Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer who has written a wide variety of works, from contemporary classical instrumental, vocal and choral works to jazz charts and popular music arrangements.

As a composer, his works have also been performed, programmed, recorded and read by the USC Thornton Symphony, Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale, USC Chamber Singers, Peninsula Women’s Chorus, Kalistos Chamber Orchestra and the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium Chorus. He has been commissioned by the L.A. Choral Lab, Andrea Veneracion International Choral Festival, Salt Lake Choral Artists, SYC Ensemble Singers of Singapore, Choral Arts Initiative, University of the East Chorale, University of Visayas Chorale, etc. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Maestro Gerard Salonga, the Tim Janis American Christmas Carol Show at Carnegie Hall, Jose Mari Chan, Ballet Philippines, and the Hong Kong production of Pippin.

He sang tenor and was one of the resident composers of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, joining them in several national and international goodwill tours, international music festivals and concerts. He also sang with the First Church in Boston Choir, the Boston Choral Ensemble and the USC Chamber Singers. As a conductor, he directed the Philippine Cultural College Annex Campus Youth Choir from 2006-2011, leading them to participate in local Philippine choral festivals and competitions. He currently sings with the L.A. Choral Lab and founded Lore Vocal Ensemble. He also serves as the choir director at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in North Hollywood and teaching artist for Pacific Chorale.

Born in Manila, Philippines, he holds a Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts degree from the De La Salle University-Manila and a Bachelor of Music in Composition, minor in conducting from the Berklee College of Music. He completed his Master of Music in Composition at the USC Thornton School of Music, where his primary composition teachers were Ted Hearne and Donald Crockett. He also took orchestration classes with Stephen Hartke and Andrew Norman. In the past, he has studied composition with Andrew List, and Vuk Kulenovic, and had master classes with Chen Yi and Robert Kyr. He studied conducting with Larry Livingston, Isaiah Jackson and Francisco Noya. His works are published with Santa Barbara Music Publishing and Earthsongs. Select works are also distributed by MusicSpoke.

Nilo Alcala’s compositions and arrangements have been performed in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. His choral suite Manga Pakalagian has been hailed as “extraordinary...” (Eric Whitacre), “very fine...” (Morten Lauridsen), “...powerful... spectacularly engaging” (Lauri’s List), “...exuberant and at times hypnotic...”(Cultural Cocktail Hour), and “...scaled peaks of genius” (Asian Journal).

Alcala made history for being the first composer from the Philippines to receive the prestigious Aaron Copland House Residency Award (2017), as well as the first Filipino to be commissioned by the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale and premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. 

Alcala’s awards also include the POLYPHONOS Young Composer Award from The Esoterics (Seattle, WA), the 2nd Prize Asian Composers League Young Composer Award (Israel), and Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honor) from the Office of the President of the Philippines. His commissions include the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA); Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival; Korean Ministry of Culture; Asia-Europe Foundation; and premieres by the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra. 

Alcala was composer-in-residence of the Philippine Madrigal Singers (UNESCO Artist for Peace) which premiered his works in international competitions such as the Florilege Vocal de Tours (France); the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Italy); and events including the American Choral Directors Association National Conference (Dallas, TX); the 9th World Symposium on Choral Music (Argentina); and America Cantat 7 (Colombia). 

An Asian Cultural Council grantee, Alcala is also a Billy Joel Fellow at Syracuse University where he earned an MMus in Composition and received the Irene L. Crocker Music Award. He holds a BM in Composition at the University of the Philippines, graduating Magna cum laude. 

A versatile composer, Alcala also scores for the screen. His music for the film Homecoming (Gil Portes, Director) earned nominations for Best Musical Score at the Metro Manila Film Festival and Star Awards for Movies. He is also part of the composers team for Train Station, a ground-breaking international film by CollabFeature with 40 directors from 25 of countries. Alcala also recently scored White Horse Pictures’ short documentary Candlestick Park Fans (The Last Ticketed Concert of The Beatles) to promote Ron Howard’s “The Beatles: Eighth Days A Week”. He is currently music director of Club Six Studios, a Silicon Valley-based mobile video game company.

Matthew 6:33 | ENFJ-A |  | ‘90
Singer/Actor | 📍 Seattle • Manila 🇺🇸🇵🇭
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