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Phone: (956) 882-7768
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Phone: (956) 665-3471
Email: music@utrgv.edu
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Faculty

Areas of Study - Faculty Directory

Andres R. Amado

Andres R. Amado

Assoc. Prof., Musicology and Ethnomusicology
956-665-2944
andres.amado@utrgv.edu
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Andres R. Amado

Dr. Andrés R. Amado teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in music history, world music, research methods, ethnomusicology, and courses cross-listed with the department of anthropology, the Mexican American Studies program, and the Center for Gender and Women Studies. His research focuses on the music of Latin America, particularly Guatemala, where he studies issues of race and ethnicity, musical nationalism, and cosmopolitanism and transnationalism. He incorporates methodologies from ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and musical analysis. He has contributed entries to the second edition of the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments and the forthcoming edition of Music in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG). He has published papers in peer-reviewed journals in ethnomusicology and cultural studies in English and Spanish.
As a musician, Dr. Amado has performed with various Western and non-Western ensembles. He has extensive experience in choral music as a singer, conductor, and arranger, and has performed with the Phoenix Symphony Chorus (Phoenix, Arizona), the Valley Chamber Chorale (Phoenix, Arizona), the Salt Lake Choral Artists (Salt Lake City, Utah), the Texas Choral Consort (Austin, Texas), The Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorale (McAllen, Texas), and the Valley Choral Artists (Edinburg, Texas). He has also played in the UTRGV African Drumming Ensemble (Edinburg, Texas), the UT Javanese Gamelan (Austin, Texas), the ASU Javanese gamelan (Tempe, Arizona), the UT Caribbean Ensemble (Austin, Texas), and the Marimba Maderas de Comitán (Tempe, Arizona).
Andrés Amado holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas), a Master’s from Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona), and a Bachelor’s from Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah).

Curriculum Vitae

Andres R. Amado
Assoc. Prof., Musicology and Ethnomusicology
School of Music
Email: andres.amado@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B1.117
Phone: 956-665-2944
George J. Amorim

George J. Amorim

Assoc. Prof., Strings: Double Bass
(956) 665-2869
george.amorim@utrgv.edu
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George J. Amorim

George Amorim is Associate Professor of Double Bass at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and director of the annual ¡Viva el Bajo! South Texas Double Bass Festival.

Dr. Amorim’s career is marked by versatility and creativity as a performer and educator with teaching and performances engagements that have taken him to Europe and across Central, South and North Americas.

George earned a doctoral degree from the University of North Texas where he studied under the world-renowned performer and pedagogue Jeff Bradetich. He also holds a Master of Music from Baylor University and a Bachelor Degree from the Ceará State University.

In addition, George has also pursued studies with Francesco Petracchi and he also devotes time to the study of historical performance practices subject in which he has received instruction from David Sinclair and Robert Nairn.

George performed for several years with the Paraná State and Recife Symphony Orchestras in Brazil as well as with the Santo Domingo Music Festival Orchestra under Philippe Entremont. He is currently principal double bassist with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra and most recently he was invited to travel to Yerevan, capital of Armenia representing the USA in the 24/04 World Orchestra for a concert in remembrance of the 100 th Year of the Armenian Genocide.

An educator in demand, Dr. Amorim’s articles on double bass pedagogy has been published by Bass World and Strings magazines. He has been a featured clinician, adjudicator and consultant in several states and abroad, such as the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, the International Society of Bassists Convention, the Chicago Bass Festival and the European Double Bass Congress.

Dr. Amorim heads a thriving double bass studio at UTRGV, which is comprised of some of the most gifted young bass players from the RGV and a handful of equally talented international students. He also founded and directs the ¡Viva el Bajo!, an organization that promotes double bass playing in South Texas and helps inspire and guide young musicians in their studies of the double bass.

Dr. Amorim spends his summers teaching and performing in various programs and this past summer he joined the artist-faculty of the Nuevo Mundo Festival in Aruba and the Campamento de Cuerdas in Puerto Rico.

 George performs on an unlabeled mid-1700’s bass, a 1860 French bass and an Aaron Reiley’s copy of a 1756 M.I. Stadlmann Viennese violone and several modern and historical bows, including a modern German bow by Marco Pasquino, a baroque bow by Antonio Airenti and a couple of transitional bows made by Ed Shillitoe.

Visiting Artists

Double Bass students at UTRGV have the unique opportunity to hear and work with some of the finest musicians in the world through master classes and clinics.

Visiting artists are made possible through the generous support of local and nationwide consortia of music businesses, the UTRGV School Music, the COFA Dean’s Office and the ¡Viva el Bajo! Educational Services.

Listed below are some of the artists who have visited our school to perform and teach:

  • Thierry Barbé, Solo Bassist at the Paris Opera (2016)
  • Philip Alejo Professor at University of Arizona (2016)
  • Bret Simner, Viennese Violone/Early Music Specialist (2016)
  • P. Kellach Waddle, Austin Symphony/Composer (2016)
  • Joel Quarrington, London Symphony Principal Bassist (2015)
  • Barry Green, The Inner Game of Music (2015)
  • Mark Morton, Professor at Texas Tech University (2012-2016)
  • Jessica Gilliam-Valls, Austin Symphony/Southwestern University (2015)
  • Paul Unger, Fort Worth Symphony (2015)
  • Heran Yang, TianYang Liu, ChengYin Lu, The T.R.Y Ensemble (2015)
  • Carlos Gaviria, Professor at Stephen F. Austin University (201 and 2015)
  • Sonia Martinez, Young Bass specialist (2008-2015)
  • Erik Unsworth, UT El Paso (2015)
  • Antonio Hernandez, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon, MX (2014)
  • Jack Unzicker, Professor at UT Arlington (2014)
  • James VanDemark, Eastman School of Music Double Bass Professor and concert artist (2011/2013)
  • Ciro Vigilante, Vienna Chamber Orchestra (2013)
  • Greg Hamilton, Concordia Collene, MN (2012)
  • Robert Nairn, Penn State/Juilliard School of Music (2012)
  • Nick Scales, West Texas A&M (2012)
  • David Dawson, Austin Symphony /Texas State University (2012)
  • Francesco Petracchi, World renowned soloist and pedagogue (2012)
  • Tony Parry, Louisiana Philharmonic (2012)
  • Christopher Buddo, Director of the Eastern Carolina University School of Music and concert artist (2011)
  • Alexandre Ritter, Soloist and Professor of Double Bass at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil (2011)
  • Jeff Bardetich, University of North Texas Double Bass Professor and concert artist (2008, 2010)
  • Catalin Rotaru, Arizona State University Double Bass Professor, concert and recording artist (2009)
  • Gudrun Raschen, Tarleton State University Double Bass Professor and concert artist (2008)
  • Sonya Ray, Federal University of Goiás Double Bass Professor and Scholar (2008)
  • Tony Rosario, Abilene Philharmonic Principal Bass (2009)
  • Carolina Melchiori, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Double Bass Professor (2009)
  • Joao Titton, Professor at State University of Santa Catarina, Brazil (2007)

 

Check out: 

www.vivaelbajo.org

www.georgeamorim.com

Curriculum Vitae

George J. Amorim
Assoc. Prof., Strings: Double Bass
School of Music
Email: george.amorim@utrgv.edu
PACB 2.108
Phone: (956) 665-2869
Juan Andrade

Juan Andrade

Prof., Piano
(956) 882-7477
juan.andrade@utrgv.edu
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Juan Andrade

Costa Rican pianist Juan Pablo Andrade is the recipient of numerous awards, among them are the First Prize at the Artlivre International Piano Competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil; First Prize in the National Piano Competition in CR; First Prize in the Concert of Soloists Competition at Arizona State University; First Prize at the UNCG Concerto Competition and Second Prize in the University of Costa Rica Concerto Competition.

He has performed as soloist with the South Bend Symphony, the UNCG Symphony, the ASU Symphony, the Central American Symphony, the Bolivian National Symphony, the Costa Rican Youth Symphony, and in several occasions with the Costa Rican National Symphony. As a recitalist he has appeared in almost every Costa Rican city, Santa Cruz and La Paz in Bolivia, San Salvador in El Salvador, Washington DC, Oslo and Madrid. Many of his performances have been recorded and broadcasted by the Phoenix Classical Radio Station KBAK, Costa Rican University Radio and Costa Rican National Television.

In the year 2000 he was awarded the National Prize of Music, the highest recognition given to a musician by the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture. Andrade obtained the Bachelors and Licenciatura in Music degrees from the University of Costa Rica in San José; the Masters of Music from Arizona State University, an Artist Diploma from Indiana University-South Bend and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at Idaho State University and Lecturer of Piano at UNCG. 

Curriculum Vitae

Juan Andrade
Prof., Piano
School of Music
Email: juan.andrade@utrgv.edu
BEIDM 120A
Phone: (956) 882-7477
Gabriel Bauza

Gabriel Bauza

Lecturer III, Music Appreciation/Elem. Music Ed
(956) 665-3471
gabriel.bauza@utrgv.edu
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Gabriel Bauza

Mr. Gabriel Bauza is currently serving his fifth year as a faculty member in the School of Music at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Mr. Bauza is currently serving the School of Music in the capacity of full time lecturer, where his responsibilities include teaching Elementary Music Education, Music Appreciation, Applied Percussion, Dance Accompaniment, and the One O’clock Latin Band. Mr. Bauza is active as a performer in south Texas in commercial, popular, and Latin Music settings. He most recently completed a performance engagement in Vancouver, Canada at a DRUMEO Drum Camp. Mr. Bauza’s musical training includes tutelage under Mr. Robert Botello, Mr. Oscar Sanchez, Mr. Raul De Leon Jr, Mr. Dave Atkinson, Mr. Jared Falk, Mr. Mike Michalkow, and Dr. Mark Ramirez. Mr. Bauza earned a Bachelor of Music degree (BM) in 2009, and a Master of Music degree (MM) in 2011, in music performance from the University of Texas-Pan American. With over 5 years of teaching experience at this institution, and  over 10 years of professional performance experience, Mr. Bauza continues to strive for excellence in teaching and performance at the local, national, and international levels.

Curriculum Vitae

Gabriel Bauza
Lecturer III, Music Appreciation/Elem. Music Ed
School of Music
Email: gabriel.bauza@utrgv.edu
PACB 2.108
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Steven Block, Prof.

Steven Block, Prof.

Dean, College of Fine Arts
(956) 665-2175
steven.block@utrgv.edu
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Steven Block, Prof.

Steven Block was born in New York City on November 5, 1952. He is currently Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley after having served as Chair of the Department of Music at the university of New Mexico for 17 years. As Dean, he is building new Arts programs, including that of the School of Music, from two separate legacy campuses. Block has appeared in the various personae of composer, music theorist, music critic, pianist, and both classical radio and disco d.j., among others. His compositions have been performed worldwide including performances in Australia, Paris, and Poland. His articles as a music theorist and music critic have appeared in such journals and magazines as Perspectives of New Music, Integrales, Music Theory Spectrum, the Journal of Music Theory, the Annual Review of Jazz Studies, Music Library Notes, and High Fidelity.

Block has studied with some of the most innovative composers and theorists in the world including David Stock, a pioneer in the promotion of contemporary music; Robert Morris, one of the leading contemporary music theorists and composers; A. Wayne Slawson, who has led the exploration of timbre as a musical component; and the internationally known and important late composers Franco Donatoni and Luciano Berio. Block was a Leonard Bernstein Fellow at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood) in 1983. Block’s Piece for Two Cellos and eveningspun/black for solo piano have received competition awards.

Block has had a lifelong interest in Jazz, in particular “Free Jazz” (Cecil Taylor was on the faculty of Antioch College where Block received his B.A.) and has written several articles on the subject. His articles, “Pitch-Class Transformation in Free Jazz” (Music Theory Spectrum) and “Organized sound: Pitch-Class relations in the music of Ornette Coleman” (Annual Review of Jazz Studies) blazed important trails in being the first such specialized articles in these respective juried journals.

Block studied piano at a young age, notably with concert artist Zalic Jacobs, but matriculated at Antioch College in the writers program. At Antioch he met a number of influential music professors (David Stock, John Ronsheim, Daniel Lentz, and Cecil Taylor) and rediscovered his passion for music and music making. It was at Antioch College that he first began to think of himself as a composer having written his breakthrough composition, eveningspun/black for piano solo while listening to the Watergate hearings in a tent housed in the backyard of his then mentor David Stock.

After accumulating a portfolio of compositions at Antioch College, he moved on to study at the University of Iowa for his masters degree for two years where he wrote more than a half-dozen compositions, all of which received their premieres through the strong contemporary performance foundation of the Center for New Music. Block studied with William Hibbard and Donald Martin Jenni during this time. Among the highlights of this time were the performance of his free jazz-influenced Puttin’ it Together for 2 saxes, 2 doublebasses, and trap set (as performed by classical saxophone-trained artists) and Chemical Wedding for 5 flutes, 4 brass, and 3 percussion, a work based on artwork by Max Ernst. At the University of Iowa, Block began performing in a contemporary improvisation ensemble which he in turn eventually led in new iterations at Stanford University and the University of Pittsburgh.

