University of Texas at San Antonio Symphonic Band
Music Performance (Bakersfield, CA)
Joaquin Carcamo
Music Performance (Houston, TX)
Marissa Knopf
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Kylie Nix
Music Education (Bastrop, TX)
Fernanda Veloz
Music Education (Laredo, TX)
Oboe
Makayla Aguilar
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Bas s oon
Leondro Mari Hernandez
Music Education (Brenham, TX)
Cl ar i net
Jaden Hernandez
Music Composition (San Antonio, TX)
Christian Kolodziej
Music Performance (Kousciusko, TX)
Victoria Morales
Music Education (El Paso, TX)
Bernardo Rios
Music Education (Helotes, TX)
Michael Summers
Music Education (Belton, TX)
Angela Tavira
Music Education (Eagle Pass, TX)
Johnathan Valles
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Bas s Cl ar i n e t
Jose Gomez
Film and Media (Lytle, TX)
Al t o Sax ophone
Bryson Vincent
Music Education (Georgetown, TX)
Brianna Castilla
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Tenor Sax ophone
Parker Murray
Music Education (Georgetown, TX)
Bar i t on e S a x oph on e
Rachel Blakeney
Music Education (Harker Heights, TX)
Hor n
Delaney Cook
Music (San Antonio, TX)
Myrna Ramirez
Music Education (Lufkin, TX)
Walter Scogin
Music Composition (San Antonio, TX)
Tr umpet
Kenedy Cardenas
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Joshua Enciso-Rodriguez
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Madeline Garcia
Music Education (Midland, TX)
Connor Harper
Music Education (Cibolo, TX)
Kaleb Mulcahy
Music Marketing (Schertz, TX)
Samuel Quezada
Music Education (El Paso, TX)
Daniel Vazquez
Music Education (Los Angeles, CA)
Tr ombone
Caleb Davis
Music Education (Mico, TX)
Mathew Kuttner
Computer Science (San Antonio, TX)
Todd Lewis
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Ba s s T r ombon e
Jay Gomez
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Euphoni um
Andrew Kiraly
Music Composition (Round Rock, TX)
James McAfee
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Manuel Reyes
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Tuba
Jonathan Chien
Biochemistry (Austin, TX)
Hunter Johnston
Music Performance (Danbury, TX)
Josh Sprinkle
Music Education (Stockton, CA)
Per c us s i on
Aleena Bermudez
Music Education (Poteet, TX)
Tori Bravo
Music Performance (San Antonio, TX)
Arturo Cerna
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Trent Fallin
Music Marketing (San Antonio, TX)
Xavier Ortiz
Music Performance (San Antonio, TX)
Addy Puente
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Tony Rios
Music Education (San Antonio, TX)
Pi ano
Ethan Aguilar
Music Composition (Helotes, TX)
As s i s t i ng Mus i c i ans
Jose Hernandez, oboe
Jaime Viejo, bassoon
Ethan Aguilar, bass clarinet
Andrew Ramirez, horn
Nathan Sharplin, harp
Leonardo Huerta, double bass
Ban d S t a f f
Eva Ayala, music librarian
Jared Worman, music librarian
Makayla Aguilar, manager
Jonathan Chien, manager
Andrew Kiraly, manager
Walter Scogin, manager
Roster is listed alphabetically to emphasize the important contribution made by each musician.
J o h n Z a r c o is Director of Instrumental Ensembles and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, ensemble repertoire, and rehearsal techniques, in addition to conducting the UTSA Symphonic Band.
Prior to his appointment at UTSA, Dr. Zarco served as Director of Bands at Millersville University in Pennsylvania and as a public school instrumental music teacher at Saratoga High School, in Saratoga, California. He received a D.M.A. in conducting from the University of Minnesota as well as B.M. (music education) and M.M. (conducting) degrees from California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Zarco has been awarded honorary memberships in the national organizations of Pi Kappa Lambda, Sigma Alpha Iota, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. His book, Rehearsing the Band, Volume 3 is published by Meredith Music Publications and is distributed by Hal Leonard.
