Albert L. Magcalas, Jr. earned his undergraduate degree in viola performance at the University of the Philippines College of Music with cum laude honors, his Master’s in Viola Performance at Western Illinois University under the guidance of Dr. Istvan Szabo, and his doctorate in viola performance at Florida State University College of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Pamela Ryan. He is a former violist for the Eppes String Quartet, renamed the Burgin String Quartet, which is the FSU’s resident graduate string quartet and served as a viola studio graduate teaching assistant. He is currently a YOLA Viola Teaching Artist in Los Angeles, California.
During his undergraduate studies, Dr. Magcalas was awarded second prize in the Philippine National Music Competitions for Young Artists in Category B and fourth prize in Category C. He has also performed in numerous music festivals, including the Southeast Asian Orchestra held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 2005 to 2008, the Idyllwild Music Festival in Idyllwild, California, in 2012, and the Arianna Music festival at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. He has participated in masterclasses with Christoph Wyneken, Gareth Lubbe, Maiya Papach, Andrew Ling, and Joanna Rosalie Mendoza. As an orchestra player, Dr. Magcalas has played with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Manila Symphony Orchestra, Metro Manila Community Orchestra, Muscatine Symphony Orchestra, Quincy Symphony, Orchestra, Galesburg Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, and Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. He also formerly served as the assistant high school orchestra director at the Muscatine Highschool in Muscatine, Iowa, as part of his assistantship during his graduate studies at Western Illinois University.