieces-for-beethoven.com

"Phantasie für Ludwig"; is a Sturm und Drang piece in A minor based on the Beethoven style of

Classical Romantic composition. There are a few nods here and there from the Meister's

monumental works. The dissonance and melodic and harmonic tension in this piece conveys the

ups and downs of a composer's life and depicts the life of Ludwig succumbing to the frailty of

the human mind and body. The work ends in A, neither major and minor, symbolizing the

continuing struggles that everyone, especially Ludwig, faced in life.