Joshibiah "Butch" de Juan

Mr. Joshibiah de Juan, a choral conductor by profession, is also into composition, performing, and teaching. In January of 2008, right after he graduated from Korea, he was invited to teach at the school where he started, the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music (AILM) in the Philippines, and became a full-time conducting faculty member of the school. He started his formal music training in choral conducting under Dr. Francisco Feliciano, Jonathan Velasco, Eudenice Palaruan, and Andrea Veneracion; composition under Drs. Francisco Feliciano, Ramon Santos, Jonas Baes and a masterclass under Professor Geonyong Lee; voice under Dr. Joel Navarro, Luchie Roque and Prof. Priscilla Magdamo-Abraham; and guitar under Lester Demitillo, from 1993 to 1998.

From 1998 to 2005, de Juan went to the University of the Philippines College of Music. During those times, he had the privilege to study Music Theory and Composition under Prof. Chino Toledo and Dr. Christine Muyco; Dr. Jonas Baez (analysis), and Cipriano “Ryan” Cayabyab (counterpoint); choral conducting under Professors Eudenice Palaruan, Janet Sabas-Aracama, and Mark Carpio; voice under Mrs. Aileen Espinosa-Cura, Miss Rachelle Gerodias-Park, and Professor Manuel Gregorio; guitar under Mr. Lester Demitillo and Mr. Billy Guerrero.

In 2005, he left for South Korea for further studies under a Korean government scholarship. In 2008, he finished his Masters of Music in Choral Conducting at Korean National University of Arts (Seoul, Korea) under the world-renowned German conductor-pedagogue, Martin Behrman. Behrman was the Director of Berliner Kirchenmusikchule in Germany before becoming a full-time faculty member at the Korean National University of Arts. During de Juan’s studies in Korea, he had attended various master classes under various Asian and European choral and orchestral conducting, notably Yamasaki Suzuki’s of the Collegium Musicum Japan.

Known for his enthusiasm, optimism, and patience in conducting and teaching, De Juan has had various experiences in (choral) conducting beginner and amateur, school or church choirs, as well as conducting experienced college and university choirs and other secular choirs. As a performer, he was a member of well-known choral groups in the Philippines as a guitarist, percussionist, and a tenor as a singer. Worth mentioning would be the San Miguel Master Chorale, Philippine Chamber Singers, Ateneo Chamber Singers, and Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music Chorale, for several years. He traveled and performed with these choirs in different countries; As a lecturer, he conducted a workshop in Malaysia in 2008 and 2009.

In February of 2009, Mr. de Juan was one of the featured artists at the annual Las Pinas Bamboo Organ Festival (Philippines) as conductor of the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music Chorale.

Mr. de Juan was the conductor and eventually became the Music Director at the Church of the Risen Lord, based in the University of the Philippines-Diliman from 1998 until June 2012. 

After deciding to join his family in Bohol in June 2012, he applied to the College of Performing and Visual Arts at Silliman University and taught Theory and Composition for only a semester due to geographical consideration.

As he finally settled in Bohol, he started his Music Extension Programs in local schools in November of 2012 and eventually put up his school, the SMART (School for Music and Arts Recreational Training), in April 2013.

He became active in different Arts events in Bohol as a choral conductor, guest conductor, and or music lecturer in schools, universities, churches, and various organizations. In 2015, he became the choral conductor of Tagbilaran City Government Chorale. At the same time, he was appointed as the President of the Tagbilaran City Council for Culture and the Arts (TCCCA) to present. 

He formally accepted the call and joined the Philippine Choral Directors Association (PCDA) as a member and Provincial Coordinator for Bohol in 2017 and became one of its invited conducting lecturers to its regional conferences for three consecutive events. 

In 2019 he was invited as one of the adjudicators for INTERKULTUR’s 6th Vietnam International Choir Competition. In the same year, he became a full-time choir consultant for Germany’s INTERKULTUR and currently serves as the office manager of its satellite office for Asia and The Pacific, the INTERKULTUR Philippines, based in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. As he enjoys doing INTERKULTUR’s significant worldwide cause of connecting various cultures of the world through singing, he continuously enjoys making his first love; to create, study, learn, enhance, interpret, share and conduct Music. His name is Jewish, his family name is Spanish, but you may call him Butch.