The academic road following the masters degree at Iowa was more difficult as Block traversed four different schools (Stanford, CUNY-Graduate Center, University of Pittsburgh, and the Eastman School of Music) over the course of the next 12 years while pursuing a composition and teaching career and becoming a husband and father. During a two-year stay in New York City where he taught at Queens College as an adjunct, he wrote FireTiger for violin and piano (Elements Rising, Navona Records NV5990) and the Missa De Profundis. He received his Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory in 1981 from the University of Pittsburgh (where his primary mentors were Robert Morris and A. Wayne Slawson) and went on to be A.B.D. at the Eastman School of Music for a second Ph.D. in Music Theory before accepting a full-time Assistant Professor position in Chicago. The 12 years during this fruitful period saw Block’s emergence as a composer in his acceptance to the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood), the performance of many of his works by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and a number of commissions for new works including his Piano Sonata No.1, the ballet Players, Thelonious Rex for chamber ensemble, Rockin’ Pneumonia for chamber ensemble, and Phantasmagoria for chamber orchestra. While in Pittsburgh he wrote many articles serving as the music critic for the entertainment weekly, Market Square of Pittsburgh. He also served as the music director and pianist for a weekend cabaret revue in Pittsburgh, writing and performing some of the popular music, and forming a relationship with Professor Myron Nadel (Carnegie-Mellon University) who directed the ensemble and who wrote the book for the musical The Ballet Man (staged and performed in Buffalo, NY in the ‘90s). A major compositional highlight of this time period was the writing of his full-length opera, The Tumbler of God, during his final year at the University of Pittsburgh while on a Mellon Fellowship. His three years at the Eastman School of Music were largely devoted to mastering the craft of music theory, emphasizing contemporary post-tonal techniques, and most of his published work on music theory derives from the foundation learned at the Eastman School from such notable luminaries as Robert Morris, David Beach, and Robert Bailey. In his final year at Eastman, he accepted a teaching position at Northeastern
Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois.

Block joined the faculty of the University of New Mexico in 1989 where he spent much of his career building the Department of Music as Chair and increasing the number of academic faculty in composition, theory, musicology-ethnomusicology, and music education accordingly. As the head of a Department that grew from 170 majors to 400 majors and 60 faculty members, Block’s career as a composer has been more limited. Nevertheless, composition highlights from this time period include his String Quartet No.2, Shadows for orchestra (Fire and Time, Navona Records NV 5871; Shadows and Phantasmagoria form two movements of a projected large-scale
symphonic work based on the same musical material), 5 Plainchants for Clarinet (Pinnacle, Navona Records, scheduled for release), and the most recent production of the operetta (part of a projected 3-operetta trilogy) Elisha and the Bears premiered by the UNM Opera (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPmvotggabc).

In addition to the works described above (a portion of his opus during his quarter-century at the University of New Mexico), Block served the University of New Mexico and the profession by serving on the board of the Albuquerque Youth Symphony and John Donald Robb Trust, acting annually as a Question Leader for the AP Music Theory Exams, chairing visiting accreditation teams for the National Association of Schools of Music and serving on the NASM Commission for the full-term length (6 years).

Steven Block is also an active mediator, participating in several mediations every month for the Metro Court system in Albuquerque, Faculty Dispute Resolution (Ombuds) and other Dispute Resolution organizations and is often asked to coach new mediators for private organizations. He has served as cantor and music director at various churches and has written and arranged a number of sacred works for a cappella choir. He is married to Stephanie Block, a free-lance writer who also wrote the libretto for his operas (The Tumbler of God, Elisha and the Bears, and East of the Moon, West of the Sun) and whose artwork often graces the cover pages of his scores. They have 7 children, all of whom have pursued varied roads in their lives from religious sister to air force pilot (daughters), and teacher to police officer (sons) while, at this writing, blessing the Blocks with 19 grandchildren.

William Zagorski of Fanfare writes of Block’s orchestral movement Shadows: "His skillful use of tuned percussion gives several passages a gamelanlike quality reminiscent of Messaien. The long-note passages...and their harmonic suspensions are wonderful. I impatiently await the completion of this Symphony."

Curriculum Vitae

Steven Block, Prof.
Dean, College of Fine Arts
College of Fine Arts
Email: steven.block@utrgv.edu
Brownsville SETB 1.506 Edinburg ELABS 334
Phone: (956) 665-2175
Fax: 956-665-2177
Josiah Boornazian

Josiah Boornazian

Assist. Prof., Saxophone
(956) 665-3471
josiah.boornazian@utrgv.edu
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Josiah Boornazian

Dr. Boornazian has performed with artists such as Drew Gress, David Binney, Wayne Krantz, Ari Hoenig, Donny McCaslin, Dan Weiss, John Escreet, Jacob Sacks, Fima Ephron, Jonathan Crayford, Obed Calvaire, Will Vinson, Matt Brewer, Ben Wendel, Eivind Opsvik, Ferenc Nemeth, Alan Ferber, Brad Mason, John Daversa, Kenny Wollesen, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Mark Egan, Lew Soloff, Miles Evans, Mike Clark, Gil Goldstein, Yana Bibb, Jerry Watts, Nir Felder, Andrea Veneziani, Alessandro Fadini, Massimo Biolcati, Mark Farina, Dave Liebman, Dave Holland, Nick Smart, Diane Schuur, Dave Grusin, Arturo Sandoval, John Faddis, Jimmy Heath, Ignacio Berroa, John Beasley, the New York Voices, Tom Scott, Cyrille Aimee, Dafnis Prieto, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Will Downing, John Daversa, Errol Rackipov, Svet Stoyanov, John Yarling, Kate Reid, Melvin Butler, Steve Miller, Jimmie Vaughan, Mike Flanigin, Brianna Thomas, David Ake, Chuck Bergeron, the South Florida Jazz Orchestra, Janis Seigel, and Shelly Berg.

As an educator, he has contributed to the popular jazz website Learn Jazz Standards.com as an author, podcast guest, and consultant. As a scholar of music, Josiah was awarded a Björn Bärnheim Research Fellowship at the Hogan Jazz Archive during the 2017-2018 academic year. His peer-reviewed publications include his article "Paul 'Stump' Evans, Russell Procope, and Gary Bartz: 'Alto-itis' and the Neglected Jazz Alto Saxophone Masters," in the 2018 edition of The Saxophone Symposium. Josiah's educational writings also include his paper "Teaching College-Level Jazz Skills Using Interactive Digital Technologies and the Flipped Classroom Model" and his book Creative Improvisation - A Concise Method.
Josiah holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, a Master of Arts degree from the City College of New York, and a Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge.

https://www.josiahboornazian.com

Josiah Boornazian
Assist. Prof., Saxophone
School of Music
Email: josiah.boornazian@utrgv.edu
BMUSI 2.213
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Jared Broussard

Jared Broussard

Assist. Prof., Trumpet
(956) 665-3771
jared.broussard@utrgv.edu
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Jared Broussard

Dr. Jared Broussard is Assistant Professor of Trumpet at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  He earned his D.M.A. and Masters Degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a Bachelors of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.  Broussard’s primary teachers are Ray Sasaki, Rex Richardson, and Jim West.  He has previously served on the faculty of the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas.

Broussard is an avid performer and is adept in a variety of styles of music.  He is currently a member of the Dallas Wind Symphony and is Principal Trumpet of the Valley Symphony Orchestra.  Previously, he was Principal Trumpet of Marine Band San Diego and a member of the Marine Corps Brass Quintet.  He also served in the unit’s Ceremonial Band, Rock Band and Party Band.  Because of his outstanding musical accomplishments and exceptional leadership as a Non-Commissioned Officer, Broussard was twice awarded as Marine Musician of the Year for Marine Band San Diego during his time in the Marine Corps.  He has frequently performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Abilene Symphony Orchestra, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra amongst others.  Dr. Broussard is ever active as a soloist and chamber musician.  He has been a semi-finalist as a soloist in the National Trumpet Competition and has given solo recitals across the Unites States and abroad.  As a chamber musician, Broussard is busy performing with the Wraith Ensemble, which is a collective of musicians that focuses on performing new music.  He has performed with trumpet ensembles at multiple International Trumpet Guild conference, most recently at the ITG conference at San Antonio in 2018.  He is in demand as a freelance artist; often performing in brass quintets with many of the United States’ best brass musicians.  Broussard has also performed in recital with famed percussionist Nebojsa Zivkovic at PASIC in 2011.  Jared plays Lead Trumpet with the Gabriel Santiago Jazz Orchestra, which performs frequently in Austin and periodically in Brazil.  As a jazz/commercial musician, Broussard has performed on tour with The Temptations and has had the pleasure of performing with Maria Schneider, John Clayton, Joshua Redman, Wycliffe Gordon and other jazz greats.  He is currently collaborating with folk artist Sean Bruce on multiple projects.  Broussard has extensive touring experience having toured nationally and internationally in many of the world’s greatest venues to rave reviews as a recitalist, chamber musician, and large ensemble musician.

As an educator, Dr. Broussard enjoys opening up the world of music to his students.  He has taught every level of student from beginners to professionals and his students have had much success not only as students but also as professional musicians later on in their careers.  Broussard has taught privately in Louisiana, California, Virginia, and Texas and has been invited to be on the faculty of the InterHarmony Music Festival in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany and Acqui Terme, Italy.  Many of his private studio students have gone on to make various local, regional, and All-State Bands and Orchestras.  His collegiate trumpet students enjoy working as professional trumpet players and many have gone on to be successful band directors.  He is in demand as a clinician and has given lectures on military music, trumpet pedagogy and performance anxiety at universities and at state music educator association conferences.  Dr. Broussard currently teaches Applied Trumpet and conducts the UTRGV Trumpet Ensembles.

Broussard is a mainstay on the music scene wherever his travels take him.  He aspires to introduce audiences to ways of experiencing the trumpet in new and interesting concepts.

 

Jared Broussard
Assist. Prof., Trumpet
School of Music
Email: jared.broussard@utrgv.edu
EPAC B2.117
Phone: (956) 665-3771
Phone Alt: 956-665-3471
Art Brownlow

Art Brownlow

Prof., Brass: Trumpet, Music History
(956) 882-8946
art.brownlow@utrgv.edu
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Art Brownlow

Art Brownlow is Professor of Music at UTRGV Brownsville, where he teaches trumpet and music history, directs the UTRGV Brownsville Trumpet Ensemble, and is known as an innovator in the use of technology in music education. He is a recipient of the 2014-15 Instructional Technology Initiative Award from the College Music Society, and he has also been named an Apple Distinguished Educator, Class of 2015.
Dr. Brownlow currently performs as co-principal trumpet of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, and also with the UTRGV Brownsville Faculty Brass Quintet. In addition, he has performed with the South Texas Festival Orchestra, Border Brass Quintet, Brownsville Messiah Orchestra, Valley Sinfonette and South Texas Chamber Orchestra. Outside of the Valley, he has performed with the Corpus Christi Symphony, University of North Carolina Faculty Brass Quintet, Foothills Brass Quintet (Greenville, SC), Greenville Symphony, Greenville Brass Quintet, Wheaton (IL) Summer Symphony, North Carolina Symphony (Raleigh), North Carolina Bach Festival (Raleigh), Winston-Salem (NC) Symphony, Augusta (GA) Symphony, and Lake Forest (IL) Symphony. He has also played with the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus Band, the Red Skelton Show Band, and at the Carowinds Amusement Park in Charlotte, NC. Dr. Brownlow performed as soloist in the inaugural concert of the 1996 Festival Internacional de Otoño in Matamoros, Mexico. He also performed as a member of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston (SC) and at the Festival dei Due Monde in Spoleto, Italy.
Teaching Music History with iPad is Dr. Brownlow’s latest book, and is available on the iBooks Store. He also wrote The Last Trumpet: A History of the English Slide Trumpet, which was published by Pendragon Press of Hillsdale, NY. He has presented papers at the College Music Society, National Opera Association, International Historic Brass Symposium, Texas Music Educators Association convention, and has published articles in The Opera Journal and The Instrumentalist.
In addition to a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Brownlow received an M.M. from Northwestern University, also in trumpet performance, and a B.M. in Music Education from Furman University. Further studies in musicology were undertaken at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His trumpet teachers include Vincent Cichowicz (Chicago Symphony), Raymond Cruiser (NBC Symphony and New York studios), Larry Black (Atlanta Symphony), Larry Cook (Greenville Symphony) and Helmut Wobisch, (Vienna Philharmonic). He has also studied musicology with Howard Smither and James Haar.
Dr. Brownlow is the director of the university’s Study Abroad Program in Vienna, Austria. This is a music-oriented program for music majors, minors and other university students interested in music. The next Study Abroad in Vienna program will be offered during the May session of 2016.
Curriculum Vitae
Art Brownlow
Prof., Brass: Trumpet, Music History
School of Music
Email: art.brownlow@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: TACB
Phone: (956) 882-8946
Rebecca Coberly

Rebecca Coberly

Prof., Voice
(956) 665-7154
rebecca.coberly@utrgv.edu
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Rebecca Coberly

Soprano Rebecca Coberly is a versatile performer as a recitalist, concert soloist, and on the musical stage. She is a frequent solo recitalist, performing throughout the United States and internationally on concerts in Barcelona, Spain and throughout Germany. She recently appeared as soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria with the Valley Symphony Orchestra, and with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus in their recent performance of Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard and Theofanidis’s The Here and Now, Other concert performances include Beethoven’s 9th’ Symphony, Carmina Burana, Rutter’s Requiem, Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, Mozart’s Requiem, J. S. Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen and performances of Messiah on tour in Ireland and Great Britain with the American Oratorio Chorus. She was winner of the Texas Tech University Symphony Orchestra Concert Competition, performing four orchestral songs by Joseph Marx with the Texas Tech Chamber Orchestra. Opera and musical theatre roles include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Mrs. Darling in Peter Pan (Bernstein), and Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music.
Rebecca has attended summer programs at the Aspen Music Festival, the American Institute of Music in Graz, and, mostly recently, the artist-teacher Advanced Artist program at OperaWorks. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from Texas Tech University, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Rice University, a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Northwestern University, and is currently Associate Professor of Voice at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Curriculum Vitae
Rebecca Coberly
Prof., Voice
School of Music
Email: rebecca.coberly@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B1.119
Phone: (956) 665-7154
Matthew Coffey

Matthew Coffey

Asst. Prof. Choral Studies
956-665-3473
matthew.coffey@utrgv.edu
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Matthew Coffey

Dr. Matthew Coffey is Assistant Professor of Choral Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he conducts the University Choir and teaches coursework in conducting and secondary choral methods. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and degrees in Music Education from the University of Houston and Sam Houston State University.  

