Ballroom Blitz Dinner & Dance

Award-winning conductor and
musician Robert Shroder is the
founding musical director of
FASO. He was the former
principal flutist of two of Asia's
distinguished musical institutions:
the Manila Symphony Orchestra
and the Manila Chamber
Orchestra. Upon migrating to Los
Angeles, he became the founding
conductor of the Boyle Heights
Youth Symphony.
Coming from a distinguished musical lineage, Shroder was first taught by
his grandfather, Augusto Samaniego Sr., who was a member of the
renowned Philippine Constabulary Band, the first Filipino band to perform
at the inauguration of U.S. President Taft in 1909. He grew up in the musical
and historic town of Kawit, Cavite in the Philippines. Shroder first earned
acclaim as the grand prize winner of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’
National Music Competition for Young Artists in 1982.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Music
with a major in Flute and a minor in Chamber Music and
Conducting, Shroder studied flute under Philippine Philharmonic
Orchestra principal flutist Enrique Barcelo as well as chamber
music and conducting under composer/conductor/dean Reynaldo
Paguio and Pambansang Samahan ng mga Banda sa Pilipinas
(PASAMBAP) VP Leopoldo Lopez. He later studied under Manila
Symphony Orchestra conductor Helen Quach, Deutsche Oper
Berlin pianist/conductor Lorenzo Palomo, and award-winning
violinist/chamber music conductor Christoph Poppen. While in
college, Shroder became the principal flutist of the
Philippine Youth Orchestra under the baton of
conductor Sergio Esmilla, Jr. He is a lifetime
member of the distinguished Mu Phi Epsilon
International Music Fraternity.