Philemon Theodorou

Philemon Theodorou has been Director of the San Clemente High School Vocal Arts Department since 1999. In addition, Theodorou is the founder and current music director of both the San Clemente Choral Society and the Orange County based Da Capo Singers.  He is also Director of Choirs at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Parish in Huntington Beach.  From 1995 to 1999 he was Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Georgia Southwestern State University and Director of the Southwest Civic Chorus in Americus, Georgia.  He began his teaching career in 1988 directing secondary level ensembles in Lompoc, California and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dr. Theodorou received a bachelor's degree in vocal music performance from Fresno State University, a master’s degree in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a doctoral degree in choral conducting from the University of Oklahoma.  He studied extensively with such choral conducting icons as Donald Neuen, Dennis Shrock, and Helmut Rilling, and he has taken part in performances with famed maestros Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Carl St. Clair, and others. 

For his classroom activities, Dr. Theodorou received a 1991 "Golden Apple Award" for outstanding work with the Lompoc Unified School District and a nomination for the 2002 and 2005 “Secondary Vocal Music Teacher of the Year Award” in Orange County.  The faculty of the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma voted him the recipient of the highly regarded “Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Award” for highest achievement and distinguished contributions as a doctoral student.  In 1987, while still a master’s student, he won first prize at the Scarritt National Choral Conducting Competition in Nashville.  His ensembles consistently receive superior ratings at music festivals across the country, he was invited to present a performance for the 2003 California Music Educators Association State Convention in Pasadena, California, and he has led choir tours throughout the United States and Europe.  He has directed local and regional high school and middle school honor choirs in Georgia, Las Vegas, and California as well.  An ardent proponent of secondary school music, Dr. Theodorou specializes in the teaching and performance of pre-nineteenth century choral repertoire.  He also writes and arranges his own music, and his compositions have been performed throughout southern California in regional festivals and honor choirs.

Dr. Theodorou maintains an active regional presence, performing regularly as a staff singer with the Pacific Chorale and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.  He also serves on the Pacific Chorale Education Committee and the California Teaching Credential Commission Standards Panel.  He served recently as artistic advisor for The Learning Channel mini-series Trial by Choir.  At SCHS he conducts the A Cappella Choir, Women’s Ensemble, Men’s Chorus, and Madrigal Singers, and he teaches AP Music Theory and IB Perspectives in Music classes.  Theodorou resides in San Clemente with wife Megan Starr-Levitt, a former “Christine” with the national tour of “The Phantom of the Opera” and currently a vocal performer and private voice instructor, and their son, Alexander.