Augusto “Agot” Espino is a pianist, pedagogue, chamber musician, composer, arranger, and choral conductor. He finished his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music where he was a consistent scholar and recipient of the Rosario Lopez Garcia Scholarship in Piano. He recently retired as full professor for Piano and Piano Ensemble in the same institution, where he taught for over four decades.

Prof. Espino debuted as a piano soloist with the Philippine Youth Orchestra under the baton of Prof. Sergio Esmilla. He was featured as a concerto soloist with the Metro Manila Symphony Orchestra, the UP Jazz Orchestra for the 24th Bamboo Organ Festival, UP Symphonic Band, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He had seven performances as piano soloist for “Concert at the Park", the first of which was on the special occasion of its very first television coverage on PTV 4.

Sir Agot is a sought-after assisting artist, receiving special recognition for accompanying dozens of contestants playing different piano concertos in the Piano Concerto Competition held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as well as in the Beethoven Piano Concerto Competition held at the UP Abelardo Hall, both during the ‘80s. He has performed extensively as a collaborative artist all over the country, as well as in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

He has been recognized as the “Pinakamahusay na Alagad ng Sining” (Musical Arts Category) during the Gawad Chanselor of the University of the Philippines in 2000, recipient of the UP College of Music Centennial Award “Gawad Regalado Jose” in 2016, and honored with the Gawad Gintong Duyan Award during the 50th Foundation Day of his hometown, Batangas City, in 2019, all in recognition of his excellent performances through the years, and his numerous creative works for piano, voice, and chorus that have been widely performed as part of Filipino concert repertoire all over the world.