Dr. Tracy Cowden, Director, School of Music
Dr. Stacey Davis, Associate Director, School of Music
Dr. Kasandra Keeling, Associate Director, School of Music
Naomy Ybarra, Administrative Services Officer 1
Steven Hill, Administrative Associate
Jared Davis, Senior Events Manager
Joey Berrios, Marketing Coordinator
Rico Gomez, Music Program Specialist, UTSA Bands
Prof. Ron Ellis, Director of Bands
Prof. Hector Garcia, Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
Prof. Sherry Rubins and Prof. Paul Millette, Percussion Area Faculty
Dr. Rachel Woolf and Dr. Oswaldo Zapata, Woodwind and Brass Area Coordinators
Prof. Asieh Mahyar, Director of Orchestras
Dr. Yoojin Muhn, Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Jordan Boyd, Assistant Director of Choral Activities UTSA School of Music Faculty
Eva Ayala and Jared Worman, School of Music Librarians UTSA Bands Managers
Compiled and Edited by John
Zarco
Larry Tuttle writes iconic and optimistic music that is driven by 21st century rhythms and sensibilities, while being rooted with the power of archetypal musical elements. Trained extensively in double bass and piano from an early age, Tuttle’s youth was saturated with both orchestral music and private instrumental study. He absorbed the orchestral repertoire from the bass sections of youth symphonies, all-city orchestras, school orchestras, and music camps (including the National Music Camp in Interlochen, where he played principal bass in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra). His collegiate studies were taken at the University of Washington. Among Tuttle’s bass mentors were Ron Simon, James Harnett, Ring Warner, Oscar Zimmerman and jazz legend Gary Peacock, who opened Tuttle’s ears and mind with a revelatory course in ear–training. After a long and productive journey through the world of rock and pop music and a stint as a recording artist on Warner Brothers Records, Tuttle eventually became one of the world’s foremost composers and performers of music for the Chapman Stick, a hybrid tapping instrument that combines qualities of the electric guitar, bass and piano. Tuttle is a composing and performing member of CELA (Composers Ensemble of Los Angeles). CELA is a twelvemember composer’s collective dedicated to developing and promoting new music.
Of his composition, D y n a m o , Tuttle states:
Dynamo was written on a commission from the University of Michigan Symphony Band and its director, Jason Fettig. It was to be a surprise 90th birthday tribute to H. Robert Reynolds, their director emeritus, who conducted the band for nearly thirty years. As soon as I got the call, I knew what I wanted to write. Something hot. Bob Reynolds introduced me to the world of wind ensemble and concert band in 2017 when he commissioned Across the Divide. The first time he conducted that piece, he cranked up the tempo by fifteen or twenty clicks and delivered a highvoltage, high-energy interpretation that I never saw coming. So I wanted my tribute to Bob to reflect that side of him – fast, energetic and fun.
Dynamo is driven by the timpani, playing a simple repetitive and forward-leaning figure that pushes the whole band from underneath. Xylophone and flute hit a ridiculous little riff right before the main themes hit, just to establish a tiny little bit of quirk, a slight smile. The main theme is a set of broad and powerful chords that floats over the top of the driving rhythm. Both the chords and the rhythm grow, getting more and more intense (quickly – the commission called for a total duration of less than three minutes), before hitting the B section, which is a musical portrait of the engine - the dynamo – featuring an angular bassline, rock toms and some ascending industrial cluster chords.
The whole thing resolves to a gigantic, majestic brass chorale – a nod to the traditional wind orchestra and Bob Reynolds’ long and storied career in that genre. After the chorale plays a couple of times, the timpani sneaks back in and re-establishes the driving feel as the piece grows quickly to its final coda.
Happy birthday, Bob. Cheers and thank you for your life in music.
