RYLE CUSTODIO (b. 1998) belongs to the roster of emerging young composers in Southeast Asia. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from University of the Philippines Diliman College of Music and studied composition under the tutelage of Dr. Marie Jocelyn Marfil. He is currently pursuing legal studies (Juris Doctor) at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law.

At the age of 20, Ryle became the first Filipino young composer to have won EQUAL FIRST PRIZE in the Asian Composers League Young Composers Prize Competition, the most prestigious young composer’s competition in the Asia-Pacific region, held in Taiwan in October 2018. He was also awarded FIRST PLACE in the 2021 Busan Choral Composition Competition in Busan, South Korea. Aside from these feats, his works have been presented and commissioned in the Philippines and in other international events such as Nirmita Composers Workshop (Thailand), Kyiv Contemporary Music Days (Ukraine), Takefu International Music Festival (Japan), Princess Galyani Vadhana International Symposium (Thailand), and 37th Asian Composers League Conference and Festival (New Zealand).

Often critiqued as “powerful, socially-relevant and radical,” Ryle’s works try to relate to politics, society and the essence of his heritage as a Filipino. His works often incorporate indigenous Philippine music styles with radical political statements about some socio-political issues in his country. His multimedia piece “And yet She Kept on Walking” for 8 speakers, actors and audience participation interprets his real-life experience of seeing a crime scene caused by the current drug war in the Philippines. Meanwhile, his other multimedia piece “Catholicism and Sacrilege in Quiapo, Manila” for chamber ensemble and 8 speakers exposes poverty, politics, and the harsh reality of the fortune tellers who practice their craft at the very heart of the Catholic faith in the country.

Ryle has participated in a number of international workshops and symposiums in which he received composition lessons from world-renowned composers Chinary Ung (Cambodia/USA), Toshio Hosokawa (Japan), Koji Nakano (Japan), Sean Heim (USA), Pang Vongtaradon (Thailand), Siraseth Pantura-Umporn (Thailand), Bettina Skrypczak (Switzerland), Diana Rotaru (Romania), Johannes Maria Staud (Germany), Jaime Reis (Portugal) and Stefan Prins (Belgium).

Alongside his list of accolades, Ryle is also a recipient of 2023 Ani ng Dangal conferred to him at the Malacañang Palace, 2021 Dean’s Medal for Performance and Artistic Creation from the UP College of Music, 2019 Outstanding Youth in the Field of Arts, Sen. Neptali A. Gonzales Scholarship Award, and the University of the Philippines Student Achiever’s Award (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021). Ryle is also an active member of UP Composers of New Music (UP Conemus), Asian Composers League – Philippines, and UP Cinema Arts Society (UP CAST). To give back to the community, he volunteers as an HIV counselor for LoveYourself PH, a non-government organization that provides free HIV testing and treatment.