Gerard completed his Bachelor of Arts degree from the in 1994. He subsequently went to the United States to pursue formal musical studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he graduated summa cum laude and received Berklee"s Contemporary Writing and Production Achievement Award. Gerard worked briefly at Sony Pictures as an orchestrator and music copyist before returning to the Philippines in 1999.
Gerard began his musical education, taking piano lessons, at the age of 5. Gerard is naturally associated with Lea throughout the length and breadth of her distinguished singing career, but had since successfully established his own stature and identity in Manila"s music scene.
Upon his return, he embarked on carving his own niche in the local musical landscape. He initially guest-conducted and arranged music for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and Manila Philharmonic Orchestra. And by 2005, he had garnered his third consecutive Aliw Award for Best Musical Director. He won his fourth, in 2008. Among his stints as musical director, foremost of which are his projects with his sister Lea, Gerard Salonga had arranged and conducted music for distinguished Filipino artists like Lani Misalucha, Martin Nievera and Regine Velasquez, amongst others He is also the musical director of Carmel House Studio, a recording studio coupled with a film scoring and post-production facility, in the suburb of Alabang, outskirt of Manila. Back in 2005, it was then known as the Global Contact Center, and this is where he formed the Global Studio Orchestra (later known as FILharmoniKA), as the in-house orchestra for the facility. In 2004 and 2005, he arranged and produced compelling station IDs for The Filipino Channel, both of which won the Promax World Silver Award in New York City ("Best Use of Music/Post Score with or without lyrics"). In 2006, he scored the musical soundtrack for the supernatural horror-thriller film, Ang Pamana, which had its world premiere at the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival. In 2006, together with FILharmoniKA, Gerard embarked on a series albums of titled "Musika Natin", highlighting works by great Filipino composers, some of which have been forgotten and some, never been performed. Recent releases featured compositions by the teacher-composer Lucio San Pedro, works by jazz maestro Angel Peña and works by the martial bandleader, Colonel Antonio Buenaventura. Gerard Salonga also collaborated in the contemporary album "Eastern Skies" with jazz guitarist Johnny Alegre. A fifth album release, "Kumpas" featured orchestral renditions of anthems by guest Pinoy Rock icons, Ely Buendia, Sampaguita, Noel Cabangon and Wally Gonzales. The latter anthology largely caught the imagination of the young Filipino listening audience, fostering possibilities for the orchestra as a commercial vehicle in Office of Personnel Management. He now leads the ABS-Christian Broadcasting Network Philharmonic Orchestra as resident conductor and musical director
