Filipino choral conductor Dr Raoul Carlo F Angangco clinches 3rd place for the American Prize in Choral Performance–Professional Division 2025

Dr Raoul Carlo F Angangco was honored by the American Prize’s national panel of judges for his exceptional leadership of the Conductors Chorus during his doctoral studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. The Conductors Chorus, a distinguished professional ensemble at Jacobs, supports master’s and doctoral choral conducting students in their degree recitals each semester. In the Spring of 2023, Dr. Angangco assembled and directed the ensemble, following his receipt of the Presser Graduate Music Award in 2022. With this support, he spearheaded a unique recital project that commissioned, premiered, and recorded four original works by US-based Filipino composers: Nilo Alcala, Saunder Choi, GP Eleria, and Robin Estrada. Titled “Sa Inang Bayan: To the Motherland,” the project explored themes of Filipino identity. The new compositions were professionally recorded by the Conductors Chorus in collaboration with recital mentor and producer Dominick DiOrio and audio engineer Jamie Tagg. The resulting album, “Sa Inang Bayan: To the Motherland,” is now available on major streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Official Announcement: https://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2025/12/national-winners-choruses-2025.html?view=classic&m=1 

Angangco’s success underscores the growing presence and impact of Filipino musicians and conductors in international classical music. Rooted in Filipino heritage, Angangco’s “Sa Inang Bayan” project demonstrates how diasporic artists can build bridges between cultures, enriching the global choral repertoire while so honoring their origins. This recognition from The American Prize helps raise the profile of Filipino choral artistry on the international scene, offering new opportunities for collaboration, performance, and cultural exchange.

Read more about the project on the Presser Foundation website: https://presserfoundation.org/commissioning-choral-works-that-explore-the-filipino-national-identity-and-cultural-experience/

Angangco is deeply grateful for his choral colleagues in the Conductors Chorus for embarking on this special project with him in 2023: Sarah Rachel Bacani, Maggie Kinabrew, Rachel Knappenberger, Michelle Kwok, Howell Petty, Elizabeth Queen, Jillian Boes, Kathryn Davidson, Shannon Lally, Rees Taylor Roberts, Perri Smith, Madeline Tokman, Elijah Bowen, Conor Brereton, Hunter Johnson, Eric Meincke, John Morrow, Evan Roberts, Jackson Faulkner, Peter Kadeli, Alex Koppel, David Le, Caio Guimarǎes Lopes, and Sergey Tkachenko.

A product of Ateneo de Manila University (BS Management ’13, with a Minor in Music Literature), Angangco completed a Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting (summa cum laude) at the UP College of Music before coming to the US in 2019 to pursue graduate studies in choral conducting, eventually earning degrees from Westminster Choir College (MM ’21) and Indiana University (DM ’24). He is currently based in Hastings, Nebraska where he proudly serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Hastings College. He is also Artistic Director, Conductor, and Co-Founder of LALÒ, a trailblazing new Filipino-American choral ensemble based in the San Francisco Bay Area with the mission of championing Philippine choral music in the U.S.

For more information about the American Prize, visit https://www.theamericanprize.org/FAQs.html