Vlad Bunoan

Jesse Lucas returns to stage with Philippine Ballet Theater's 'Andres KKK'.

Article (news)

Totel V. De Jesus

When veteran composer and musical director Jesse Lucas decided to take a break from doing collaborative work five years ago and focused on personal projects —  technically the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic — the use of artificial intelligence in creating music was virtually unheard of, at least in the performing arts in the local scene. For nearly four decades he was active in the industry, he has been a much-awarded composer and one of the more prolific. At a time when concerns are mounting over AI’s potential to replace human composers, questions have also emerged about the ethics of using the technology and the need for clear guidelines as AI becomes increasingly capable of creating music.“I think AI is already becoming part of the creative industry. I believe there should be clear guidelines, especially when it comes to authorship, ownership, and proper recognition. There should be transparency about how much human creative input is involved in the process,” Lucas told ABS-CBN News. “We have to learn, adapt and understand how AI can be used as a tool. But I also believe that human creativity, intention, and experience should remain at the heart of the work,” he emphasized.“I don&#x27;t think creating music is only about producing notes or sounds. There is still human intention, experience, emotion and artistic judgment involved,” he added.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787267605447Jesse Lucas returns to stage with Philippine Ballet Theater&#x27;s &#x27;Andres KKK&#x27;. Photo from Jesse Lucas.JPG" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="950"/>Jesse Lucas returns to stage with Philippine Ballet Theater&#x27;s &#x27;Andres KKK&#x27;. Photo from Jesse Lucas</div>Suffice it to say, Lucas tried using AI just for curiosity. “For AI music creators like SUNO, I&#x27;ve tried to experiment. But I couldn&#x27;t get the prompts correct to produce my desired output. I&#x27;ve tried the free version, which has limits. You need to get the paid subscription to get the advance features/unlimited audio files. It&#x27;s pricey to sustain the monthly or yearly subscription,” he said, with a smile emoji.“I still prefer to work with my music software tools/DAW (digital audio workstations) along with music samples, for now. Of course, I&#x27;ve tried AI for photos and videos edits. And when you Google some infos these days, you&#x27;ll be redirected to an AI responding to your queries,” he added.Clearly, he never used and will never avail of AI tools in composing and arranging music. “When I work on my compositions and arranging, I usually go back and forth listening, revising the details. I&#x27;m kind of OC (obsessive-compulsive) with the details,” he said, with another smile emoji.“Which for me is difficult to do with AI, wala akong tiyaga (I have no patience) to revise the prompts every now and then to get the result I want. It&#x27;s faster if I do it manually, the long way,” he explained. Lucas shared his views on the matter as he returns to the spotlight with the restaging of one of his earlier works, “Andres KKK,” by choreographer Gener Caringal for the Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT), the country’s national performing arts company for ballet and the performing arts.“Andres KKK” had its debut run in the mid-‘90s at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo or the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and PBT is bringing it back in a limited one-weekend performance, on August 22 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and on August 23 at 3 p.m., at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell Makati City. Lucas remembered he was only 27 when “Andres, KKK” was staged, and a generation has passed since “Andres KKK’ was experienced by audiences. “’Andres KKK’ was one of my first major breakthroughs as a composer, and my first major work in contemporary ballet back in 1996. Mr. Gener Caringal was looking for a composer for this modern ballet, and I was fortunate to be invited to collaborate,” Lucas said.Since then, he has been very active in composing music for theater, ballet, film and the performing arts. During those years, he collaborated with Tony Espejo and the Gantimpala Theater Foundation, whose productions included “Kanser.” He also wrote scores and did musical arrangements for Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas under Ogie Juliano and future National Artist for Theater Tony Mabesa, on productions like “Sundalong Kapitan” and “Taos, Elias at Salome”.Prior to collaborating with DUP, when he was studying composition at UP College of Music, Lucas said among the professors who had a big impact on him were maestro Josefino “Chino” Toledo and future National Artist Ryan Cayabyab.“It was a very formative period for me. One of my early influences was my fascination with indigenous music and instruments, interlocking rhythms, and chants — as well as electronic music. Synthesizers were still fairly new at the time, and I was always interested in veering away from the usual approach to composing and arranging music,” he recalled. “I wanted to bring these influences into ‘Andres KKK,’ which was contemporary in nature. This production gave me the opportunity to explore those ideas, which also became part of my succeeding collaborations with Mr. Gener,” he added. “It was also a significant moment for me because this was my first major production to premiere at the Main Theater of the CCP,” Lucas said.He emphasized the difficult, inspiring life of our hero, Andres Bonifacio, who was also one of the founding fathers of our nation, shaped the themes of “Andres, KKK.”  