Fernando Malvar-Ruiz

bio

GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Fernando Malvar-Ruiz is serving his fifth season as Artistic Director of Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, having commenced his tenure on August 1, 2018. Mr. Malvar-Ruiz is an internationally regarded choral conductor, clinician, and educator, who has worked with children’s and youth choirs around the globe his entire career. From 2004 to 2017, he was the Artistic Director of The American Boychoir, leading the ensemble in over 150 performances and up to five national and international tours annually. He has prepared choirs for appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has worked with such conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Marin Alsop, Pierre Boulez, Yannik Nézet-Seguin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Zubin Mehta, as well as artists ranging from cellist Yo-Yo Ma, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, pop legends Billie Eilish, Beyoncé Knowles, Sir Paul McCartney, Josh Groban, Carlos Santana and opera singers Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman. He conducted The American Boychoir on six recordings, led its performances on the Academy Awards and a 9/11 Memorial Service broadcast globally on CNN. Mr. Malvar-Ruiz was the music director for the film Hear My Song (Boychoir), starring Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Debra Winger, and Josh Lucas. Additionally, Mr. Malvar-Ruiz has conducted honor choirs in national and regional conferences of ACDA and OAKE.

Mr. Malvar-Ruiz previously served as The American Boychoir’s Associate Music Director from 2000-2004 under James Litton. He has a master’s degree in choral conducting from Ohio State University and completed the coursework toward a doctoral degree in choral music from the University of Illinois.