[Program note from the composer]
Jonathan Newman composes music rich with rhythmic drive and intricate sophistication, creating broadly colored musical works that incorporate styles of pop, blues, jazz, folk, and funk into otherwise classical models. Trained as a pianist, trombonist, and singer, his work is informed by an upbringing performing in orchestras, singing in jazz choirs, playing in marching bands, and accompanying himself in talent shows. From opera to bubblegum pop, Newman delivers a new perspective on American concert music. The 2025 Grammy Award-nominated album Bespoke Songs features his recent chamber music song cycle setting texts in six languages by woman poets spanning two millennia. In 2016, he was appointed Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras Composer-in-Residence; CYSO’s 2011 commission Blow It Up, Start Again has been performed by orchestras worldwide, including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the Brussels Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2015 BBC Proms. Newman holds degrees from Boston University’s School for the Arts and The Juilliard School, where he studied with composers John Corigliano and David Del Tredici. He and his spouse, the conductor Nadège Foofat, reside with their children in Virginia, where he serves as Director of Composition and Coordinator of New Music at Shenandoah Conservatory.
Newman includes the following program note for A v e n u e X :
Avenue X derives its title from my neighborhood subway line, and its labeled final destination: “Ave X”. As I reside on Avenue C (and the highest letter in Manhattan itself is D), this always seemed a fantastic and otherworldly location to me. Turns out it’s in a pretty trippy place anyway: Brooklyn’s Coney Island home of an ancient and creaking wooden roller coaster (frightening only because of the fear of the entire structure collapsing at any moment), the country’s last existing “side show”, and of course (my favorite), the Nathan’s Famous annual hot-dog eating contest. The piece is a journey there of sorts … via a pentatonic blues progression and driving bass power chords more appropriate to a metal “hair” rock band chart-topper, AVENUE X takes a convoluted path of dreams, subways, roller coasters, freak shows, and edge-of-the-world fantasies.
[Program note from the composer]
Described as “elegant, beautiful, sophisticated, intense, and crystal clear in emotional intent,” the music of Omar Thomas continues to move listeners everywhere. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York, Thomas moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master of Music degree in jazz composition at the New England Conservatory of Music. He is the protégé of Ken Schaphorst and Frank Carlberg, and has studied under Maria Schneider. Thomas’ music has been performed in concert halls across the country. He has been commissioned to create works in both jazz and classical styles. His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Men's Choruses, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Thomas was awarded the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award in 2008 and was named Boston Music Award’s “Jazz Artist of the Year” in 2012. In 2019, Thomas won the National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award for his composition, Come Sunday. Thomas currently teaches in the composition area at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, he taught harmony and music education at the Berklee School of Music. Thomas was nominated for the Distinguished Faculty Award after only three years at Berklee, and was a three-time recipient of the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard University, where he served
as a teaching fellow. In 2024, he was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.
Of his piece, O f O u r N e w D a y B e g u n , Thomas writes:
Of Our New Day Begun was written to honor nine beautiful souls who lost their lives to a callous act of hatred and domestic terrorism on the evening of June 17, 2015, while worshipping in their beloved sanctuary, the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (affectionately referred to as “Mother Emanuel”) in Charleston, South Carolina. My greatest challenge in creating this work was walking the line between reverence for the victims and their families, and honoring my strong, bitter feelings towards both the perpetrator and the segments of our society that continue to create people like him. I realized that the most powerful musical expression I could offer incorporated elements from both sides of that line - embracing my pain and anger while being moved by the displays of grace and forgiveness demonstrated by the victims’ families.
Historically, black Americans have, in great number, turned to the church to find refuge and grounding in the most trying of times. Thus, the musical themes and ideas for Of Our New Day Begun are rooted in the Black American church tradition. The piece is anchored by James and John Johnson’s time-honored song, Lift Every Voice and Sing (known endearingly as the “Negro National Anthem”), and peppered with blues harmonies and melodies. Singing, stomping, and clapping are also prominent features of this work, as they have always been a mainstay of black music traditions, and the inclusion of the tambourine in these sections is a direct nod to black worship services.
This work was commissioned by a consortium led by Dr. Gary Schallert and Dr. Jeff Bright of Western Kentucky University to honor the nine victims and families of the terrorist attack on Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church. This work received its premiere on February 20, 2016, at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Conference, held at The Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Members of the Mother Emanuel AME congregation were in attendance.
