Dr. Mitchell Manlapig is an American conductor and pianist based in Fort Worth, Texas, with a career spanning professional orchestras, opera productions, and academic institutions. He currently serves as the conductor for the Texas Christian University (TCU) Opera Department and holds an adjunct faculty position at TCU.

 

An advocate for community engagement through music, Dr. Manlapig has held numerous leadership roles, including Assistant Conductor of both the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra and the Fort Worth Medical Orchestra, where he also serves as Operational Director. In 2025, he made his international conducting debut as guest conductor and clinician for the XI UNIBAC Instrumental Clinics in Cartagena, Colombia, and later that year served as Music Director for Fort Worth Opera’s Project Opera. From 2023 to 2025, he was a conducting fellow with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and served as Assistant Conductor for Fort Worth Opera’s 2024 production of La bohème, under the direction of Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Also in 2024, he was named a National Finalist (Honorable Mention) by The American Prize in Conducting and conducted the TCU Symphony in a featured performance at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) convention.

 

Dr. Manlapig earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Christian University in 2025, where he was honored with the Outstanding Graduate Service Award. At TCU he played a key role in the opera department, serving as principal conductor for multiple productions. He holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM), where he served as acting director and manager of the UWM Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the University/Community Orchestra. During his time at UWM, he worked closely with renowned conductors, including Ken-David Masur, and was selected for the 2021 Chicago Conducting Masterclass and Workshop Series with Donald Schleicher.

 

His undergraduate studies were completed at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he was assistant conductor of the OBU/Shawnee Community Orchestra and conducted wind ensembles, chamber ensembles, choirs, and a fully staged production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in 2020. He is a two-time winner of OBU’s annual Concerto-Aria Competition and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society. He was also awarded OBU’s Outstanding Senior in the Division of Music and the W.P. Blake Award, the university’s highest undergraduate honor.

 

Dr. Manlapig has studied conducting with distinguished mentors, including Dr. Germán Gutiérrez, Dr. Christopher Aspaas, Dr. Jun Kim, Dr. John Climer, Dr. Teresa Purcell, and Dr. Christopher Matthews. He has studied piano with Elena Abend, Dr. Michael Dean, and Kaye Shields.