At the University of Cincinnati, he served as the conductor of the University of Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, a 100-year-old ensemble that comprises students from all 14 UC colleges. He also supervised undergraduate Music Education students in their student teaching placements, taught private conducting lessons to undergraduate and graduate students, and served as assistant conductor of the undergraduate opera. While in Cincinnati, he served on the music staff of Knox Presbyterian Church and sang professionally with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati, conducted by GRAMMY® award winner, Craig Hella Johnson.
During his 11 years as a high school choral director in the Houston area, 45 of Dr. Coffey’s students were named to a Texas All-State Choir. While at Ridge Point High School in Fort Bend ISD, he oversaw a 346% increase in enrollment in choral programs and the institution of a yearly Masterworks concert with professional chamber orchestra. 

His current research interests include the sacred choral music of Michael Haydn, pre-service music teacher education, and rehearsal pedagogy. He has studied conducting with Joe Miller, Earl Rivers, Brett Scott, and Allen Hightower and participated in conducting masterclasses with Simon Carrington, Donald Nally, Joshua Habermann, Louis Langrée, and Dale Warland.  

Dr. Coffey has given lectures and presented interest sessions at conferences and universities in Texas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. His speaking engagements this year include the Ohio Music Educators Association, the North Dakota Music Educators Association, and the Southwest division of the American Choral Directors Association.
Matthew Coffey
Asst. Prof. Choral Studies
School of Music
Email: matthew.coffey@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2.108
Phone: 956-665-3473
Cynthia Cripps

Cynthia Cripps

Prof., Winds: Saxophone Ensemble
(956) 665-3474
cynthia.cripps@utrgv.edu
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Cynthia Cripps

Dr. Cynthia Cripps joined UTPA’s music faculty in 2006. She currently teaches applied saxophone and saxophone ensembles, instrumental pedagogy, woodwind methods, and is graduate advisor. She organizes and directs UTPA’s Summer Saxophone Ensemble and SUMMERFEST concert series and plays bassoon in UTPA’s Faculty Wind Quintet.
Born in Newaygo, Michigan, Dr. Cripps has attended universities in Michigan, Indiana, and Florida. She has studied saxophone with John Nichol, Hannes Kawrza, George Wolfe, Tyler Kuebler, Dale Underwood, and Gary Keller. Her bassoon teachers include MaryBeth Minnis, Homer Pence, James Hansen, Luciano Magnanini, and Carol McNabb-Goodwin.
Dr. Cripps resided in the Republic of Panama for ten years. She played bassoon and saxophone in the Panama Symphony Orchestra from 1993-1999. From 1997-2003, she taught band, grades 6-12, at the International School of Panama (ISP). Dr. Cripps worked on curricula design at ISP and developed an eight-year saxophone program for the Instituto Nacional de Musica (INM - music conservatory) where she taught saxophone from 1994-2003.
Dr. Cripps has performed solo and quartet recitals and presented lectures at the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Biennial Conferences: 2012 in Tempe, Arizona and 2008 in Columbia, SC, Region IV NASA Conferences: 2011 in Huntsville, TX and 2007 in Dallas, TX, and World Saxophone Congresses: the 13 th (2003) in Minneapolis, MN and 14th (2006) Ljubjana, Slovenia, as well as the Instituto Nacional de Musica (Panama), and the UTPA campus.
As part of her DMA, she traveled to the countries of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala to research and complete her essay "Classical Saxophone Curricula in Central America."
In Michigan, Indiana, Panama, Florida, and Texas, Cindy has participated in many community orchestras, concert and jazz bands, including pit orchestras for productions such as: Evita, Bye, Bye Birdie, Anything Goes, Mikado, and The Rothchilds.
Curriculum Vitae
Cynthia Cripps
Prof., Winds: Saxophone Ensemble
School of Music
Email: cynthia.cripps@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2116
Phone: (956) 665-3474
Peter Dabrowski

Peter Dabrowski

Prof., Music Appreciation
(956) 665-3471
peter.dabrowski@utrgv.edu
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Peter Dabrowski

"A true concert leaves the audience and musicians on the edge of their chairs", says Peter Dabrowski, conductor, who in such a way leads his concerts. His interpretations, imbued with great expression, provoke, intrigue and excite, creating much emotion throughout the audience. Full of magnetism, charisma, and love for music, Peter Dabrowski is a conductor devoted to his art. Described by critics as exceptionally talented, his artistic personality wins over both audiences and musicians alike.
Great partnership with the soloist and orchestral musicians characterize Dabrowski's artistic work. Musicians under his baton are creative, involved and disciplined. As a conductor he is able to convey his rich and colorful musical interpretations with authority and scholarship. The final interpretations are not only the result of rehearsals, but are also due to the tremendous level of energy and concentration exerted during the concert. Dabrowski unifies the intensity and many talents of the musicians into one orchestral voice.
Musicians enjoy making music with Dabrowski. His passion and musical sensitivity empowers the orchestra. His goal is to create an atmosphere within the orchestra in which each musician feels like an artist. "I present attractive programs not only for the audiences, but, also for the musicians," says the conductor, for whom the role of concert programming is very important.
Dabrowski is the Music Director and Conductor of the Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorale in Edinburg, TX and the Associate Conductor of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. He also served as the music director and conductor of the American University Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the American Youth Concert Orchestra in Northern Virginia, and the Chicago Philharmonic. He is in demand as a guest conductor throughout Europe and the United States. He studied conducting at Northwestern University, the University of Utah, and the Warsaw Music Conservatory in Poland. He also participated in prestigious conducting courses at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and in Budapest and Miskolc, Hungary.
Curriculum Vita
Peter Dabrowski
Prof., Music Appreciation
School of Music
Email: peter.dabrowski@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: ELABS 334
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Richard Davis

Richard Davis

Prof., Voice
(956) 665-2868
wendell.davis@utrgv.edu
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Richard Davis

Richard Davis, baritone, has combined a career as both singer and teacher. After a successful season at Wolf Trap he acquired management in New York City and sang roles in regional opera houses for three years. He sang in a production of Il Signor Bruschino in Florence, Italy, in 1989, and has sung six roles with the New Orleans Opera. He has directed three zarzuelas at UTRGV and a professional production of Rigoletto for South Texas Lyric Opera in 2009.
As a teacher he has served on the faculties of Columbus College (GA), Eastman School of Music (CED), Nazareth College (Rochester,NY), Oberlin Conservatory, Penn State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Pittsburgh State University (KS). He has had student winners at regional and state Nats competitions for many years.
He has published articles in the American Music Teacher, Journal of Singing, Nats Journal, and the Choral Journal. His new book, A Beginning Singer's Guide is in its second printing and is available from Scarecrow Press. The book has received good reviews from scholarly publications and eminent vocal pedagogue Richard Miller. Planned as a text for voice lessons and pedagogy class, it fast-tracks undergraduates to an understanding of the vocal mechanism and the immediate issues of learning to sing.
Richard Davis is active in the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the College Music Society. He holds the Doctor of Music in Performance Degree (with Distinction) from Indiana University. He teaches voice and directs opera at UTRGV. Dr. Davis likes to spend time with his family, travel, play with electronic technology, and collect old cars.
Curriculum Vitae
Richard Davis
Prof., Voice
School of Music
Email: wendell.davis@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex.
Phone: (956) 665-2868
Virginia Davis

Virginia Davis

Prof., Elementary Music Ed.
(956) 665-7439
virginia.davis@utrgv.edu
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Virginia Davis

Dr. Virginia Wayman Davis is Professor of Music Education at the University of Texas – Pan American. She received her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Arizona in 2005 and has taught public school music at all levels, including elementary school music, middle school general music, and high school band. She now specializes in elementary music education. Dr. Davis teaches courses in Elementary Music for future music educators, as well as courses in music teaching skills for non-majors and in graduate-level music education. She holds Level I & II certification in both Orff and Kodaly techniques. Dr. Davis received her Master's Degree in Music from the University of Arizona in 2000 and her Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1996. 
 
 
Dr. Davis is published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education, General Music Today, and the Journal of Music Teacher Education. Her research interests include general music at the middle school level, teacher education, and the meaningfulness of music education to students. Dr. Davis is also a performing percussionist, currently involved in African hand-drumming.
Curriculum Vitae
Virginia Davis
Prof., Elementary Music Ed.
Email: virginia.davis@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2126
Phone: (956) 665-7439
Norman Gamboa

Norman Gamboa

Lecturer I, Orchestra
(956) 665-8713
norman.gamboa@utrgv.edu
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Norman Gamboa

Norman Gamboa is the Director of Orchestral Activities at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He also currently serves as Music Director of the Sonoma County Philharmonic in California and the Aurora Symphony Orchestra in Colorado. One of the most prominent Central American conductors, Dr. Gamboa maintains an active guest conducting schedule with recurring appearances throughout Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Minnesota, California, and Nevada. Worldwide engagements include concerts with distinguished orchestras in major cities in Central and South America as well as Eastern Europe. A versatile conductor, equally at home with opera, ballet, chamber and symphonic orchestral repertoire, Norman Gamboa has conducted a large variety of innovative joint ventures, including choreographed ballet productions with Ballet Midwest, Santa Rosa Dance Theater and Aurora Dance Arts, as well as several successful fully-staged operas with the Topeka Opera Society and Opera on Tap Colorado. Festival appearances include Plzeň 2015 (Czech Republic), FOSJA-Casals Festival of Puerto Rico, Central American Festival of Chamber Music, International Music Festival of Medellín (Colombia), Villarrica Music Festival (Chile), FIA International Festival of Arts of Costa Rica, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Bregenzer Festspiele (Austria), the Las Vegas Music Festival, OSESP-International Orchestra Conductors Competition, ITEC-Regina Music Conference in Canada, as well as the New York Brass Conference. Previously, Dr. Gamboa served as Music Director of the Powder River Symphony Orchestra in Wyoming, Director of Orchestral Studies at Washburn University, Associate Conductor of the Las Vegas Music Festival, Cover Conductor for the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, as well as Assistant Conductor of the Waco Symphony and Music Director of the Waco Symphony Youth Orchestra. He holds a bachelor of music degree from Baylor University, a master degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Nevada and a doctorate degree in conducting from Louisiana State University.


Norman Gamboa
Lecturer I, Orchestra
School of Music
Email: norman.gamboa@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2.126
Phone: (956) 665-8713
Jonathan Guist

Jonathan Guist

Prof., Winds: Clarinet Ensemble
(956) 882-8808
jonathan.guist@utrgv.edu
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Jonathan Guist

Dr. Jonathan Guist is Professor of music at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he teaches applied clarinet, clarinet ensemble and chamber music. He holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, a M.M. from Baylor University and a B.M.E. from New Mexico State University. Principal teachers include Kenneth Grant, Richard Shanley, and Laroy Borchert.  Dr. Guist’s previous teaching engagements have included the Eastman School of Music, Nazareth College, Baylor University, the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, and the Conservatory of Central Illinois.
Dr. Guist holds the position of Co-principal Clarinet with the Valley Symphony Orchestra (Edinburg, TX) and also appears frequently as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and internationally. His recent engagements include performances as featured soloist with the Valley Symphony Orchestra, UTRGV Symphony Orchestra, and UTRGV Wind Ensemble and a solo recital at the Escuela de Artes Musicales, Universidad de Costa Rica. Additional appearances include lectures, clinics and performances at conferences of the International Clarinet Association, National Flute Association, Texas Music Educators Association, College Music Society, National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors and the International Double Reed Society and as an adjudicator for Music Teachers National Association, Texas Music Educators Association and Texas UIL Solo & Ensemble.
Dr. Guist is a strong advocate for chamber music and new music and has been involved in the commission of several new works for chamber ensemble.  Additionally, he is a founding member of the Frontera Chamber Music Society whose mission is to advance and promote chamber music through inspiring community performance, education and outreach.
Curriculum Vitae
Jonathan Guist
Prof., Winds: Clarinet Ensemble
School of Music
Email: jonathan.guist@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: Eidman 2018
Phone: (956) 882-8808
William Haugeberg

William Haugeberg

Assist. Prof., Euphonium/Trombone/Tuba
(956) 882-7700
william.haugeberg@utrgv.edu
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William Haugeberg

Dr. William (Bill) Haugeberg is currently the Assistant Professor of Low Brass at The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in Brownsville, Texas.  Prior to his appointment at UTRGV, Dr. Haugeberg taught at Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX), Albany State University (Albany, GA) and was a graduate assistant at Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL).

