THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE OF LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRESENTS:
University of Texas at San Antonio University Band
Hector Garcia, Ron Ellis, Dr. John Zarco
C O N D U C T O R S
P R O G R A M:
Star Wars
John Williams/arr. Robert Smith
Pirates of the Caribbean Klaus Badelt
Bond… James Bond
Dr. John Zarco, conductor
Various/arr. Stephen Bulla
“Remember Me” from Coco Lopez/arr. Vinson
Prof. Ron Ellis, conductor
Interstellar
Moana
Schindler’s List
Avatar
Disney at the Movies
Hans Zimmer/arr. Nic Zars I
Dr. Nicole Cherry, violin, UTSA Faculty
John Williams Symphonic Soundtrack
Prof. Ron Ellis, conductor
Dr. John Zarco, conductor
Various/arr. Jay Bocook
John Williams/arr. Curnow
Horner/arr. Jay Bocook
Various/arr. John Higgins
John Williams/arr. John Moss
Person n el
(Personnel roster is listed alphabetically to emphasize the important contribution made by each musician)
Fl ut e
Sophia Alaniz
Kayla Crittenden
Brooklyn De La O, picc.
Natalie Llanes
Elizabeth Maclean, picc.
Ariana Thompson
Doubl e Reed
Shantal Almaguer, oboe
Hannah Pais, oboe, English horn
Ryan Fletcher, bassoon
Francis Maille, bassoon
Cl ar i net
Adrian Barrera
Allison Carbajal
Alejandro Garza
Callista Martin
Ethan Mendiola
Michael Rios
Jacob Wall
Tarynn Williams
Gabrielle Gerber, bs cl
Yuna Watanabe, bs. cl.
Saxophone
Devin Brown
Nicholas Gonzales
Skye Granato
Roberto Hernandez
Thomas Nguyen
Seth Perez
Joaquin Robles-Villa, s. sax
David Sosa
Charles Wiseley
Mikayla Garza, t . sax
Isaiah Rodriguez, t. sax
Jada Thomas, t. sax
Manuel Flores, b. sax
Madee Puente-Bonilla, b. sax
Tr umpet
Tristan Beltran
Corey Benedicto
Nathan Bravo
Anastacia Cervantez
Duncan Hawk
Jacqueline Kolada
Joseph Middleton
Joseph Sutton
Hor n
Tanner Balolong
Savannah Brickey
Delaney Cook
Angelica Cordero
Sep Garcia
Andrew Gonzales
Johanna Gutierrez
Abbie Henk
Xavier Huerta
Eloisa Payne
Matthew Stevens
Nicholas Zars
Tr ombone
Hailey Davis
Michael Dominguez
Madysyn Eaves
Malachi England
Jose Filio
Kalen Griffin
Jasmine Lasiter
Todd Lewis
Jakarri Norsworthy
Nathaniel Duarte, bs. Tbn.
Anthony Liu, bs. Tbn.
Euphoni um
Dalton Butler
Jaylynn Gomez
James Mcafee
Angelyca Mejia
Logan O'Neil
Kayla Salinas
Roland Scherer
Tuba
Jonathan Daley
Marc Guillen
Kenyon McCrary, guest
Heriberto Ayma, String Bass, guest
Per cussi on
Matthew Aceves
Trent Fallin
Josh Lauterbach
Natalie Martinez
Delylah Medina
Audrey Ruiz
Daniel Walker
H e c t o r G a r c i a , a native of San Antonio, Texas, is currently Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at UTSA and is the conductor of the UTSA University Band as well as the director of the UTSA Athletic Pep Band.
Hector graduated with a master's degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2023 under the mentorship of Dr. John Zarco and Ron Ellis. While a graduate student at UTSA, Hector performed with the UTSA Wind Symphony and was a teaching assistant for several undergraduate courses including Conducting I & II, Marching Band Techniques, Wind Symphony, and Symphonic Band.
Prior to attending UTSA, Hector taught brass/woodwind beginning band classes, marching band, concert band, and jazz band at the high school and middle school levels for three years. He received a bachelor's degree in music studies from Texas State University in 2017. Hector’s professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association and Kappa Kappa Psi. Some of his hobbies include photography, traveling, and doing card tricks for those around him. Fun fact: his favorite food is sushi wuw
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 have also included conducting the UTSA Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and University Band, in addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, wind literature, and music education.
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. and M.M. degrees from California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Zarco was recognized with distinguished membership as a “Friend of the Arts” by Sigma Alpha Iota and has been awarded honorary memberships in the national organizations of Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma.
In addition to his work at the university level, Dr. Zarco conducted the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio (YOSA) Symphonic Winds during their inaugural 2014-15 season. He has presented at state conferences, including the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention and California All-State Music Education Conference. He served on the Executive Board of the Texas Music Educators Conference and is currently the TMEA Region 29 College Division Chair. Dr. Zarco continues to maintain an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States. His book, Rehearsing the Band, Volume 3 is published by Meredith Music Publications and is distributed by Hal Leonard. wuw
serves as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Prof Ellis is the principal conductor and music director of the UTSA Wind Ensemble, and oversees all activities of the UTSA Band Program that includes the UTSA Symphonic Band, The UTSA University Band, and the UTSA Athletic Bands.
A nationally recognized guest conductor, adjudicator, and composer/arranger, his works for concert band, orchestra and choir are performed by university, community, High School and professional wind bands as well as in Carnegie Hall. He also currently serves as a Music Director for Walt Disney Attractions Entertainment in Orlando where he has directed the Toy Soldiers and the Student Musician Program since 1993
He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity. He is also an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma.