[Program note from windrep.org and the composer]
wuw
Richard Strauss was a German composer of the late 19th/early 20th centuries and son of Franz Strauss, a famed horn player and member of the Court Opera Orchestra in Munich. His father taught him about music from a very early age. Richard was composing at the age of six, and his first symphony composition was performed when he was only 17! When Strauss was 21, he became the conductor of the Meiningen Orchestra and later became the junior conductor at the Munich Opera. As Strauss entered his mid-20’s he began exploring a new type of composition called a “tone poem” – a piece of music that is meant to tell a specific story with instrumental sections of the orchestra representing certain characters. It was tone poems such as Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks) that allowed him to be recognized in Germany as a leading and modern composer. Strauss had a very good sense of humor and would often include himself in the stories that he wanted his tone poems to tell. Strauss also wrote opera and continued to conduct. Many of his operas had controversial subjects or characters, always causing great discussion when they were performed for the public.
During World War II, Strauss struggled with being German and working for the State Music Bureau of Germany when he disagreed with the Nazis and their ideas and actions. Eventually, Strauss and his family would move to Switzerland to live out the last years of the war He passed peacefully at home in 1949, not long after the war ended.
A l l e r s e e l e n was written by Strauss as part of a collection of eight lieder in 1885 when he was just 21 years old. Allerseelen, which is translated as “All Souls’ Day” in English, was initially performed by soprano voice and piano. Allerseelen exhibits powerful emotions and intense romanticism. The melody and rich accompaniment make it one of the most well known lieder of Strauss. Allerseelen is set to text by Hermann von Gilm zu Rosenegg (1812-1864).
Place on the table the fragrant mignonettes, Bring the last red asters inside, and let us speak again of love, As once in May.
Give me your hand, so that I may secretly press it; And if someone sees, it’s all the same to me. Just give me one of your sweet glances, As once in May.
Every grave blooms and is fragrant tonight, One day in the year are the dead free, Come to my heart, so that I may have you again, As once in May.
[Program note from the Dallas Symphony and windrep.org] wuw
Dr. Kevin Day is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary composer, jazz pianist and conductor based in Las Vegas, Nevada. A unique voice in the world of classical music, Dr. Day takes inspiration from a broad range of sources, including romanticism, late 20th century music, jazz fusion and gospel. Day is the recipient of numerous awards including the ITEA Harvey Phillips Award for Excellence in Composition, a Copland House Residency Award, the MacDowell Fellowship for Music Composition, the BMI Composer Award, the TCU Alumni Outstanding Young Professional Award, and many more. In addition to his work as a composer, Day also enjoys an active career as a jazz pianist. His music has been featured on numerous high-profile releases, including albums by Thomas Mesa and Michelle Cann, The Alias Chamber Ensemble, Jeremy Wilson, Jarrett McCourt, and Nicki Roman. Day has degrees from Texas Christian University (TCU), the University of Georgia, and the University of Miami. He has studied composition with Dorothy Hindman, Charles Norman Mason, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Emily Koh, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Neil Anderson-Himmelspach. Day is an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, an honorary member of the National Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, and an honorary member of the National Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi.
Of his piece, D a n c i n g F i r e , Day writes:
When I was writing Dancing Fire, I wanted to write a piece for my high school band program and its directors for the great pieces we played, the fun times we had, and the excitement our bands created at our concerts. The picture I had in my head before I began writing was a group of people surrounding a large bonfire during the night. These people began dancing around the fire, having fun, singing songs, and ultimately, celebrating life.
Once I had that picture in my head, along with the constant repeating motif that eventually became the melody for the entire piece, the rest of the work fit together nicely, and in two weeks it was done. The composition brings this mental picture I had to life in a fun and energetic way with dance-like percussion and a constant groove, as well as its contagious melody, a mysterious soprano sax solo, and a climactic ending.
This was written in dedication to the Arlington High School Band Program in Arlington, Texas, and to my former band directors, Michael Hejny, Nathan Burum, and Nathan Hervey.
[Program note from the composer and windrep.org]