Known for his versatility, Bill frequently plays on tenor, alto and bass trombone in a variety of styles, from jazz to orchestral and from solo to chamber music.  He is a member of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with many regional symphonies including the San Angelo Symphony, Allen Symphony, Monroe Symphony, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Reno Philharmonic and the Mid-Texas Symphony.  Bill has been a featured with several ensembles, including the UTRGV Wind Symphony, Tarleton State University Wind Ensemble and is a founding member of the Bell Street Four Trombone Quartet, winners of the 2008 International Trombone Association Quartet Competition. 

As an educator, Bill has been an invited clinician at many colleges and universities in the United States, including the University of Central Arkansas, Missouri State University, the University of Southern Mississippi.  For information on masterclasses and lessons, please contact him by email or phone.

Bill earned his Doctor of Music in Trombone Performance from Florida State University, Master of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of North Texas and Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.  

Curriculum Vitae

William Haugeberg
Assist. Prof., Euphonium/Trombone/Tuba
School of Music
Email: william.haugeberg@utrgv.edu

Phone: (956) 882-7700
Kathleen Hawkins

Kathleen Hawkins

Part Time Lecturer
(956) 665-3471
kathleen.hawkins@utrgv.edu
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Kathleen Hawkins

Kathleen Hawkins
Part Time Lecturer
School of Music
Email: kathleen.hawkins@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2.108
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Daniel Hunter-Holly

Daniel Hunter-Holly

Prof., Voice, Opera
956-882-7178
daniel.hunterholly@utrgv.edu
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Daniel Hunter-Holly

Daniel Hunter-Holly, baritone, is an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Music.  An active recitalist, having performed throughout North and Central America, he is also an acclaimed educator, receiving a University of Texas System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award in 2015.  His current research and teaching interests focus on the use of movement and improvisation as tools to facilitate learning and efficient vocal technique. He holds degrees in vocal performance from The Ohio State University, the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and the University of California Santa Barbara, with additional studies at SongFest and OperaWorks.  He currently serves as President of the South Texas Chapter of NATS.
Curriculum Vitae
Daniel Hunter-Holly
Prof., Voice, Opera
School of Music
Email: daniel.hunterholly@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: Eidman 218
Phone: 956-882-7178
Susan Hurley-Glowa

Susan Hurley-Glowa

Prof., Ethnomusicology
(956) 882-5787
susan.hurleyglowa@utrgv.edu
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Susan Hurley-Glowa

Susan Hurley-Glowa is a Professor of Music at UTRGV with a specialization in ethnomusicology. Her research interests include Luso African and Latin American music cultures. A Fulbright scholar, she has published numerous articles and a documentary film on music of Cape Verde, and holds a Ph.D. in musicology (ethnomusicology) from Brown University as well as degrees in applied music. Susan hosts the weekly radio show “Excursiones Musicales,” for Rio Grande Valley 88 FM Public Radio. She is also a horn player, and has performed with professional orchestras in America and Germany, including Opera Fairbanks, Orchestra of Northern New York, the Erie Chamber Orchestra, the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra. Her primary horn teachers were Roy Schaberg and Ifor James.
Curriculum Vitae
Susan Hurley-Glowa
Prof., Ethnomusicology
School of Music
Email: susan.hurleyglowa@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: Eidman 202
Phone: (956) 882-5787
Tido Janssen

Tido Janssen

Lecturer III, Strings: Cello
956-665-3475
tido.janssen@utrgv.edu
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Tido Janssen

Dr. Tido Janssen, cello, is Lecturer of Cello at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is director of the annual Pan American Cello Festival, Associate Principal Cello of the Valley Symphony Orchestra, and has served as director of the UTPA Symphony Orchestra.
A native of Germany, Dr. Janssen studied cello performance at Folkwang Hochschule für Musik in Duisburg before continuing his studies in the US. He holds a Master of Music Degree from Boston University, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. His major teachers include Jürgen Wolf, George Neikrug, Carter Enyeart, Walter Gray, and Eugene Osadchy. His chamber music studies include coachings with the Muir Quartet, Lydian Quartet, and members of the Lyontevich and Kolisch Quartets.
Before joining the music faculty at UTRGV in 2015, Dr Janssen served on the faculty of the University of Texas Pan American, the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, and Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. As a charter member of the University of Lethbridge faculty ensemble Trio Amaranth, he has performed extensively throughout western Canada. In Abilene, TX, he was Principal Cellist of the Abilene Philharmonic and Abilene Opera Orchestras, founder and Director of the Abilene Summer Music Festival, and founding member of the Abilene Chamber Players. In the summer of 2013 he performed with the Abilene Chamber Players for the Concerti Nel Chiostro at the Conservatorio di musica “Giuseppe Verdi”, and the Abrosianeum Concerti, in Milan, Italy.
As a performer Dr. Janssen has repeatedly appeared in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Canada, and throughout the US. He has been a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra since 2000, and has recorded for Deutsche Welle, Public Radio, and Centaur Records.

Curriculum Vitae

Tido Janssen
Lecturer III, Strings: Cello
School of Music
Email: tido.janssen@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B2.128
Phone: 956-665-3475
Ying-Ching Jeter

Ying-Ching Jeter

Part Time Lecturer, Bassoon, Oboe
(956) 665-3471
yingching.jeter@utrgv.edu
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Ying-Ching Jeter

Yingching Chang Jeter, Oboe, Basoon, English Horn

Yingching Chang Jeter, a native of Taiwan, received her B.A. degree in Bassoon and Piano performance from Tunghai University, Taiwan, ROC. In 1992, she came to the United States and completed a Master's degree in Music Education from The University of Texas at Austin in May 1994. A year later, she received her second Master's degree in Bassoon performance from San Diego State University.

Currently, she is the music director at South Texas ISD World Scholars and South Texas Preparatory Academy where she established the music program in 1998. In 2011, she became a faculty member as a double reed instructor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Ms. Jeter joined the Valley Symphony Orchestra in 1999 and was named principal oboe in August 2015. In addition to the regional orchestra, she has performed with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, Corpus Christi Ballet Orchestra, Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, South Texas Lyric Opera, and Kingsville Symphony Orchestra. She is also active as a chamber musician. She is a founding member of The Maple Madness Bassoon Quartet, UTRGV Faculty Winds, Summer Winds, UTRGV Double Reed Ensemble and other chamber wind ensembles in the Rio Grande Valley. In 2014, she became a member of the RGV Chamber Music Society.

Curriculum Vitae

Ying-Ching Jeter
Part Time Lecturer, Bassoon, Oboe
Email: yingching.jeter@utrgv.edu
School of Music
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Krista Jobson

Krista Jobson

Assoc. Prof., Winds: Flute, Flute Ensemble
956-665-7227
krista.jobson@utrgv.edu
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Krista Jobson

Dr. Krista Jobson enjoys a multi-faceted career that has included Principal Flute positions in orchestras, military bands, chamber music ensembles, concerto soloist appearances, and teaching positions. A sought after guest artist and clinician, she has given performances and masterclasses in Australia, Germany, Japan, France, Mexico, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, and Puerto Rico, as well as across the continental United States.

As a soloist, Dr. Jobson has won numerous awards and honors. She has been named a prize winner in competitions sponsored by the National Flute Association and Florida Flute Association and was a finalist in the American Prize National Music Competition in both the Instrumental Soloist-Professional and Chamber Music-Professional divisions. Her concerto performances include solo appearances with the Valley Symphony Orchestra, Taffelmusik, the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley Symphonic Winds, the UTRGV Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, and the Converse College Symphony Orchestra.

​Jobson is Co-Principal Flute of the Valley Symphony Orchestra (McAllen, TX). She is also Principal Flute of The Trade Winds Recording Ensemble for Excelcia Music Publishing. She toured for four years as Co-Principal Flute of the concert band and woodwind quintet of an active-duty U.S. Air Force Band. From 2009-2011, Dr. Jobson served as Principal Flute of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra. She has also given performances with Spoleto USA (Piccolo Spoleto), Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Blue Lake Festival Faculty Orchestra, Blue Lake Faculty Wind Ensemble, and the International Fellowship of Conductors Composers and Collaborators (IFC3).

Her love for collaborative musical settings has led her to serve as flutist with several active professional chamber music groups, including Duo Aldebaran (flute & guitar) who were named finalists in the Chamber Music: Professional division of the American Prize Competition and who released their debut album in 2021: "Colores Latinos" - music of contemporary Latin American composers for flute & guitar; Cherry Street Flute Duo who released their debut album "Music of Women Composers" in 2022, and Crossroads Flute Quartet, who will release their debut album in 2023.

Dr. Jobson earned a Bachelor of Music degree with High Honors from Converse College as a student of Christopher Vaneman, and both a Master of Music degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Flute Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, where she studied with Mary Posses and where she held the flute position in the fellowship woodwind quintet. Her other principal flute teachers include Christina Smith, Jean West, and Nancy Clew. She has performed in masterclasses for Jim Walker, Leone Buyse, Peter Lloyd, Charles Wadsworth, Claudia Anderson, Bart Feller, Michael Gordon, Shannon Finney, Inara Zandemane, the Imani Winds, Borealis Wind Quintet, and the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet.

For more information please visit: www.kristajobson.com

Krista Jobson
Assoc. Prof., Winds: Flute, Flute Ensemble
School of Music
Email: krista.jobson@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B2.112
Phone: 956-665-7227
Brendan Kinsella

Brendan Kinsella

Assoc. Prof., Piano
956-665-2874
brendan.kinsella@utrgv.edu
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Brendan Kinsella

“Brendan Kinsella presented the concert ‘Lisztomania’ on a date that could be daunting, October 22nd, 2011, the actually 200th birth anniversary of Franz Liszt, but you will hear that it didn’t seem to faze him at all.  In fact, he attacked one of Liszt’s more famous transcriptions [Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, op. 67] with the passion and energy that Liszt required.”
    -Bill Baker, host of Syracuse Public Radio’s “Concert Hall”.
“An amazing pianist.”
    -The Houston Chronicle
“Pianist Brendan Kinsella did a great job of breathing life into arrangements [Radiohead-O’Riley transcriptions] that, in lesser hands, might deflate ever so slightly.”
    -Andrew Sigler, NewMusicBox.org   
Described as a “sensitive musician with an ear for color” by the Cincinnati Enquirer, pianist Brendan Kinsella’s recent concert engagements have taken him to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Holland, Italy, and other cities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.  He earned his Bachelor (with honors) and Master of Music degrees at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a pupil of Frank Weinstock (with additional coaching from James Tocco and Kenneth Griffiths) and in 2008 received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City as a student of Robert Weirich.  In master classes, he has performed for artists such as Christopher Elton, Susan Graham, Martin Katz, Ani Kavafian, Anne-Akiko Meyers, Frederic Rzewski, Andre-Michel Schub, Peter Serkin, David Shifrin, Midori, and the Takacs Quartet.  He completed his training as a Solo Piano Fellow at the Music Academy of the West, working under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal, Professor of Piano at the Juilliard School.  In 2010, he debuted as a soloist in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and was a featured concerto soloist at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
Kinsella has appeared in concerti ranging from Beethoven to Brahms to Barber with the Kentucky Symphony, the Jefferson City Symphony, the CCM Chamber and Concert Orchestras, the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra, and the UMKC Wind Symphony in collaboration with conductors Xian Zhang, Steve Davis, and Robert Olson.  As a collaborative pianist, he has performed both as an orchestral pianist and in duo-recitals with members of the New World Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera, and in recital with artists such as Benny Kim, Carter Enyeart, Daniel Saenz, and his wife, Shoko.  During the summers, he serves as an Artist-Teacher of Piano at the Maccagno Piano Days Festival and Competition.
A noted interpreter of all things dissonant, Kinsella’s all-contemporary recitals featuring the works of living masters and emerging voices have garnered wide acclaim.  Of a performance of Rzewski’s De Profundis in Montecito, the Santa Barbara Daily Sound remarked that “Kinsella’s performance was truly astonishing, as he missed nary a beat nor tripped over any words. The sense of terror, misery, despair, disdain, and righteous anger was palpable, and the essay is ultimately life-affirming if horrifying…I’m glad to have heard it, especially by such a passionate and gifted pianist who clearly believed in his mission.”  The Kansas City Star declared that his performances of George Crumb’s chamber repertoire were “marvelous…he displayed convincing tonal colors, impressive technique, and incisive rhythms.”   Utrecht’s Le Bon Journal described a 2011 solo recital of Beethoven, Rzewski, Liszt, and Poulenc as characterized by the “indestructible force and optimism that Americans can radiate proverbially.”  In 2014, his national concert tour of Rzewski’s ""The People United Will Never Be Defeated!"" was the subject of a full-length profile article in the Houston Chronicle and a corresponding interview on NPR.
Among Kinsella’s experiences as a lecturer and visiting artist at festivals and universities include engagements at the 2014 Texas A&M Contemporary Music Festival, the 2013 International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Thought, the 2011 College Music Society South Central Conference, the 2010 Cal State Fullerton New Music Festival, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, the SUNY Fredonia School of Music, the University of Iowa School of Music, and many others.  His seminar topics have included lectures on keyboard music of the Italian Renaissance, recent developments in avant-garde American music, the influence of Greek philosophy on Olivier Messiaen’s piano music, and studies on the evolving role of the collaborative pianist in selected chamber repertoire.  
A dedicated teacher, Kinsella presently serves as Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, where he teaches applied piano, chamber music, piano pedagogy, and piano literature.  Members of his select studio of graduate and undergraduate pianists regularly participate in prestigious national and international summer festivals, perform in master classes for distinguished artists (such as Jerome Lowenthal, James Dick, and Adam Wodnicki), present their scholarly research at professional conferences, and gain admittance to prestigious master’s and doctoral programs nationwide.  Before joining the faculty at UTPA, he was as a member of the piano area at Missouri Western State University and held graduate assistantships in piano and collaborative piano at CCM and UMKC. 
Born 1980 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kinsella began playing the piano at age 11 and made his concerto debut at 15.  A live recording of his performance of Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques at the Midwest Clinic is commercially available from the MarkRecords label, and his recording of Narong Prangcharoen’s chamber music was released on Albany records in 2012 to favorable reviews.  His recent and upcoming engagements include a teaching residency at Xinghai Conservatory in China, a series of outreach concerts throughout Texas with his collegiate studio, and speaking on teaching advanced repertoire at the 2016 MTNA National Convention in San Antonio.
Curriculum Vitae
Brendan Kinsella
Assoc. Prof., Piano
School of Music
Email: brendan.kinsella@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B1.109
Phone: 956-665-2874
Shoko Kinsella

Shoko Kinsella

Lecturer III, Piano
(956) 665-2884
shoko.kinsella@utrgv.edu
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Shoko Kinsella

Pianist  Dr.  Shoko Nakamura Kinsella enjoys her diverse career as performer and teacher. She has extensively performed as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician throughout the United States, Italy, and Japan.  Her past concert engagements include a solo recital in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Valley Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Music Series, and Artist Presentation Society in St. Louis as a result of winning the APS Solo Competition.  Her concerto appearances include Jefferson City Symphony Orchestra, after winning the JCSO Concerto Competition, and University of Cincinnati Orchestra Club, performing at the inaugural concert.  