The younger generations, he said, should emulate Bonifacio’s love of country, courage and standing up for what is right.Among his collaborations with other groups was “Sarimanok,” which premiered in July 1998, choreographed by Eddie Elejar. He was also composer for Ballet Philippines reinterpretation of Mars Ravelo’s “Darna,” which premiered in August 2003, with choreography by Denisa Reyes and direction by Chris Millado.Other works that Lucas and Caringal collaborated in were “Darangen ni Bantugen,” which premiered in June 2008, and “Chanted Journeys,” with concept and direction by Floy Quintos, initially staged in May 2010.Lucas proudly shared all of these productions also premiered at CCP Main Theater. Asked if there were audio-visual recordings at the CCP Library, or even on vinyl or cassette tapes, he said: “The music of ‘Sarimanok’ is available on Spotify. As for the other productions, I would assume the ballet companies have preserved video recordings of the productions in their archives.”Besides Gantimpala and DUP, he has worked with Tanghalang Pilipino and Dramatis Personae. He is also co-founder-owner of the 11-year old performing arts group, Artist Playground, which is mounting “Noli Me Tangere, Huwag Mo Akong Hawakan” and “Junto Al Pasig” this year. He has been awarded by Gawad Urian, Young Critics Circle, Star, Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Science (Famas), Gawad Tanglaw and Aliw.For director Yam Laranas’ “Sigaw,” he won Best Music at the 2005 Screamfest International Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.In 2010, he was elevated to the Famas Hall of Fame for Best Music.In 2015, he was the featured artist at the CCP’s Triple Threat Concert series, one of those out-of-the-box productions titled “Full Range – The Music of Jesse Lucas”.Asked how long it takes for him to compose a musical score, specifically for ballet, he said, “Usually, I am given a story structure or concept, together with time stamps and a breakdown of each scene and its approximate duration. My task is to create the music and build the drama as the story progresses toward its climax — to follow the narrative and the story arc.” “As a composer, I am mostly left with my imagination of how the movement will unfold. It is only during rehearsals that I get to see the choreography and how the music works with the movements of the dancers, and whether revisions are needed,” he added. “I also think in terms of musical color — what instruments to use, the texture and weight of the orchestration. I can shift from light to heavier orchestration depending on how the story progresses and where I feel the music needs to build,” Lucas pointed out. Asked of the difference in creating for film, theater, television and ballet, he said the main difference is the musical intention.“Music for ballet is intended for movement, with the dancers and choreography in mind. For musicals, the main task is to create songs that support the story and move it forward — and hopefully create memorable show tunes. You also have to consider the singers and the movement required by the staging,” he said.“For film and television, music is primarily an underlying support. It heightens the emotion and narrative, and the approach depends very much on the genre — whether it is drama, horror, action, suspense, or romantic comedy,” he added.Asked which one gives him more effort to finish, he said: “I wouldn&#x27;t say more difficult than the other. Each has its own challenges. The common denominator is collaboration. I work with a creative team, usually with the director leading the overall vision, and the music has to work toward that creative goal.”He shared the re-staging of “Andres KKK” gave him a push to return into the creative world and the long break before that gave him a chance to step back, reset and almost start again with a clean slate.“I&#x27;m also very upbeat about a project that comes from my growing appreciation and love for contemporary art,” he added.He added over three decades, almost all of his work has been collaborative and now he is happy in pursuing projects independently, exploring ideas and dream projects. Rest assured, Lucas will continue creating music without the use of AI. Like what he said earlier, “Experience, emotion, artistic judgement are three vital components that robots can never provide.”For ticket inquiries on “Andres KKK,” call PBT at 0968- 8708887.

At a time when concerns are mounting over AI’s potential to replace human composers, questions have also emerged about the ethics of using the technology and the need for clear guidelines as AI becomes increasingly capable of creating music.

At a time when concerns are mounting over AI’s potential to replace human composers, questions have also emerged about the ethics of using the technology and the need for clear guidelines as AI becomes increasingly capable of creating music.

Veteran composer Jesse Lucas joins calls for proper recognition, clear guidelines on using AI

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Veteran composer Jesse Lucas joins calls for proper recognition, clear guidelines on using AI

Totel V. De Jesus

Published August 21, 2026 04:14 PM PHT

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