Francisco de Guzman Jr.

Francisco “JR” de Guzman Jr., graduated at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music, major in vocal performance under the tutelage of Prof. Ronan H. Ferrer, and minor in piano under Prof. Naomi Paz Sison and Prof. Leonard Guilang. Exposed to classical music at an early age, he learned to read notes, and to play a variety of pieces by ear on the piano, lyre/glockenspiel, and violin.

Mr. de Guzman has been performing in multiple productions at notable concert venues such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philamlife Auditorium, UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, Meralco Theater, Paco Park Presents, Concert at the Park, and UP Abelardo Hall Auditorium. Since 2010, he has been performing in the UST Conservatory of Music’s annual Sampung Mga Daliri Atbp, UST Music Summer Camp and Festival, and the UST Christmas Concert. He was part of the Thomasian community choir during the Papal Visit of Pope Francis at UST in 2015. As a member of the Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir and the UST Coro Tomasino, he has also sung in concert tours and international competitions and festivals abroad such as Japan, Korea, USA, Indonesia, and China, where the respective choirs have won gold medals. In 2016, he became a participant of the 2nd Intercollegiate Vocal Summit held in the UP Abelardo Auditorium at UP Diliman.

Since 2010, Mr. De Guzman has been a member of the opera choruses in famous operas such as Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” (2010), Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto” (2014), Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” (2015), and Gaetano Donizetti’s “L’Elisir D’Amore”. Recently, he played the role of Padre Salvi in the first Filipino opera “Noli Me Tangere”, composed by National Artist Felipe De Leon. Mr. De Guzman has also taken musical roles in some broadway musical recitals held at the UST Conservatory of Music. He was soloist at the Ugnayan Sa Tugtugan 2018, with the UST Symphony Orchestra and the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a young composer/arranger, Mr. De Guzman’s pieces have been premiered nationally and internationally. His original choral works include: “Pie Jesu”, “Pater Noster”, “Jubilate Deo”, and “Psallite”. His arrangements include: “Dandansoy”, “Himig Pasko”, “Parul”, “Somewhere in My Memory”, and “Caresse Sur L’Ocean”. He was also the first voice student to arrange a piece, “Lights, Camera, Music!”, for the 32 nd Sampung Mga Daliri Atbp. at the CCP Main Theater. He also won in the 3rd Alexander Kastalsky International Choral Writing Competition 2018 held in Moscow, Russia, where he composed “O Salutaris Hostia” for the said competition. In early 2019, his piece “Irish Blessing” garnered honorable mention at the Concurso de Composición Coral 2019 held at Valencia, Spain.

He has taught voice and piano in two different music schools since 2016. A former member of the multi-awarded Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir, Mr. De Guzman has been serving as an active member and assistant conductor of the award-winning UST Coro Tomasino, where he is a scholar. He is also the music director of a parish-based choir, the Coro Magnificat. And recently, he was appointed as the new conductor of the Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir, succeeding his former teachers, Ma. Theresa Vizconde-Roldan and Jude B. Roldan.