Marcus John Mariano Francisco

Marcus started the viola at age 14. Initially, he picked it up just for fun, for around 2 weeks.
He was originally a violinist who started at age 6 under Prof. Benjamin Caaway. He then transfered to Jay Cayuca at the age of 7.

At 8, he stopped violin for a year then transfered under the tutelage of Ms. Donna Javier when he was 9 years old until he reached 12.

During this period of time, Marcus was only doing basic technique and playing beginner pieces. He never got past the beginner level.

When he was 13, he joined his school orchestra and met his teacher, Mr. Christian Aplaon who is the conductor. Marcus became concertmaster under his tutelage, and his violin techniques have improved gradually.

When he was 14, Marcus discovered the viola by looking at Mr. Christian’s old videos wherein he plays the viola. He decided to give it a shot but didn’t know he would fall in love with her deeper tone.

When he started viola, he immediately started with the Telemann Concerto because he already knew the basics of the violin. Then he advanced on to JC Bach and Handel.

When he was 15, he decided to upgrade his viola, and thus was already learning the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata 1st movement and the Zelter Viola Concerto 1st movement.

Fast forward to 16, he is currently learning the Forsyth and Stamitz Concertos, and the Schubert sonata which are the core repertoire of the viola.

You can find Marcus John’s 2022 Classical Music Competition viola performance here.