Mary Louise Macanaya-Alcantara is a soprano, music educator, choral conductor, and writer. She finished a Diploma in Music and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music, major in Voice, cum laude, at the University of the Philippines College of Music under the tutelage of Prof. Ma. Cecilia Valeña. She earned a Certificate of Teaching Music with Kodály Emphasis in 2023.
She has appeared in operas and essayed the roles of First Woodsprite in the Philippine Premiere of Rusalka (Dvorak), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Susanna in Il Segreto di Susanna (Wolf-Ferrari), Koro/Ninang in the World Premiere of San Andres B. (Almario/Toledo), Geraldine in A Hand of Bridge (Barber), Mrs. Hayes in Susannah (Floyd), and Sisa in Noli Me Tangere (de Leon). As soloist, she premiered Alejandro Consolacion’s Missa Brevis in 2006 and Misa Sto. Niño de Malolos in 2018, Ato del Rosario’s Pasyon in the Prague Quadrennial in 2015, and Ralph Vaughan William’s Serenade to Music in 2023 at the Metropolitan Theater with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng.
She had the privilege to be mentored by well-known international musicians in voice (British soprano Susan Waters, Romanian-British soprano Nelly Miricioiu, Australian Wagnerian soprano Claire Primrose and Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu), conducting (American conductor Brady Allred), and choral masterclasses (American conductor/composer Eric Banks, German conductor Klaus-Jurgen Etzold, and Indonesian Budi Susanto Yohanes). She has been invited to facilitate choral workshops for corporate, church, and school choirs, and to adjudicate choral and voice competitions in the country.
She is an alumna of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. With the group, she has participated in local and international concert tours, recorded three albums, and won international competitions, such as the 2007 European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in Arezzo, Italy. She is the founder and conductor of the Shrine of Jesus Children’s Choir based in Pasay City. The group has participated in a number of choral festivals, concerts, and outreach performances in venues like the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philamlife Auditorium, San Sebastian Basilica, GSIS Museum, and National Museum among others. She co-founded an all-female ensemble called the Nawtingales, a group of wives and mothers who share a love for choral music.
She is teaching voice and choirs under her home and online studio, Let’s Sing Together with Teacher Em. She is the author of the blogsite, www.touringkitty.com where she writes about music, family, food, and life. She founded Korista Ako, an online forum for choristers, conductors, composers, and choral enthusiasts and fans, with the goal of uniting and celebrating Filipino choristers all over the world.
She is wife to a tenor/guitarist and mother to a singer/violinist. Together, they form Trio Alcantara, which has performed in events at the Cultural Center of the Philippines among others. Another child is on the way, coming April 2025.