Assistant Conductor

Ella Castro

Ella Castro is a Filipino soprano, conductor, and composer. A jack of many trades, Ella has a stellar career in singing and teaching diverse genres from pop to classical, leading choirs and orchestras, and composing and arranging musicals and choral works. Under the guidance of her voice professor Dr. Terrie Sanders, she won numerous accolades in her singing career, including placing first in National Association of Teachers for Singing – Louisiana State in 2022. She also had her own voice studio in Northwestern State University (NSU) School of Creative and Performing Arts, teaching students ranging from teenagers to college students. She was also the interim director of NSU Men’s Chorus for almost two years. As a chorister, Ella had traveled to different parts of the world (Asia, Europe, and USA) joining local and international choral competitions. She made her orchestral debut conducting with the Natchitoches Northwestern Symphony Orchestra in 2022 and had then conducted various concerts with them. She was the

chorusmaster and assistant conductor of Spotlight on Opera 2023’s productions of Puccini’s Suor Angelica”, and “Madama Butterfly” held in Shreveport, Louisiana under the guidance of Dr. William Reber and Ms. Kristin Roach. Back in the Philippines, she was the resident musical director and composer of Teatro Kalsayeño, Caloocan City Science High School's theatre group from 2014 to 2020, composing various musicals for and with them.

Currently, she is the personnel manager of University of North Texas - Orchestral Studies where she is working on her doctorate degree in orchestral conducting under Maestro David Itkin. As a graduate student conductor, she conducts and assists the UNT Symphony Orchestra and Concert Orchestra. She had also been the chorusmaster of UNT Opera for their 2024 production of Puccini’s “La Rondine.” Outside the podium, she likes cooking, painting, reading philosophy, writing stories, and watching Korean variety shows.