: “If somebody requested me a song written on a piece of paper and I don't know yet the song, I will not throw away the paper. I’ll collect it and I will search for those songs at National Bookstore. If I can't find it there, I will go to Raon, Quiapo Manila and I will ask the staff of music store to record those songs for me in cassette tape."
AMAZING PIANO MAN
(By Windsor John Genova)
The International Filipino Monthly Magazine
June 2012
THERE MAY be KTV addicts who know how to sing 100 titles. But chances are they don’t know the complete lyrics of that many songs. And if lyrics are hard to memorize, what more remembering the tune and playing it with a musical instrument. Only the likes of virtuoso pianist Roberto Hernandez can play so many songs; close to 2,000 in fact.
No wonder Hernandez, 56, is the star piano man of Palau, a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean hosting some 5,000 OFWs. No musician in Palau or perhaps in the entire Oceania, comes close to matching his talent for playing the piano. And not all of the 2,000 songs in his repertoire are English or American titles. “My repertoire is international also. I know more than 60 Japanese songs, 45 Palauan songs, 38 Spanish songs, 12 Italian songs, 30 Greek songs, 10 Chinese songs, 300 Filipino songs, 1,200 American songs, French, German, Korean, Chamorro, Hawaiian, Mexican, Israeli, etc,” reveals Hernandez, who plays regularly at Palau Royal Resort hotel. His long list of tunes was the result of passion and dedication to music over the years plus utmost professionalism.
“If somebody requested me a song written on a piece of paper and I don’t know yet that song, I will not throw away the paper. I will collect it and I will search for those songs at National Bookstore. If I can’t find it there, I’ll go to Raon in Quiapo, Manila and I will ask the staff of music store to record those songs for me in cassette tape,” recalls Hernandez.
The evolution of Hernandez, who is working in Palau for 20 years now, did not start with a piano. The Hagonoy, Bulacan native first learned to play guitar and marimba. When he worked at The Plaza Restaurant in Makati in the ‘70’s, he enrolled at the Yamaha School of Music. He eventually became the pianist of The Plaza Restaurant in 1980.
Hernandez went to Japan to play with the First Quarter Band in 1982. He came back as pianist at The Plaza’s Aling Asiang Specialty Restaurant before working in Bahrain as a keyboard player at Khayam Taverna, a Greek Restaurant, from 1987 to 1989. He played piano at Beverly Hills Deli in Greenbelt, Makati before working and settling in Palau in 1992. In Palau, he started as keyboardist for a band before becoming solo pianist for different restaurants and cafeterias until he was hired at Palau Royal Resort in 2007.“I’m also teaching piano, keyboard, guitar to kids and adults,” he adds. Hernandez is the piano instructor of Palau President Johnson Toribiong’s grandson. With his mastery of the instrument, he is also a piano tuner. He once fixed the piano of Palau’s traditional queen for free as a belated Christmas present.
In 2009, the Philippine Embassy in Koror led by Ambassador Ramoncito Marino honored outstanding OFWs in Palau, including Hernandez, during the celebration of the 111th anniversary of the Philippine Independence.
The award and certification he received was not only in recognition of his musical talent but for his promotion of chess in Palau. The musical genius is also a chess master with international rating. He is an official of the Palau Chess Federation and a member of Palau national team participating in the 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey happening on August 27 to September 10.
The award and certification he received was not only in recognition of his musical talent but for his promotion of chess in Palau. The musical genius is also a chess master with international rating. He is an official of the Palau Chess Federation and a member of Palau national team participating in the 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey happening on August 27 to September 10.
Hernandez and other Filipinos and locals regularly hold chess competitions in Palau. He even writes a chess and music columns in a Palauan newspaper. Musician, piano teacher and tuner, chess master and journalist-writer. Also a loving husband to Flor, who has also been working in Palau the past 16 years. Indeed, Hernandez is very talented, an amazing Filipino we can be proud of.
UPDATES OF PALAU CHESS FEDERATION’S PARTICIPATION (LOCALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY):
*2013—3 reps of Palau in the Guam International Chess Tournament in Feb.
*2013—2 reps of Palau in the World Youth Chess Championship in Dec. at Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
*2014—Micronesian Open (27 attended the Opening) (10-player round-robin)
*2014—Brian Jones Simultaneous Exhibition (vs. 20 Opponents—10 Palauans, 10 Filipinos)
*2014—Eleven reps of Palau in the 2014 World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway (Aug. 01-14)
*2015—4 reps of Palau in the 2015 World Youth Chess Olympiad in Mongolia
*2015—2 reps of Palau in the 2015 DATMO Open in Malaysia
*2016—7 reps of Palau in the 2016 World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan
*2017—2 reps of Palau in the 2017 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Auckland, New Zealand
*2018—15 reps of Palau in the 2018 World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia (Sept. 23-Oct. 7)
*2019---16 reps of Palau in the 2019 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Guam.
*2019---16 reps of Palau in the 2019 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Guam.
*2018—The 1st Surangel Team Tournament (Aug. 5-Sept. 9) is inviting new Palauan chess players, who never played in any Palau tournament, to participate in this 7-team, 6-round event.
Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3492: 1. Qb7 Qxb7 2. Rd8#
This week’s puzzle No. 3839: White to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)
Sources: The International Filipino
Pages 10
Superstar Section
June 2012
Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 9-10
Volume 27
Issue 52
June 24, 2018
Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)
The Beginning of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
Soon to be published as a book
Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
March 15, 2012 -- April 18, 2013
http://palau-chess.blogspot.com
April 25, 2013 -- June 24, 2018
The History of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
June 09, 2002 -- June 24, 2018
Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)
The Beginning of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
Soon to be published as a book
Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
March 15, 2012 -- April 18, 2013
http://palau-chess.blogspot.com
April 25, 2013 -- June 24, 2018
The History of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
June 09, 2002 -- June 24, 2018
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