As a chamber musician, she has appeared as guest artist at Western Illinois University, Earlham College in Indiana, Johnson County Community College in Kansas City (live performance broadcasted by 91.5 Kansas Public Radio), Summer Opera and Music Festival in Lucca Italy, and numerous collaborative appearances with large and small ensembles. She served as guest artist faculty of the soundSCAPE New Music Festival in Maccagno, Italy.

Dr. Kinsella is currently on the piano faculty at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate piano students, as well as collaborates in recitals with faculty and guest artists. She also gives masterclasses, clinics, and judges competitions internationally and across the state.  She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (2010), under the instruction of the artist-pedagogue Robert Weirich, with additional trainings by artists including Jerome Lowenthal, Ivan Moravec, and Anthony De Mare.  She earned her Master’s (2006) and Bachelor’s (2004,  magna cum laude) degrees in Piano Performance from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a student of William Black and Michael Chertock, where she was nominated for the Excellence in Teaching Award.  Born in Chiba, Japan, Dr. Kinsella currently resides in McAllen, TX.

Website

Curriculum Vitae

Shoko Kinsella
Lecturer III, Piano
School of Music
Email: shoko.kinsella@utrgv.edu
Performing Arts Complex B1. 108
Phone: (956) 665-2884
Stacy Kwak

Stacy Kwak

Lecturer II, Piano
956-882-7387
stacy.kwak@utrgv.edu
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Stacy Kwak

Curriculum Vitae

Stacy Kwak
Lecturer II, Piano
School of Music
Email: stacy.kwak@utrgv.edu
BEIDM 120B
Phone: 956-882-7387
Francisco Loera

Francisco Loera

Senior Lecturer, Mariachi/Mexican Folk Music
(956) 665-3045
francisco.loera@utrgv.edu
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Francisco Loera

Francisco Loera has been a Lecturer at UTPA/UTRGV for over twenty years in the Departments of Modern languages and Music, teaching Language and Literature, the History of Mexican Folk Music, and Mariachi ensemble. He has been the co-director of Mariachi  Aztlán during his time at the University, leading the mariachi to earn the reputation as the most outstanding university mariachi program in the nation.

 The Mariachi has traveled throughout Mexico representing the United States and throughout America as musical ambassadors representing the beauty of the Hispanic music and cultural traditions.  For more than 15 years, in San Antonio, Texas, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Mariachi Aztlán has been selected as the “Outstanding College or University Mariachi” in nationwide competition several years in a row.  For several years, the Mariachi Aztlán won “Grand Champion” of the Mariachi Spectacular Competition. In 2014 and 2016, the Mariachi Aztlán was invited as guest clinicians for the Mariachi Spectacular Workshop and performed at international mariachi conferences in San Diego, Tucson and Chicago in 2015 and 2016. The Mariachi Aztlán has won first place in the “Best in Texas” Mariachi Invitational at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, in Houston, Texas numerous times.

Highlight performances include an invitation from the White House to perform at a signing ceremony of an Executive Order commemorating the renewal and enhancement of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, performing for President Barack Obama in 2010.  In collaboration with the Houston Grand Opera, Mariachi Aztlán premiered the stage production of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, the world’s first “Mariachi-Opera” in 2010.  Other concerts include appearances at the Hollywood Bowl, the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, and a performance of the mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 2013.  Other performances include an encore concert with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 2014 and concerts at the 2015, 2016 San Diego Mariachi Festival,  the Tucson International Mariachi Conference in 2015, and the Chicago Heritage Mariachi Conferences in 2015 and 2016.  The Mariachi Aztlán premiered the new mariachi opera El Pasado Nunca Se Termina with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 2015 and proudly released a new CD, Mi Nombre es México to commemorate the 25 th Anniversary of the UTPA/UTRGV Mariachi Program.

Curriculum Vitae

Francisco Loera
Senior Lecturer, Mariachi/Mexican Folk Music
School of Music
Email: francisco.loera@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B 1127
Phone: (956) 665-3045
Rachel Mann

Rachel Mann

Assist. Prof., Music Theory
(956) 882-7116
rachel.mann@utrgv.edu
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Rachel Mann

Dr. Rachel Mann is an Assistant Professor of Music at UTRGV, where she teaches music theory and ear training courses primarily on the university’s Brownsville campus. Dr. Mann completed a Ph.D. in music theory at the University of Texas-Austin, where she held a Kent Kennan Endowed Graduate Fellowship and was awarded the Herbert Colvin Award for the best student paper at the 2005 Texas Society for Music Theory conference. She also holds degrees in music with all-level teacher certification (BM) and music theory (MM) from Texas Tech University. Prior to joining the UTRGV faculty, Mann held positions in music theory at the University at Albany – SUNY, the University of North Texas, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Dr. Mann's research interests include the music and writings of the twentieth-century Catalan composer, Roberto Gerhard, and other Second Viennese School composers; the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas; electroacoustic and film-music criticism; and pop-rock theory. Dr. Mann is also engaged in developing a computer-aided, music theory instruction package called Harmonia, which combines music notation, automatic music analysis and grading, word processing, multimedia playback, and a sophisticated web-based learning management system. As the Senior Content Developer for Illiac Software, she creates pedagogical content for Harmonia, updates software support pages, and runs a general music theory resource blog for teachers and students on the Harmonia website. Visit www.harmonia.illiacsoftware.com to learn more.

Dr. Mann has presented her research throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Her work is published by Salem Press, Ashgate Publishing, and Cambridge Scholars Press, and her Harmonia research has been supported with funding from the University of Illinois and a Phase I STTR grant from the National Science Foundation. 

Dr. Mann is a reader for the national AP music theory exam, she is an active member of the Texas Society for Music Theory, and holds memberships in the Society for Music Theory (SMT), the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI), the College Music Society (CMS), and the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA).

Teaching Philosophy:

  • It is my philosophy to treat my students as mature adults. I expect them to be intelligent and responsible, to stand by their own opinions, yet be open to different schools of thoughts and teaching styles.
  • To actively engage my students in the educational process, it is my duty to lead class discussions to determine the level of understanding and mastery. I prefer that my students “uncover” the mysteries of a work on their own (in small, moderated group settings). We all end up learning more because everyone approaches works from different perspectives.
  • I like to listen to and teach from a wide range of musical styles and traditions ranging from the European classical tradition, popular music, jazz, and world music. I also enjoy talking about pieces my students enjoy.
  • Ultimately, I encourage my students to always consider the practical application of their theoretical study by reflecting on their own personal musical experiences as performers and listeners. It is my goal to encourage my students to approach their theoretical studies as a means for providing deeper understanding of their own musical experience.
Rachel Mann
Assist. Prof., Music Theory
Email: rachel.mann@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: Eidman Hall
Phone: (956) 882-7116
Anthony T. Marasco

Anthony T. Marasco

Assist. Prof., Music Technology and Composition
956-882-7387
anthony.marasco@utrgv.edu
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Anthony T. Marasco

Dr. Anthony T. Marasco is an Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  Across the United States as well as in Norway, Italy, Brazil, Denmark, and Canada, his works and research have been featured at festivals such as New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), the Web Audio Conference, the Networked Music Festival, the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS), Electroacoustic Barn Dance, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Mise-En Festival, Montreal Contemporary Music Lab, Electric LaTex, and Omaha Under the Radar. 

Dr. Marasco's research focuses on the development of new hardware and software for interactive performance. His dissertation, titled "Bendit_I/O: A System for Extending Mediated and Networked Performance Techniques to Circuit-Bent Devices", details his work creating a hybrid hardware/software framework extends techniques native to the practices of telematic and network art to hacked hardware so that artists can design collaborative and mediated experiences that incorporate old devices into new realities.  An avid builder and developer, his projects have centered on creating digital music instruments, circuit design, physical computing, and creative coding for the web. A proponent of STEM literacy for all ages, he is passionate about integrating music technology into both public school and higher education curriculums in order to help students discover how music technology can enrich and influence their musical practices.
 
Before coming to UTRGV, Dr. Marasco served as the Program Coordinator and Curriculum Developer for the Digital Design & Emergent Media STEM Pathway at Louisiana State University. There, he trained and collaborated with teachers from across the state to bring courses in digital media production and storytelling to high school students. Hailing from Northeastern Pennsylvania, he also previously taught at the University of Scranton and at Penn State University campuses throughout the region. He holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Music & Digital Media from Louisiana State University, an M.M. in Music Composition from Towson University, and a B.A. in Music Composition from Lebanon Valley College.

Curriculum Vitae

Anthony T. Marasco
Assist. Prof., Music Technology and Composition
School of Music
Email: anthony.marasco@utrgv.edu
BMSLC 2.221
Phone: 956-882-7387
Kurt Martinez, Director

Kurt Martinez, Director

Prof. Guitar Ensemble
(956) 665-2992
kurt.martinez@utrgv.edu
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Kurt Martinez, Director

Dr. Kurt Martinez completed the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, he also has degrees in guitar performance from Georgia State University and the University of Miami. Dr. Martinez has studied with some of the finest teachers in the world including , Javier Calderon, Angelo Gilardino and Juan Mercadal. His studies have taken him to Europe, where he attended the Corsi Internazionali di Chitarra in Muzzano, Italy and also studied flamenco guitar in Madrid, Jerez de la Frontera, Granada and Cordoba Spain, with numerous distinguished guitarists.
Dr. Martinez maintains an active performance schedule and has presented recitals at guitar festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Central America, South America and Mexico. In addition to being recognized as a performer Dr. Martinez has also been recognized as a teacher, and has presented master classes at the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Sonora, Festival Internacional de Guitarra-Solistas del Mundo, Lawrence Conservatory of Music, Copiah - Lincoln College, Laredo Community College, Beloit College and Del Mar College. Dr. Martinez is also often called to adjudicate International guitar competitions most recently serving as a judge in the Concurso Nacional de Guitarra de Mexico.
The doctoral research of Dr. Martinez on La Folia has led to an article published in Soundboard Vol 30 No. 3, 2004, and his debut recording entitled Folias. This recording charts the history of a work that has been used repeatedly by guitar composers for five hundred years. Dr. Martinez has also given lecture/recitals on La Folia explaining the history of this work and providing reasons for its longevity. He has presented this lecture at guitar festivals and prestigious academic institutions such as the Colegio de Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Dr. Kurt Martinez currently holds the position of Director of the School of Music at the University of Texas- Rio Grande Valley.
Curriculum Vitae
Kurt Martinez, Director
Prof. Guitar Ensemble
School of Music
Email: kurt.martinez@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B2.108
Phone: (956) 665-2992
Monica Martinez

Monica Martinez

Assist. Prof., French Horn, Music Appreciation
(956) 665-3399
monica.martinez@utrgv.edu
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Monica Martinez

Dr. Monica C. Martinez is a Lecturer of Horn for the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley. She currently holds the third Horn position with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the third/utility Horn position with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also a member of the Hill Country Brass, a professional brass quintet based in central Texas. The Hill Country Brass regularly performs an extensive array of repertoire for a variety of venues and events.

Previously, Dr. Martinez taught public school for Point Isabel ISD, Grades 3-5 at Derry Elementary and private school, Grades 6-12 at San Marcos Baptist Academy. She has held Adjunct Horn Instructor positions for Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi and Prairie View A&M University. She taught as a private Horn instructor for Austin ISD, Pflugerville ISD, and Dripping Springs ISD. As an active freelance musician, she’s performed with the San Antonio Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Texas Symphony, Symphony of the Hills - Kerrville, Temple Symphony Orchestra, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, Round Rock Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphonic Band, Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Lakeside Pride Symphony Orchestra and the Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra.

