Emmanuel de Leon Jr-ABT

DMA - Conducting

Emmanuel de Leon Jr. is internationally awarded as an Outstanding Conductor by the multinational jury of the 2nd Tokyo International Choir Competition held in Tokyo, Japan in July 2019. He is is a former Lecturer in the Conducting Department and Extension Program of the University of the Philippines College of Music. Eman believes in choral music education as a tool for social healing and personal development. He finished his master’s degree in Music (Major in Choral Conducting), Bachelor of Music, and Diploma in Creative and Performing Musical Arts (Major in Music Education) from the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Music. Emmanuel served as the Music Director of the University of the Philippines Manila Chorale (UPMC) from 2012-2019. During his undergraduate studies, he also served as Assistant Conductor and Resident Arranger of the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (UPCC) from 2002-2012. Emmanuel sings bass-baritone and is an alumnus of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers. Currently, he is a Doctor of Musical Arts Candidate (ABT) at the University of Notre Dame.

Representative Works

Under his baton, the UPMC went on five international tours and won several awards, including First Prizes in the 61st Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonia in Torrevieja, Spain, and the 2nd Tokyo International Choir Competition in Tokyo, Japan. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts also recognized the group and was awarded "Ani ng Dangal" (Harvest of Honors) in 2015. Through his leadership, the group has given hundreds of concerts to raise funds for different institutions like Habitat for Humanity and Virlanie Foundation, to name a few. The group donated the funds to assist the less fortunate students and people affected by the different natural calamities in the country. He has traveled all over the Philippines to teach and give workshops to choirs and conductors and adjudicate in national choral competitions. Internationally, he has served as a jury in competitions and conducted workshops in Indonesia, Germany, and Poland.

Emmanuel was accepted as a conducting fellow in Chorus America and the prestigious Norfolk Chamber Choir and Choral Conducting Workshop, auspices by the Yale School of Music in 2020. In 2021, he was one of the selected conductors for the Cascade Conducting Masterclass with Maestra Sarah Ioannides and Symphony Tacoma. His conducting performance of "Flux" was chosen and featured online in the work's world premiere. Emmanuel was selected as one of the recipients of The Hymn Society’s Lovelace Scholarship for its 2022 international conference held at The Catholic University of America. He was accepted as a conducting fellow for the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute at Georgia State University in Atlanta Georgia in June 2022. Emmanuel was also accepted as a conducting fellow in the advanced conducting masterclass of the 2022 Sarteano Chamber Choir Conducting Workshop in Sarteano, a province of Siena in the region of Tuscany, Italy. The advanced conducting masterclass was taught by professor emeritus and co-founder of The King’s Singers, Simon Carrington.