Ruth Cardillo Robinson & Grace Joy Reid, Mother & Daughter

By Grace Joy Reid

My greatest influencer by Grace Joy Reid

The first person who influenced me in music was my mom, Ruth Cardillo Robinson. She was a singer, choir director, and composer. Ruth grew up in the barrio of Palompon, Leyte, during the Vietnam War. The Japanese invaded her village in the Central Philippines. Her entire village was forced to stand in the river, while the Japanese soldiers raised their weapons to shoot them.

My mother was about three years old and sitting on her mother, Marcia Cordillo’s shoulders. She could hear her mom praying. By God’s grace, the Japanese soldiers lowered their guns, which gave the villagers a chance to run away. They ran into the jungle, where they lived for many months, until it was safe for them to return to their homes. Ruth is the 13th child. Nathan, her favorite brother closest to her in age, died from tuberculosis at 18, because there was no money to pay the doctor. She worked for her oldest brother, Manoy Mente, taking care of his family as a servant, at the age of seven. She cooked and cleaned. Manoy’s wife mistreated Ruth. But my mother sang through her suffering. She taught herself how to play the piano at their local church.

In 1962, Nanay (Mother) sang Ang Maya with an orchestra featured Pat Boone at a fiesta in Oromoc City, Philippines. One of the judges was the head of the Music Department at Silliman University. Although she was exhausted from leading games for the youth in Leyte, Ruth won first place.

Nanay was my first piano teacher. I was two years old. She enrolled me in piano lessons at four. Years later, my father, an Army Chaplain, said, “Grace Joy, we need a pianist for our church service. Will you play for us?” I agreed.

This was my first, salaried job at 11. At 12, I started playing for weddings. At 13, I played in festivals, auditions, and competitions across the State of Kansas. Mom made me her accompanist for her choirs as we moved around the country and the world. We went to Minnesota, Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia, Kansas, and Germany.

I remember practicing Clair de Lune by Debussy and my mother would yell from the kitchen, “Put more feeling into it!” She cared a lot about how I expressed my music. Even when I quit piano lessons in Junior High, she made me practice every day. She would not let me give up.

I sang alto in a trio, sang in choir, played violin, and sang in Annie Get Your Gun and The Wizard of Oz at Janitell Jr. High School. Although I wasn’t taking piano lessons, I was expressing myself through music.

My mother instilled in me the joy of music and the comfort that music brings in difficult times. Music is that bridge that connects people from different languages, cultures, and socioeconomic statuses. I owe my love for music to my mother, who shared her love for music with me from the womb.

Thank you, Mom, for being a fighter, for believing in me, and for sharing your life with me. I love you.

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