She achieved a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in Horn Performance from The University of Texas at Austin. She also earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Horn Performance and Music Education from Texas A&M University at Kingsville. Her mentors have included Patrick Hughes from The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Jennifer Ratchford-Sholtis from Texas A&M University at Kingsville, and Robert Ward, Principal Horn of the San Francisco Symphony and Horn instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Curriculumn Vitae

Monica Martinez
Assist. Prof., French Horn, Music Appreciation
School of Music
Email: monica.martinez@utrgv.edu
BMUSI 2.212
Phone: (956) 665-3399
Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez

Prof., Brass: Trombone, Latin Band
(956) 665-3182
pedro.martinez@utrgv.edu
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Pedro Martinez

Dr. Martinez is currently serving his 13 th year as a faculty member of the School of Music at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, formerly named University of Texas - Pan American. In the 12+ years of service at this institution, 7 of those years were served in the capacity of Department Chair for the Department of Music and Dance. Since 2004, Dr. Martinez has proudly dedicated himself to ensure excellence in teaching, performance and service in the Rio Grande Valley. Dr. Martinez is currently serving the School of Music in the capacity of Associate Professor of Music, where his responsibilities are to teach all aspects related to the trombone studio, be it through applied lessons, low brass methods, trombone pedagogy, or as director of the trombone choir and One O’clock Latin Band. In regard to his teaching philosophy, he firmly believes that versatility is an important asset for successful administrators, artists, and teachers in music. The experience he gained from performing in diverse musical ensembles and teaching in both musical and non-musical settings have given him a well-rounded understanding of many educational and instructional techniques that he uses on a daily basis with his students. At both UTRGV and UTPA, he has been fortunate to teach a wide variety of classes where he has made use of these skills. Courses taught by Dr. Martinez include Applied Low Brass (trombone, euphonium, and tuba from 2004-2006), Brass Methods/Techniques, Music Appreciation, One O’clock Latin Band, Jazz Combo, Secondary Methods, Brass Pedagogy, Brass Literature, and he re-established a Spirit/Pep Band, Brass Ensemble, and secured funding for the inception of the Drum Line even though it was outside of his area of specialization.
Curriculum Vitae
Pedro Martinez
Prof., Brass: Trombone, Latin Band
School of Music
Email: pedro.martinez@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2.111
Phone: (956) 665-3182
Victor Martinez

Victor Martinez

Part Time Lecturer, Trumpet
(956) 882-7768
victor.martinez@utrgv.edu
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Victor Martinez

Victor Martinez
Part Time Lecturer, Trumpet
School of Music
Email: victor.martinez@utrgv.edu
BMSLC 2.214
Phone: (956) 882-7768
Jason Mitchell

Jason Mitchell

Lecturer I, Music Technology, Composition, Music Appreciation
jason.mitchell@utrgv.edu
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Jason Mitchell

Jason H. Mitchell is a classically trained guitarist and a composer of instrumental and electro-acoustic music. Though he has lived throughout the United States, he grew up in the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, where the rich cultural heritage of the Texas-Mexico border region influences much of his music.
 
Jason is a Lecturer of Composition and Music Technology at UTRGV where he maintains two labs (Mac & PC) and additionally serves as the advising coordinator for the School of Music. He earned a DMA in Music Composition and Theory from the University of Illinois, a MM in Theory and Composition as well as a MM in Classical Guitar Performance from Texas Tech University, and a BA in Applied Classical Guitar from University of Texas - Pan American. Jason has taught music theory and aural skills at the University of Illinois as well as undergraduate courses in electro-acoustic music composition at the University of Illinois’s Allen Hall. He has worked as a studio technician for the University of Texas Film Scoring Studio and served as studio director for the University of Illinois Unit 1 Electronic Music Studio.
 
Jason’s compositions appear on the EMPiRES, HighSCORE, and UIUC-EMS labels as well as on the 50th Anniversary of the University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios CD and his works have been featured on the Foldover Radio Show in Oberlin, Ohio. “Fractured Focus,” a video and sound collaboration with artists Josephine Turalba and Joaquin Tangalin, is on permanent display at the Yuchengco Museum in Manila, Philippines and other collaborative works have been installed at the 2016 CairoTronica and 2015 Venice Biennial. He was the featured composer of the 2014 Oh My Ears! Festival in Phoenix, Arizona, and his music has also been performed at numerous festivals and conferences including ICMC, SEAMUS, SCI, NYCEMF, Studio 300, NSEME, NMEA, EMM, KCEMA Happy Hour series, Channel Noise at Georgia Southern U., and Ensemble Mise-En’s summer festival and concert series. He has attended residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (US), SoundSCAPE (Italy), HighSCORE (Italy), and UpBEAT (Croatia). To learn more about Jason’s music, visit www.jholtmusic.com. 
Jason Mitchell
Lecturer I, Music Technology, Composition, Music Appreciation
School of Music
Email: jason.mitchell@utrgv.edu
EPAC C1.107
David Moreno

David Moreno

Part Time Lecturer, Trumpet
(956) 665-3471
david.a.moreno01@utrgv.edu
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David Moreno

David Moreno
Part Time Lecturer, Trumpet
School of Music
Email: david.a.moreno01@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2.108
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Juan de Dios Ocampo

Juan de Dios Ocampo

Part Time Lecturer, Piano
juan.ocampofonseca01@utrgv.edu
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Juan de Dios Ocampo

Juan de Dios Ocampo is a Mexican pianist, who has a Bachelors Degree in Piano Performance from the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, and a Master Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, he has played many recitals in various cities in Mexico and in the south of Texas. He has been an accompanist for the Reynosa Choir from 2009-2020.
Juan de Dios Ocampo
Part Time Lecturer, Piano
School of Music
Email: juan.ocampofonseca01@utrgv.edu

Lorne O'Neil

Lorne O'Neil

Prof., Winds: Clarinet/Clarinet Choir
(956) 665-3476
lorne.oneil@utrgv.edu
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Lorne O'Neil

Dr. William O'Neil joined the Faculty of the University of Texas Pan American in 1992, where he now holds the rank of Professor. Dr. O'Neil received his DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) degree in clarinet from the University of Minnesota in 1990 where he studied with Cloyde Williams and John Anderson. He subsequently held one-year appointments at Utah State University and at Memorial University of Newfoundland before coming to UTPA. Dr. O'Neil is active as a recitalist, chamber musician, and clinician as well as being a prolific arranger of music for clarinet and saxophone solos and ensembles. Notable among his teachers have been Leon Russianoff, Mitchell Lurie, John Anderson, and Cloyde Williams. He is the creator of a highly successful On-Line Music Appreciation class being offered through the UT Telecampus since 1996. He is co-founder of the Valley Classic Ensemble and the University of Texas-Pan American faculty Ensemble Romantique. As an orchestral performer, he has been principal/co-principal clarinetist with the Valley Symphony since 1994. He has also played with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, the Victoria (TX) Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra of Nuevo Leon (Mexico), the Minnesota Opera, the North Star (MN) Opera, and the South Texas Lyric Opera. He recently was featured soloist with the Valley Symphony in the Weber Concertino for clarinet and orchestra. Dr. O'Neil attributes much of his success as a teacher to a terrible start on the clarinet, with no formal instruction whatever from his start in 7th grade until his second year in college. Having corrected every bad clarinet habit in the world, he has both the diagnostic/remedial skills to fix most students' problems, and the patience to help a student past some of their own personal musical crises.
Curriculum Vitae
Lorne O'Neil
Prof., Winds: Clarinet/Clarinet Choir
School of Music
Email: lorne.oneil@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2114
Phone: (956) 665-3476
Joel Pagan

Joel Pagan

Prof, Strings: Viola/Violin
(956) 665-3677
joel.pagan@utrgv.edu
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Joel Pagan

Hailed by The Monitor as an “impassioned performer,” Joel Pagán enjoys a multi-faceted career as a concert artist and educator.  An active chamber and solo recitalist, Pagán has performed throughout the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Canada, Bolivia, Italy, Costa Rica and Brazil.  Additionally, Pagán has performed in various international festivals such as the Brevard Music Center Festival, FOSJA/Casals Festival Puerto Rico, Meadowmount School of Music, Schlern International Music Festival, Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Institute at UNL, Festival Internacional de Música de la Escola de Música e Artes Cênicas da UFG, UNB Encontro de Cordas, International Adventist Youth Festival, Banff Centre and the Killington Music Festival among others. He has also given master-classes and workshops in the National Conservatory of Bolivia, Middle Tennessee State University, University of California Santa Cruz, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, UNADECA, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Universidade de Brasil, Andrews University, Texas State University at San Marcos, University of Wyoming, Colorado State University and the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music among others.
As a soloist with orchestras, he has appeared with the Valley Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic, Monterey Bay Sinfonietta, UTPA Symphony, Sam Houston State University Symphony, Puerto Rico Conservatory Symphony and Andrews University Symphony. As an orchestral musician, Joel has performed in the violin and viola sections of the Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, Puerto Rico Philharmonic, Puerto Rico Chamber Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony, Mansfield Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Jackson Symphony, and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra.  Pagán has also appeared in the Youth Symphony of the Americas, Midland Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic, and Valley Symphony as principal violist.
Having studied with Robert Dan, I Fu Wang, Alan Bodman, José Figueroa, Ann Setzer, and Sally Thomas, Pagán holds degrees from Michigan State University, University of Akron, and the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico.
Currently, Pagán is an Associate Professor of Viola & Violin at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, faculty at the Killington Music Festival and principal viola of the Laredo Philharmonic.
Curriculum Vitae
Joel Pagan
Prof, Strings: Viola/Violin
School of Music
Email: joel.pagan@utrgv.edu
Performing Arts Complex B2.129
Phone: (956) 665-3677
Michael Quantz

Michael Quantz

Prof., Guitar Ensemble
956-882-7527
michael.quantz@utrgv.edu
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Michael Quantz

Dr. Michael Quantz is an internationally recognized and leading advocate for guitar education. He is the recipient of the University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College President’s Outstanding Teaching Award and he served as the Director of Education for the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA). He has presented clinics for numerous school districts in the US, the GFA and the Texas Music Educators Association Conference (the world’s largest music teacher conference). He has many years of experience in performance adjudication, having judged the prestigious GFA International Artist Competition, the University of Texas at Dallas Classical Guitar Competition, the Beatty Competition (Washington, DC), and many University Interscholastic League contests. In addition, he was the creator and director of the GFA’s International Youth Competition and Guitar Ensemble Showcase.

Dr. Quantz has conducted guitar ensembles across the nation. In August, 2015 he co-directed the UT Brownsville/Texas Southmost College Flautarra ensemble in a feature concert during the National Flute Association convention in Washington DC. In June of 2015 he conducted the UT Brownsville/Texas Southmost College Guitar Orchestra as the featured university performers at the GFA convention in Oklahoma City. He led the UT Brownsville One O'clock Guitars on a two week tour of Austria in July 2014 that included performances at the Schoenbrunn Palace and the US Embassy in Vienna.  In June of 2014 he directed the guitar orchestra for the  Congresso National de Guitarra de Nicaragua and spent a week teaching lessons and master classes for students who traveled from all over Central America to attend.  

After receiving a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in guitar performance from the University of North Texas, he directed the Guitar Studies and  Estudiantina programs at the Lopez Fine Arts Academy in Brownsville, Texas. Under his leadership, this program grew into one of the largest competitive high school guitar programs in the United States. During his tenure at Lopez, the College Board and the J. Paul Getty Trust selected him as the Site Coordinator for a multi-year project entitled:  The Role of the Arts in the High School Curriculum.
Dr. Quantz is a respected and sought after classical guitar teacher. He enjoyed notable success developing the guitar division at UT Brownsville/Texas Southmost College into a dynamic, award-winning, and highly regarded program that is recognized as one of the best in the United States. His students have distinguished themselves individually as top prize winners in the Eastfield Collegiate Competition, Houston’s Classical Minds Festival, the UT Pan Am Competition, and also as top ten performers in the UT-Dallas Texas Solo Guitar Competition and the Corpus Christi Young Artists Competition in a group representing the world’s top music conservatories. Under his direction the UTB/TSC Guitar Orchestra was twice featured on the internationally syndicated "Guitar Alive!" show on National Public Radio. He is also the creator/director of the  Annual Brownsville Guitar Ensemble Festival and Competition which draws participants from all over the nation and is the second largest classical guitar event in the nation.
Curriculum Vitae
Michael Quantz
Prof., Guitar Ensemble
School of Music
Email: michael.quantz@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: Eidman 204
Phone: 956-882-7527
Mark Ramirez

Mark Ramirez

Prof., Percussion Ensemble
956-665-8762
mark.ramirez@utrgv.edu
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Mark Ramirez

Dr. Mark Joseph Ramírez is Professor of Percussion at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As an artist, Mark has performed and collaborated under the direction of some of the leading musical authorities in the field composition, including Pulitzer Prize-winning composers John Corigliano, David Del Tredici and William Bolcom and Prix de Rome recipient Kevin Puts. He has performed with internationally acclaimed jazz and classical artists Ernie Watts, Eddie Daniels, Greg Abate, Jeff Jarvis, Dick Oats, Steve Wiest, Gordon Stout, Phil Smith, and performed as a guest Soloist with the Rio Grande Valley Symphony Orchestra.
As a scholar, Dr. Ramírez has received invitations to present and perform at the International Conference on Caribbean Studies, the Southwestern Conference on Latin American Studies, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and the American Association of Hispanic in Higher Education. In addition, Dr. Ramírez was awarded a 2008-2009 Faculty Fellowship from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education and the 2015 Kerspit (X, Y)-honor Artist in Residency Fellow in Gent, Belgium. Other work includes six pending publications of original compositions for Marimba entitled Psalm, Despedidas, and Wooden Landscapes: IV Landscapes for Marimba. In the fall of 2012, I completed a collaboration with Fulbright SIR Scholar Mark Cloet (artist and sculptor). An exhibition entitled C. Stone was showcased at the International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen, TX. The exhibit ran for six months, from October 2012 through February 2013. My contribution to the exhibition resulted in a five movement original composition entitled Transformation of Stone. The first two movements were recorded at Breed Music in Dallas, TX in collaboration with 2012 84th Oscar Academy Award Winner John Hunter.
Curriculum Vitae
Mark Ramirez
Prof., Percussion Ensemble
School of Music
Email: mark.ramirez@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B1.125
Phone: 956-665-8762
David Rios

David Rios

Part Time Lecturer
(956) 665-3471
david.rios@utrgv.edu
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David Rios

David Rios lives in McAllen, TX with his wife, 3 kids ages 12, 9 and 6, and 3 dogs.  David has an AA in Culinary Arts from South Texas College, BPS in Music Production from Berklee College of Music, and MBA from Southern New Hampshire University with a concentration in Music Business from Berklee.  Currently working as the Reference Supervisor at McAllen Public Library, he owns and operates Musicademy McAllen, which employs 6 private music instructors.  Additionally, he works as a music producer for local bands and artists.  Throughout the past 25 years David has formed and played in several bands, for which I played guitar or bass, selected repertoire, and managed.

