Gerard Salonga is currently Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, a position he has held since January 2019. For two seasons he served as Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra from 2016 to 2018 where he was appointed by Maestro Jaap van Zweden, having been selected from a field of over 170 international applicants. He also served as Music Director of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra in Manila from 2012 to 2020. In January of 2021, Gerard began his term as the Music Director of the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth (OFY).
He has assisted and covered distinguished conductors such as Jaap van Zweden, Jun Märkl, Hans Graf, Yu Long, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mark Wigglesworth, Junichi Hirokami, and Leonard Slatkin, and has conducted the Philippine Philharmonic, Shanghai Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, Kunming Nie-Er Symphony, Evergreen Symphony of Taiwan, Thailand Philharmonic, Bangkok Symphony, Singapore Symphony, South Denmark Philharmonic, Queensland Camerata, Orchestra Victoria, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Gerard has also conducted in iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House and Royal Albert Hall.
He conducts a wide range of repertoire covering symphony, ballet, opera, pops, family, and film including the Harry Potter Film Concert Series, La La Land, Marvel’s Infinity Saga, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ratatouille films in concert and is a Disney-approved conductor for the Star Wars film concerts in Asia, the Pacific, and Australia. Gerard is an active arranger as well, and his orchestral arrangements have been performed by orchestras such as the Boston Pops, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, New York Pops, Guangzhou Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Sinfonietta Riga, Cincinnati Pops, Indianapolis Symphony, Vietnam National Symphony, BBC Symphony, Malmö Symphony, and Royal Philharmonic. Gerard has also collaborated as arranger or conductor across different styles with artists like Lea Salonga, Lang Lang, Sumi Jo, Wang Leehom, Joseph Nolan, Wu Tong, Cecile Licad, Zia Hyunsu Shin, Tengku Irfan, Paul Archibald, Hacken Lee, Anthony Lun, Elisa Chan, Ivana Wong, Michael Ball, Blake, Il Divo, Danielle de Niese, TaikOz, Ksenija Sidorova, Shen Yang, Llŷr Williams, Jing Wang, James Ehnes, Jan Lisiecki, and The Beach Boys.
Gerard has conducted world premieres of new works with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Sydney Symphony orchestras, the recordings of which are on the Danacord and Sony Classical labels.
As a conductor of musical theatre, he has led the orchestras for the Manila stagings of Carousel (1996), They’re Playing Our Song (2000), Dreamgirls (2003), Baby (2004), West Side Story (2008), Sweeney Todd (2009), and Little Women (2010). In 2019 he conducted Sweeney Todd for Atlantis Theatrical and Singapore Repertory Theatre, and in 2025 conducted Into The Woods for Theatre Group Asia. For his work in concerts and theatre, he is a four-time recipient of the Aliw Award for best musical director, and twice winner of the Gawad Buhay Philstage Award.
He has served as a jury member of several competitions, including the finals of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (Philippines) in 2016 and 2018, the 2021 Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (Singapore) concerto competition, and served on the jury on for the 1st Malaysian National Concerto Competition. In 2020 he was one of the panelists for the San Francisco Conservatory conducting seminar, and in Malaysia he has given lectures on conducting through MPO’s education and outreach to institutions such as the Association of International Schools Malaysia, Taylor’s University, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, and Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
In 2012 Gerard was honoured as one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM), the Philippines’ highest civilian award to achievers under the age of 40. In 2021 he was named one of the recipients of the SUDI National Music Awards by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
For the 2026 season, Gerard will continue his work with the MPO, Filharmonika, MPYO, and OFY, plus performances in Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, and Manila. He made a return visit to the Hong Kong Philharmonic in January 2026, and in June will make his debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
