The carefree genius of Cecile Licad

The world-class pianist brings Chopin, Saint-Saëns, and her fearless spirit back to Manila and beyond

- FELICIANO RODRIGUEZ III

"So are your hands insured?" we asked. Cecile Licad, clad in white and black, bedecked with Cartier jewelry, and framed with stark white glasses, answered with a laugh: "No, they're not.

We laughed with her. “Why not?” we pressed.

“They’re just not!” she said, laughing again.

It is the silliness of it. This genius, who by all rights should insure her hands, hands that have created music celebrated by audiences from around the globe, simply shrugs it off. Coffee masters insure their tongues. Athletes, their legs. But Cecile, the pianist’s pianist, waves away the thought. It is perhaps this carefree attitude, this careless genius, that makes Cecile Licad who she is.

When asked what happens if something goes wrong onstage, a sudden pain in her hands, or an unexpected technical glitch, she leaned forward.

“Actually, during those times, when something unexpected happens, when my hands become painful or stiff, during adversity, those are the times when my playing, my music... people say it comes out the best. It’s that difficulty, adversity, that makes the music unique. My own, you know?”