Our Faculty Members
Our multicultural faculty with adjunct and affiliate professors is composed of more than 50?members. They are multinational and represent most of the?denominational and non-denominational churches in Protestant traditions.
Mr. Alexander John Villanueva
School of Church Music
- Lecturer
EDUCATION?
- PhD in Music (candidate), University of the Philippines College Of Music
- Master of Music in Composition, University of the Philippines College Of Music
- Master of Ministry, Grace School of Theology
- Bachelor of Music Major in Composition, University of the Philippines College Of Music
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Alexander John “AJ” Villanueva emerges as a Filipino composer embodying a passion for musical innovation and cross-cultural dialogue. Recently granted a composer residency by Ensemble Recherche in Freiburg, Germany (2021-2022; 2023-2024), Villanueva’s recognition underscores a commitment to pioneering musical expression.
His commissioned works have been performed by International groups and artists like Ensemble Receherche (Freiburg, Germany), Ensemble Hand Werk (Cologne, Germany), Ensemble Mosaik (Berlin, Germany), Ensemble Chambre d’Ecoute (Stuttgart, Germany), Ensemble Studio C (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Hanoi New Music Ensemble (Hanoi, Vietnam), Ensemble Kyai Fatahillah (Indonesia), Coro Cantabile (Manila), Manila Chamber Singers (Manila), Metro Manila Concert Orchestra (Manila), Ripieno Ensemble (Manila).
His honors are a prize in the Young Composers of Southeast Asia of the Goethe-Institut in Bandung (2011, for Threnody IV) and a finalist in the competition for young composers of the Asian Composers League in Tōkyō (2014, for 5 Little Pieces for 2 Cellos).
He taught music courses at various universities and colleges before coming to SBC. He also served as the music director and youth pastor of Christian Bible Church of Las Pi?as, where he has produced songs for praise and worship in Tagalog.
He is currently a finishing his PhD in Music from the University of the Philippines College of Music where he researches on Filipino identity in new compositions.
- Composition
- Music Theory
- Orchestration
- Choral Arranging
- Dialoguing With The Present By Singing The Past: Musical Borrowing From The Traditional Kundiman As A Critique Of Globalization; Global Art Song Conference, Freiburg Musikhochschule, March 2024
- Being in Two Places at Once: Dual Meanings and Identities in the Composition (Pa)-ba-ya-(a)n-ko; 4th International Music & Performing Arts Conference: Trending Digital, Virtual and Capital, Malaysia, 2022
- Off Key: Modern imageries for the Filipino Traditional Kundiman; 2016 International Conference on Performance and Creativity, Hong Kong Baptist University
- Kun-di-kam-pa-na for ensemble, live electronics, and playback; commissioned and premiered by Ensemble Recherche (Freiburg, Germany) for the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik (Witten Days for New Chamber Music), 2024.
- Sa-li-ta-an for flute, clarinet, cello, and mobile devices; commissioned by Ensemble Mosaik (Berlin, Germany) funded by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, 2023.
- Ay-a-la-yan-ka for full orchestra, premiered by the University of the Philippines Symphony Orchestra, 2023.
- bayan(i)-k(a)-(ba)-o-(ano?) for Ensemble Recherche; commissioned and premiered by Ensemble Recherche (Freiburg, Germany) for the Postcolonial Recherche, 2022.
- Maria y Marta: a chamber opera; premiered in Manila, 2019.
- Kristo, Naiyanak for Mixed Choir; commissioned by Manila Chamber Singers, 2018.
- Prayer of Serenity for voice and clarinet in Bb, 2016.
- Asian Composers League, member
- Manila Composers Lab, member
- Ripieno Ensemble, artistic director
