Episode 9: Saunder Choi

Welcome to the Composer Happy Hour episode nine. Thank you so much for listening. If you haven't already, consider giving us a follow on Instagram. We'd love to have you as a part of our online community. Our guest for this episode is Saunder Choi. Saunder is based in Los Angeles, and he writes beautiful, challenging, and timely music. He also knows how to make a mean cocktail. I was very much looking forward to this conversation as Saunder and I had only previously chatted via email. He is a very kind and gracious guest, and I am sure that - if you haven't already - you are going to fall in love with his music. In today's episode we discuss taco trucks, growing up in the Philippines, and getting a flat tire in the desert. As always, if you like what you hear - buy us a beer! Your contributions will help to fund future projects by whateverandeveramen. Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist. His works have also been performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Sacra Profana, Tonality, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, World Youth Choir, Asia Pacific Youth Choir and many others. He has been commissioned by the L.A. Choral Lab, Andrea Veneracion International Choral Festival, SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore), Choral Arts Initiative, the Earth Choir (Taiwan), Taipei Philharmonic Choir and Women’s Choir, Archipelago Singers (Indonesia), Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many others. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written for Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the New York Gay Men’s Chorus, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the Tim Janis Christmas Shows at Carnegie Hall, Ballet Philippines, etc. He won the 2017 Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Carol Commission competition and awarded the 1st prize in the 2014 American Prize for Choral Composition (student division). He was also a finalist for the 2012 and 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and was one of the five composition fellows at the 2016 Big Sky Choral Initiative, where he worked with the Grammy-award winning choir, The Crossing. More recently, he was one of three composers chosen to participate in Pacific Chorale’s Choral Sketches Workshop, with renowned composer Tarik O’Regan. Born in Manila, Philippines, Saunder holds degrees from De La Salle University – Manila, Berklee College of Music, and the USC Thornton School of Music. His works are published with See-A-Dot Music Publishing, Santa Barbara Music Publishingand Earthsongs. Select works are also distributed by MusicSpoke and MuzikSea. www.saunderchoi.com All Recordings Used by Permission of the Composer: "Ang Tren" UA&P Chorale "The New Colossus" LA Choral Lab "Invitation to Love" UUSM Voices "American Breakfast" C3LA