Dr. Mitchell Manlapig is an American conductor and pianist based in Fort Worth, Texas, whose work spans professional symphonic performance, opera production, and higher education. He currently serves as adjunct faculty at Texas Christian University (TCU) and is conductor of the TCU Opera Department.

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Dr. Manlapig has appeared with leading ensembles and institutions across North Texas, including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Fort Worth Opera. He served as Assistant Conductor for Fort Worth Opera’s 2024 production of La bohème under Miguel Harth-Bedoya and serves as Music Director of Fort Worth Opera’s Project Opera for the 2025–2026 season, an educational initiative expanding high school students’ access to opera performance through chorus participation. He is also music directing the workshop premiere of Kevin Day’s opera For the Love of Uvalde and will premiere the orchestral version of the bilingual children’s opera La Bruja Anam y la Bella Beatriz in spring 2026. He was a conducting fellow with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (2023–2025), and in 2025 made his international conducting debut as guest conductor and clinician for the XI UNIBAC Instrumental Clinics in Cartagena, Colombia.

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Committed to music education and community engagement, Dr. Manlapig serves as Assistant Conductor of the Fort Worth Medical Orchestra, where he is also Operational Director. He previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra (2022–2025). 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.

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Dr. Manlapig earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Christian University in 2025, receiving the Outstanding Graduate Service Award. He holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he served as acting director and manager of the UWM Symphony Orchestra, as well as 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 with Donald Schleicher. He completed his undergraduate studies at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he conducted ensembles across orchestral, choral, and operatic repertoire, including a fully staged production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. He was 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 Germán Gutiérrez, Christopher Aspaas, Jun Kim, John Climer, Teresa Purcell, and Christopher Matthews, and piano with Elena Abend, Michael Dean, and Kaye Shields.