Curriculum Vitae

David Rios
Part Time Lecturer
School of Music
Email: david.rios@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2.108
Phone: (956) 665-3471
Hector Javier Rodriguez

Hector Javier Rodriguez

Lecturer II Guitar, Guitar Ensemble
956-665-3471
hector.rodriguez@utrgv.edu
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Hector Javier Rodriguez

Dr. Hector Javier Rodriguez Santos enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, having given performances and masterclasses in Puerto Rico, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, and Mexico, as well as in the United States

As a soloist, Dr. Rodriguez’s career is highlighted by several events: he was first place winner in the University of Texas-Pan American Guitar Competition in 2009 and second place winner in the Houston Guitar Competition in 2010 (Classical Minds). Additionally, Rodriguez was recipient of the Ocelotl Award by Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila 2010 for Best Artistic Project. In 2014, he received the Leo Brouwer Prize at Festival Internacional de Guitarra del Noreste in Saltillo, Mexico. He was Second Prize Winner at the Dallas International Guitar Competition in 2018.

Dr. Rodriguez joined the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley faculty in the fall of 2014, where he serves as Director of the Guitar Ensemble and as Lecturer of Applied Guitar. Prior to his appointment at UTRGV, Dr. Rodriguez served on the faculty of the Escuela Preparatoria, Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, and on faculty at South Texas College.

An advocate for new music for guitar ensemble, Dr. Rodriguez has arranged several works, with the particular aim of replicating the sound world of the symphony orchestra. His arrangements are published by Bergmann Edition and ALRY Music and have been performed in concerts and festivals in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States, Panama, and Lebanon, among others.

Dr. Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Music in Classical Guitar Performance from the Escuela Superior de Música Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (Saltillo, Coahuila, México) where his primary teacher was Martín Madrigal; a Master of Music from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where he studied guitar with Ivan Rijos and Manuel Barrueco; and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a secondary emphasis in early music from the University of North Texas, where he studied guitar with Thomas Johnson, and where he studied theorbo and early instruments with Daniel Swenberg and Arash Noori.

For more information please visit: www.hectorguitar.com
Hector Javier Rodriguez
Lecturer II Guitar, Guitar Ensemble
School of Music
Email: hector.rodriguez@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B2.127
Phone: 956-665-3471
Scott Roeder

Scott Roeder

Prof., Brass: Tuba, Euphonium
956-665-7134
scott.roeder@utrgv.edu
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Scott Roeder

Dr. Scott Roeder is Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he teaches applied tuba/euphonium and conducts the UTRGV Brass Band and UTRGV Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble. Previously Dr. Roeder served as Principal Tubist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony, Lone Star Brass Quintet, and the Texas Music Festival. Currently he serves as Principal Tuba with the Valley Symphony Orchestra and serves as the Personnel Manager for the organization. Additional orchestral performances include the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Canton Symphony, Illinois Symphony and many other professional orchestras throughout the country.
As a soloist Dr. Roeder has performed recitals at universities around the country and has been an invited performer at multiple ITEA Regional Tuba Euphonium Conferences as well as a guest artist at the 2012 and 2014 International Tuba Euphonium Conferences in Linz, Austria and Indiana University. Additionally he has been a featured soloist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony, Valley Symphony Orchestra, University of Akron Symphony, Odessa College Band, and the UTPA Wind Ensemble and UTPA String Orchestra. Dr. Roeder has been a prize winner in multiple regional solo competitions and was named a semi-finalist for the Leornard Falcone International Tuba Competition (1999 and 2000) and the 2000 International Tuba Euphonium Conference Solo Artist Tuba Competition in Regina, Saskatchewan.
As an educator Dr. Roeder previously taught at Wayland Baptist University, the University of Akron, and served as the low brass instructor for the Midland, Odessa, and Crane (TX) school districts. Other teaching positions have included the Wisconsin Summer Music Clinic, Baylor University Summer Music Camp, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Dr. Roeder has also presented sessions at the 2004 International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Budapest, Hungary and the 2010 International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of the book “Tuba Tutor”, a pedagogical text on solo tuba literature. Dr. Roeder has also served as an adjudicator at the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Competition and the International Tuba Euphonium Conference. Dr. Roeder’s students have advanced in numerous international competitions and have held positions in the US Army Bands and other professional music ensembles.
Dr. Roeder received his Bachelors in Music Education at the University of Illinois, Masters in Music Performance from the University of Akron, and in 2008 received his DMA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His teachers include John Stevens, Tucker Jolly, Mark Moore, Sam Pilafian, and Pat Sheridan.
Curriculum Vitae
Scott Roeder
Prof., Brass: Tuba, Euphonium
School of Music
Email: scott.roeder@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B2.115
Phone: 956-665-7134
Katrina Roush

Katrina Roush

Assist. Prof., Music Theory
(956) 665-2681
katrina.roush@utrgv.edu
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Katrina Roush

Dr. Katrina Roush is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music theory and ear training. She holds a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, an M.M. in Music Theory from Michigan State University, and a B.A. in Applied Piano from Indiana Wesleyan University. Her dissertation, titled “Framing Listening Experiences in Selected Works of Corelli,” explores the roles listeners play in their own subjective experiences with music and examines the interaction between pieces and listeners through analysis.

Some of Dr. Roush’s other research interests include emotion and meaning in music, music and philosophy, musical agency, topic theory, video game music, and television music. She has presented her research at conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Gruppo Analisi e Teoria Musicale International Conference of Music Analysis and Theory, the European Musical Analysis Conference, and the Rocky Mountain Society of Music Theory. In addition, Dr. Roush strongly believes in the collaboration between professors and librarians, and has co-presented on this topic at the Texas Music Library Association with her librarian husband.

Before coming to UTRGV, Dr. Roush taught at Butler University, Indiana University, and Michigan State University. A special interest of hers is online instruction. While at IU, she participated in the pedagogical development of Music Fundamentals Online, a web-based program for remedial music theory. She currently teaches the fully online Fundamentals of Music course at UTRGV using her own materials.

In her courses, Dr. Roush emphasizes the necessity of communication between musicians by encouraging written and spoken dialog about musical works. She believes that analytical skills will help her students become better teachers, performers, conductors, and composers as they understand music more deeply. Dr. Roush is especially concerned about the mental, emotional, and physical health of academic communities and works to find ways to integrate these principles into her classroom and one-on-one interactions with students.

Katrina Roush
Assist. Prof., Music Theory
School of Music
Email: katrina.roush@utrgv.edu
EPACB 1.126
Phone: (956) 665-2681
David Sadlier

David Sadlier

Assoc. Prof., Voice, Opera
956-665-2860
david.sadlier@utrgv.edu
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David Sadlier

David Sadlier has been praised for both his vocal and dramatic abilities and hailed as "one of America's leading dramatic tenors" (Oxford Mail). Dr. Sadlier's opera credits include appearances with the Lyric Opera of Baltimore, Chicago Opera Theater, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, New Orleans Opera, Opera Circle of Cleveland, Opera North, and the Baltimore Concert Opera. Fortunate to be involved in many new works, Dr. Sadlier has performed several world premieres including Loss of Eden (Opera Theater of St. Louis), the title role in Thamos: King of Egypt (Opera Circle of Cleveland), Our Town and the collegiate debut of A View From the Bridge (Indiana University). Most recently, Dr. Sadlier appeared in Tosca with the Lyric Opera of Baltimore and both Carmen and Tosca with The Baltimore Concert Opera.  He returned to Opera Circle of Cleveland as Edrisi in Szymanowski's Krol Roger where he also performed Tebaldo in I Capuletti e i Montecchi, and the role of Fritz Kobus in L'Amico Fritz. In addition, the tenor covered the role of Siegmund in Virginia Opera's recent production of Die Walküre. Concert appearances include a world premier song cycle, All ye know on Earth with the St. Anne's Camerata (Oxford), Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Joanne Falletta;Britten's Serenade under the baton of Richard Hughey, Mozart's Requiem with the Battle Creek Symphony, Britten's Saint Nicolas with the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Brahms' Liebeslieder Walzes with the Lafayette Bach Chorale, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music with the Indianapolis Symphony, and several performances with the Valley Symphony Orchestra.
Equally at home on the recital stage, Dr. Sadlier has performed many major works including Die schöne Müllerin, Dichterliebe, An die ferne Geliebte, On Wenlock Edge, andFinzi's O fair to see and been featured at major international venues including London’s Church of St. Martin in the Fields, Oxford’s Jacqueline du Pré Music Room and The Schumann-Haus in Zwickau, Germany.  Dr. Sadlier collaborates in recital with his wife, pianist, Dr. Lelia Molthrop Sadlier.  The duo specialize in theme-specific recitals and past performances have featured songs of William Shakespeare and, most recently, World War I.
Dr. Sadlier currently serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he teaches applied voice, language diction, and serves as operatic conductor and stage director. Dr. Sadlier's students have distinguished themselves as winners of regional competitions, and through admittance to nationally and internationally recognized summer training programs and leading graduate programs such as the Manhattan School of Music, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, the University of Michigan, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Longy School of Music. Dr. Sadlier continues to serve as a guest clinician and recitalist at universities and institutes throughout the country; including Florida State University, The University of Colorado Boulder, Radford University, University of Southern Mississippi, Nicholls State University, SUNY Geneseo, the Interlochen School for the Arts, Montana State University, Western Illinois University, Albion College, and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory. Dr. Sadlier has also served as a guest-lecturer at St. Anne's College, Oxford.
In the summer of 2011, Dr. Sadlier founded The Cornish American Song Institute (CASI) based in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK. The Institute is a three-week study of art-song for singers, pianists, and composers. The Institute provides applied music lessons, musical coachings, English Music Classes, tours of historic sites in England, and presents several concerts. In addition, CASI spends one-week in Oxford engaging in lectures and master classes with musical luminaries from the University of Oxford and Trinity College in London.  CASI has become a leading training ground for art song performers whose alumni have gone on to distinguish themselves in their young careers.
Dr. Sadlier earned the Doctor of Music degree from The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he continues to study with Andreas Poulimenos. While at IU he served as an Associate Instructor of Voice for four years. Dr. Sadlier also holds a Masters degree in vocal performance from Indiana University as well as a Bachelor of Music from Loyola University in New Orleans.

Curriculum Vitae

David Sadlier
Assoc. Prof., Voice, Opera
School of Music
Email: david.sadlier@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex
Phone: 956-665-2860
Kenneth Saxon

Kenneth Saxon

Prof., Piano
956-882-8267
kenneth.saxon@utrgv.edu
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Kenneth Saxon

Pianist, Kenneth Saxon has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist on three continents, including appearances at the  Esplanade in Singapore and performances at the IBLA Grand Prize in Ibla, Sicily where he was awarded special recognition as an Outstanding Performer. Known for his wide-ranging repertoire, he has given numerous premieres while also exploring in depth the standard repertoire from Bach to Bartok. His performances are characterized by the passionate commitment of his playing, the clarity of his musical ideas, and his dedication to a beautiful sound.   
       
In 2005, Saxon released his first solo recording,  13 Preludes, Op. 32 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Plum 052). Saxon has given complete performances of the Op. 32 Preludes on numerous occasions in the United States, Mexico, and Italy. Listeners have noted the pianist's dedication to Rachmaninoff's score and his success in bringing the music to life as the composer intended it.     
     
He has recorded Kawai Shiu’s “clear shade” for the CD,  music of kawai shiu (SSR0004) and Shiu’s “Winter Tide” for the CD,  eXchange:China (CRI805). During the spring of 2005, he premiered Shiu’s piano piece  la negacion de simbolos which was written for him.  In the spring of 2012, Saxon’s contemporary music ensemble,  Sin Fronterasperformed the music of Kawai Shiu during a special visiting composer event at the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College.
           
