Our very own national artist
Levi
Early Life
Levi Celerio was born on April
30, 1910, in Tondo, Manila to
Cornelio Cruz and Juliana Celerio
and was born to a poor family. His
mother encouraged him to be
involved in music as a distraction
from the squalid conditions of their
neighborhood. Despite of this,
Celerio became a close
acquaintance of gang
leader Asiong Salonga. At his
mother's encouragement Celerio
started playing the violin at age 11
taking lessons from a member of
the Philippine Constabulary Band.
He also attended the University of
the Philippines Conservatory of
Music to study violin for two
semesters. He received
scholarship and became the
youngest member of the Manila
Symphony Orchestra
Major
Work
 Levi Celerio is perhaps best
known for being a leaf-player, a
feat for which he was put into
the Guinness Book of World
Records.
 He wrote several number of
songs for local movies, which
earned for him the Lifetime
Achievement Award of the Film
Academy of
the Philippines. Celerio has
written lyrics for more than
4,000 Filipino folk, Christmas,
and love songs, including many
that became movie titles.
  Celerio got involved in poetry
and was a humorist in the
orchestra of Premiere
Productions. He held high
regard to poet, Jose Corazon de
Jesus. However his poems
failed to gain positive reception
and his works were regarded as
"lacking in style". Later in his
career, he had Filipino
Palindromes and Take It From
Levi, a collection of love poems
he wrote published.
His Legacy…..
Celerio died in the afternoon of April 2,
2002 at the Delgado Clinic in
Kamuning, Quezon City due to multiple
organ dysfunction. He also had a prior
episode of stroke. He was buried with full
military honors at the Heroes'
Cemetery (Libingan ng mga Bayani)
Major
National Artist for Music and Literature
On October 9, 1997, he
was proclaimed as a National
Artist for Music and Literature. His
citation read that his music "was a
perfect embodiment of the Source:
heartfelt sentiments and valued https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Celerio
traditions of the Filipino". https://www.google.com/search?
q=levi+celerio&sxsrf=ALeKk03oYgghIeikx8QOlh4-
Guinness recognition 0BpR25B-
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Celerio was known for using the
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leaf as a musical instrument which %252F05bs30&vet=1&usg=AI4_-
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resulted the Guinness Book of World ahUKEwi8vb3iua7rAhXaFogKHROuA5IQ_B0wC3o
Records to recognize him as "the only
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man who could play music with a leaf". https://www.google.com/search?
q=levi+celerio&sxsrf=ALeKk03oYgghIeikx8
Other awards QOlh4-0BpR25B-
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The University of the iu&ictx=1&fir=A_BlmVncqRuXrM
Philippines conferred him an honorary %252CGREMjOuoy_Y0wM%252C
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doctorate degree in Humanities in 1991.
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The Film Academy of the Philippines gave kSCTtu5_eftMQacKRt4GQRxSbH_jA&
Celerio the Lifetime Achievement Award sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8vb3iua7rAhXa
in 1989. He is also the recipient of the FogKHROuA5IQ_B0wC3oECBYQAw&
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CCP Gawad Para Sa Sining in 1991, and Ch891jPPZVBM