As a collaborative pianist Saxon has performed hundreds of concerts. Notable collaborators include performers Alexa Still, Stafford and Rebecca Turner, Jonathan Noffsinger, Andrea Dawson, composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and conductors Frederick Fennel and Louis Lane. 
He holds a DMA in piano performance from the University of Alabama where he was awarded a Graduate Council Fellowship. His teachers include Amanda Penick, Helen Ramsaur, Elizabeth Buday, Anthony di Bonaventura and Bela Nagy.
Curriculum Vitae
Kenneth Saxon
Prof., Piano
School of Music
Email: kenneth.saxon@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: Eidman 120D
Phone: 956-882-8267
Marco Schirripa

Marco Schirripa

Assist. Prof., Percussion
(956) 882-8244
marco.schirripa@utrgv.edu
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Marco Schirripa

Originally from Syracuse, New York, Marco Schirripa holds Bachelor’s degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Theory from Ithaca College, as well as a Master’s degree and doctorate in Percussion from Indiana University, where he was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate. Dr. Schirripa currently serves as Assistant Professor of Percussion at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Marco has performed on international stages, including the U.S. Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, Zeltsman Marimba Festival, and several Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. He was named a finalist in the 2012 Percussive Arts Society International Marimba Competition, and took first place in both the 2013 Great Plains and 2014 Southern California International Marimba Competitions. He has also been active in the commissioning and premiering of works by composers as diverse as Masahiro Ishijima, Gordon Stout, Matthew Recio, Leroy Osmon, and Joshua Oxford. His playing appears on albums featuring the music of Gordon Stout, Dominick DiOrio, Leroy Osmon, and Amaury Leon Sosa. Marco’s compositions have been performed around the world and his work is available through C. Alan Publications and Keyboard Percussion Publications.

Marco Schirripa is an Artist/Endorser for Sabian cymbals and Pearl/Adams percussion.  He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Marco Schirripa
Assist. Prof., Percussion
School of Music
Email: marco.schirripa@utrgv.edu
BMSLC 1.202
Phone: (956) 882-8244
Diana Seitz

Diana Seitz

Assist. Prof., Strings: Violin
(956) 665-5318
diana.seitz@utrgv.edu
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Diana Seitz

“A world-class musician with a strong following…” (Kansas City Star), whose performances are described as “exciting, powerful, energetic, noble and technically brilliant,” violinist Diana Seitz made her first public performance as a soloist with a chamber orchestra in Moscow, Russia, at the age of nine. As a teenager, Diana became a laureate of the Azerbaijan National Violin Competition and appeared as a soloist with the National Azerbaijan Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Niccolo Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1 in D major with the Cadenza by E. Sauret.
Seitz received her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, where she studied with Olga Kaverzneva – a student of renowned Russian violinist David Oistrakh. During her studies in Moscow, Diana had numerous opportunities to perform in Moscow area and served as the Associate Concertmaster of the Moscow Bach Center Orchestra. Forced to flee her Homeland due to severe ethnic persecution, Seitz continued her studies in the United States. She received her Master’s Degree and DMA in violin performance from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied under Felicia Moye, while serving as the Assistant Concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and first violinist of the Crouse String Quartet.
Dr. Seitz is joining the string faculty of UTPA, coming from Washburn University (Topeka, KS), where she served as the Assistant Professor of Violin and String Area Coordinator. Diana is very excited to have an opportunity to come back to UTPA where she already served as the Assistant Professor of Violin in 2008 - 2011. During those years, Dr. Seitz also performed as Associate Concertmaster with the Valley Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of the South Texas Lyric Opera. Her professional experience includes conducting the annual Seitz and Sounds violin workshop in Columbus, OH, as well as teaching at the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic (Bloomington, IN), Kinhaven Summer Music School (Weston, VT), Meadowmount School of Music (Westport, NY), and teaching residency at the University of Wisconsin Madison. A soloist in demand, Diana appeared with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Azerbaijan (Baku, Azerbaijan), Valley Symphony Orchestra (Edinburg, TX), Kinnor Philharmonic Orchestra (Kansas City, KS) and Kansas City Civic Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with Felicia Moye, Haysun Kang, Michael Murray, Cheng Hou Lee, James VanDemark and Christopher Taylor. Dr. Seitz plays a 1759 Paolo Testore violin.

Curriculum Vitae

Diana Seitz
Assist. Prof., Strings: Violin
School of Music
Email: diana.seitz@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2125
Phone: (956) 665-5318
Hector Silva

Hector Silva

Lecturer I (OYA), World Music, Sight Singing & Ear Training
(956) 665-2403
hector.silva02@utrgv.edu
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Hector Silva

Hector Silva
Lecturer I (OYA), World Music, Sight Singing & Ear Training
School of Music
Email: hector.silva02@utrgv.edu
ELABS 265
Phone: (956) 665-2403
Shayna Tayloe

Shayna Tayloe

Assist. Prof., Voice and Lyric Diction
shayna.tayloe@utrgv.edu
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Shayna Tayloe

A native of Boca Raton, Florida, soprano Shayna Tayloe’s most recent roles include Lucy in The Billy Goats Gruff and Adele (cover) in Die Fledermaus with Amarillo Opera, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Monica in The Medium, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Marian Paroo in The Music Man, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Flora in The Turn of the Screw, and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. She has recently appeared as a soloist with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra and with the Cornish-American Song Institute (CASI) as a Vocal Fellow. With CASI, she appeared in recital at Oxford University in Oxford, England and was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Regina Coeli in Falmouth, Cornwall. She has appeared as an artist in the Concert Studio at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and was an artist at the Tallis Scholars Summer Institute in Seattle, WA., where she performed under the baton of Peter Phillips. Shayna appears on the 2011 Grammy Nominated recording of Brahms'  Ein Deutsches Requiem as a member of the Professional Choral Institute ensemble, a collaboration with Seraphic Fire.

Dr. Tayloe co-presented the session “Write it Down: An Opera Singers’ Guide to Character Paperwork” at the National Opera Association Texoma Regional convention in September 2019, and presented her research, “Analysis of Fluctuations in Vibrato Rate and Extent Using Affect in Operatic Repertoire” in January 2019 at the National Opera Association Convention Poster Session in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Susan Graham, Barbara Bonney, Silvia McNair, and Sherrill Milnes. Dr. Tayloe received her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Alabama and her Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Graduate Certificate in Opera Studies from Texas Tech University. Dr. Tayloe currently serves as Lecturer of Voice and Lyric Diction at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Curriculum Vitae

Shayna Tayloe
Assist. Prof., Voice and Lyric Diction
School of Music
Email: shayna.tayloe@utrgv.edu
BMSLC 2.228
Diane Taylor

Diane Taylor

Part Time Lecturer, Voice
(956) 882-7768
Diane.Taylor@utrgv.edu
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Diane Taylor

Diane Taylor, described as a “clear, beautifully colored soprano” by the Broad Street Review in Philadelphia and “sweetly endearing” by Music in Cincinnati, is an artist based in Brownsville, Texas. A specialist in collaborative music, Diane has sung with ensembles across the country and in Europe including the Grammy award-winning ensemble, The Crossing, Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble, RedShift, Taylor Festival Choir, Weimar Bach Cantata Academy, Chorosynthesis, Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival, Schola Cincinnati, Dallas Choral Festival, and JSB Ensemble of the International Bachakademie Stuttgart. Diane apprenticed for two summers with Berkshire Choral International and is now soprano faculty. She recently founded, Alium Spiritum, a chamber vocal quartet dedicated to one-on-a-part music and school outreach.

A frequent soloist, Diane has appeared recently with the Warminster Symphony, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Network for New Music, the Northern Kentucky Community Chorus, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Master Chorale. Recent works include Mozart’s Requiem, Honegger’s King David, Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in c minor, and Fasch’s Misssa à 16 voci in Quattro Cori.

She received a Bachelor of Music from Capital University Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music and a Professional Studies Diploma from the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. When not singing, Diane spends her free time tangled up in a knitting project or baking pastries.
Diane Taylor
Part Time Lecturer, Voice
School of Music
Email: Diane.Taylor@utrgv.edu
BMSLC 2.213
Phone: (956) 882-7768
Sean Taylor

Sean Taylor

Assoc. Prof., Voice, Master Chorale
956-882-7724
sean.taylor@utrgv.edu
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Sean Taylor

Dr. Taylor serves as an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies on the Brownsville campus. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, the Master of Music in Conducting from Carnegie Mellon University, where he served as Assistant Conductor to Grammy winner Robert Page, and the Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Westminster College (PA). He is an active teacher, performer, and guest conductor.  In addition to his duties at UTRGV, he sings with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati under the direction of Grammy winner Craig Hella Johnson, serves on the summer faculty of Berkshire Choral International, and is a diction specialist for SingersBabel.com.
While at CCM, he served as assistant conductor of the CCM Chorale and Chamber Choir under Earl Rivers and as music director of the UC Cabaret Singers. An experienced church musician, he has served on the music staffs of Knox Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati and Third Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. In addition to extensive freelance solo work, Sean has performed with the Cincinnati Opera Chorus, the May Festival Chorus, the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus and Mendelssohn Choir in Pittsburgh, for whom he was a Conducting Assistant and member of the Professional Core for 6 years.

Curriculum Vitae

Sean Taylor
Assoc. Prof., Voice, Master Chorale
School of Music
Email: sean.taylor@utrgv.edu
Brownsville: TACB 1.016
Phone: 956-882-7724
Saul Torres

Saul Torres

Lecturer III, Bands: Wind Ensemble
(956) 665-7490
saul.torres@utrgv.edu
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Saul Torres

Saul Torres, Director of Bands at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, brings to this position nearly 20 years of professional and collegiate experience. Dr. Torres studied saxophone in his formative years before attending UTPA where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. Upon finishing his undergraduate degree, Saul was a successful band director in South Texas. His bands received numerous superior ratings at the University Interscholastic League Marching, Concert, and Sight Reading contests. His affiliations have include the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Band Master’s Association Texas Music Adjudicators Association, The Conductors Guild and The Collage Band Directors National Association. . Saul earned his Master’s degree from Southern Methodist University in conducting where he studied under Dr. Jack Delaney. During these years, Dr. Torres collaborated with composer Christopher Tucker in a recording session for his composition Legends. Saul Torres also assisted Dr. Delaney with the Meadows Wind Ensemble for their performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Austin, Texas. Dr. Torres received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Utah where he studied under Scott Hagen. During his time in Utah, Saul had the honor of conducting the University of Utah Wind Ensemble at the Utah Music Educators Association Conference in St. George, Utah. In addition, Dr. Torres assisted Professor Hagan with their performance at the College Band Directors National Association Regional Conference in Reno, Nevada.
Torres conducts the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Pep Band. He also teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Curriculum Vitae
Saul Torres
Lecturer III, Bands: Wind Ensemble
School of Music
Email: saul.torres@utrgv.edu
EPACB 2113
Phone: (956) 665-7490
Liudmila Varlamova

Liudmila Varlamova

Lecturer III, Piano
956-665-7914
liudmila.varlamova@utrgv.edu
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Liudmila Varlamova

PhD, Pedagogical Sciences, Russian Academy of Education, 1993

MFA, Choral Conducting, Gnesins' State Music and Pedagogical Institute, 1982

BFA, Choral Conducting, Gnessin State Musical College, 1977

Curriculum Vitae

Liudmila Varlamova
Lecturer III, Piano
School of Music
Email: liudmila.varlamova@utrgv.edu
EPACB 1126
Phone: 956-665-7914
Kristina Weimer

Kristina Weimer

Assist. Prof., Music Ed
kristina.weimer@utrgv.edu
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Kristina Weimer

Curriculum Vitae

Kristina Weimer
Assist. Prof., Music Ed
School of Music
Email: kristina.weimer@utrgv.edu

Justin Writer

Justin Writer

Prof., Music Theory/Composition
956-665-2890
justin.writer@utrgv.edu
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Justin Writer

Justin Writer is Associate Professor of Composition and Music Theory at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Writer’s music is performed by professional and university ensembles throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and South America. Among groups that have performed Writer’s works include the October Trio, Crouse Quartet, Levande Musik, Contemporary Ensemble, Konza Winds, Duo Avanzondo, Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Massachusetts), Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir, Wichita State University Wind Ensemble, Emporia State Concert Band, Pittsburg State University Wind Ensemble, University of Texas-Pan American Wind Ensemble, Quintet Oklahoma, and Quartetto Saloma. His music is published by Cimarron Music Press,  Media Press, Fatrock Ink, Echelon Music, and Really Good Music. Fantasia and Five Images From Early Earth can be heard on Duo Avanzando's debut CD.
Awards, honors, and special performances include ASCAPLUS awards (2007-2014), International Trumpet Guild (2015), CMS South Central Chapter (2009), 2012 International Tuba/Euphonium Conference, 2011 International Tuba/Euphonium South Central Regional Conference, 2012 North American Saxophone Alliance, 2012 Chicago Bass Festival, 2010 SCI Region 6 Conference, 2010 and 2011 CMS National Conferences, winner of the Wichita State University Contemporary Music Festival Competition (1999, 2000), winner of Levande Musik’s Live Elevator Project (2008), Voxnovus 60X60 Midwest Minutes Mix (2006), work selected for 2009 Nashville Sound Crawl, work selected for the University of Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival (2007), work selected for the Seventh International Festival of Contemporary Art, Mexico, 2000, Finalist, 1997 BMG National Young Composers Competition, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Kappa Kappa Psi.
Writer received his D.M.A in Composition from the University of Oklahoma, his M.M. in Theory/Composition from Wichita State University, and a B.M.E. from Pittsburg State University (Kansas). Dr. Writer’s principal composition teachers include Marvin Lamb, Walter Mays, Robert Deemer, Katherine Ann Murdock, Evan Hause, and Stephen Andrew Taylor.
Curriculum Vitae
Justin Writer
Prof., Music Theory/Composition
School of Music
Email: justin.writer@utrgv.edu
Edinburg: Performing Arts Complex B2.131
Phone: 956-665-2890
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