Prof Ellis received his Bachelor of Arts in Trombone Performance from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Music in Wind and Orchestral Conducting from the University of South Florida where he was a conducting student of William Wiedrich.
Dr. Nicole Cherry is Assistant Professor of Violin at The University of Texas at San Antonio and second violinist of the award-winning Marian Anderson String Quartet. Based in Texas for over twenty years, Dr. Cherry is a dedicated teacher and has held artist-teacher residencies at Texas A&M, Prairie View A&M, University of Washington, and Brown University where she has trained promising string players of all ages. Dr. Cherry received her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School with training that has exposed her to the teaching and mentorship of the world’s most distinguished artists such as members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Emerson, Colorado and the Takács String Quartet; as well as esteemed violinists including Isidore Cohen, Erick Friedman, Joseph Fuchs, Felix Galimir, and Jaap Schroeder. She has performed in ensembles conducted by Pierre Boulez, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, and as concertmaster under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich. Dr. Cherry received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Maryland and completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Texas Tech University where she served as the first violinist of the graduate string quartet. Dr. Cherry has also received graduate fellowships from the Peabody Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Dr. Cherry has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in such venues as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Hall, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She has performed in Europe, the Middle East and Asia including a tour as a featured soloist in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and South Africa. During this tour, Dr. Cherry had the honor
of performing before the Queen Noor of Jordan and sharing music with underdeveloped townships in Johannesburg during Apartheid. Comfortable in various styles of music, Dr. Cherry has shared the stage with a diverse list of artists such as members of presti gious chamber ensembles; the International Contemporary Ensemble, the San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, the American Chamber Players, the Colorado, Pacifica, Audubon, Penderecki and Cleveland Quartets as well great jazz pianist Stanley Cowell, gospel music icon, Richard Smallwood, and the late Whitney Houston.
Dr. Cherry has made several radio and television appearances with solo performances at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals including the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, and the Pablo Casals Festival. Dr. Cherry has also presented and p erformed at the Hawaii International Conference on the Arts, Texas Music Educators Association Conference, American String Teacher’s Association Conference, Chamber Music America Conference, Hot Springs Music Festival, American Festival of the Arts, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Dr. Cherry serves on the Texas ASTA Board and beginning summer 2021, Dr. Cherry joins the faculty of Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.
As a member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, artistic endeavors have brought them to venues such as New York City’s Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, the Ravinia Festival, the Fischoff Chamber Music Foundation, Washington DC area’s Strathmore Hall, the Smithsonian Institute as well as a recent TEDx Talk hosted by Blinn College, in Bryan, Texas. From 2006-2016, Dr. Cherry served as President of the Marian Anderson String Quartet Community Music School, Inc. and Artistic Director of the Marian Anderson String Quartet Summer Chamber Music Institute in its Bryan-College Station and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands location. In recognition of committed music outreach with the quartet, Dr. Cherry garnered two Mayoral Proclamations, Chamber Music America’s Guarneri String Quartet Award, the Congress of Racial Equality’s MLK JR. Award for Outstanding Arts Achievement, as well as a $200,000 grant to tour the US from the Texaco Foundation, partnered with Da Camera of Houston.
A champion of new music, Dr. Cherry has commissioned several works including companion pieces based on her research of nineteenth-century Afro-European violinist, George Bridgetower (The ForgewithGeorge Music Project - 2033). Commissions include Berklee College composer, David Wallace’s 2017 work, “The Bridgetower” for speaking, singing, solo violinist, which incorporates the text of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove’s book, “Sonata Mulattica.” Dr. Cherry has since premiered the work all over the US, and Canada with scheduled dates in Europe. Subsequent commissions include composers, Jessie Cox, Yvette Janine Jackson, Philip Wharton, and Grammy-nominated composer, D. J. Sparr. Upcoming projects include a recording of these new works with Albany Records and a major publication of Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 47 with the inclusion of George Bridgetower’s original performance embellishments and his original compositions.
Dr. Cherry’s doctoral research on the nineteenth-century Afro-European violin virtuoso, George Bridgetower, which explores historical socio-cultural theories in string music, led to a featured performance at the President’s Lecture Series opening for renowned orator, Michael Eric Dyson followed by featured interview segments on Lubbock, Texas' NPR Station, KTTZ and PBS TV. Dr. Cherry is also the recipient of Texas Tech University’s Paul Whitfield Horn Award and the President’s Excellence in Diversity and Equity Award. The Juilliard School profiled Dr. Cherry in the Juilliard Journal’s 100th-anniversary issue, “A Quiet Revolution: Juilliard Alumni and the Transformation of Education in America Through the Arts.
Special thanks to the following for their ongoing support and dedication to the UTSA Bands:
Dr. Tracy Cowden, Director, School of Music
Dr. Stacey Davis, Acting Director, School of Music
Dr. Kasandra Keeling, Associate Director, School of Music
Prof. Ron Ellis, Director of Bands
Dr. John Zarco, Director of Instrumental Ensembles
Naomy Ybarra, Administrative Services Officer 1
Steven Hill, Administrative Associate
Wesley Penix, Senior Events Manager
Rolando Ramon, Marketing Coordinator
Mr. Donald Marchand, Music Program Specialist, UTSA Bands
Prof. Sherry Rubins and Prof. Paul Millette, Percussion Area Faculty
Dr. Rachel Woolf and Dr. Oswaldo Zapata, Woodwind and Brass Area Coordinators
Prof. Troy Peters, Director of Orchestras
Dr. Yoojin Muhn, Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Jordan Boyd, Assistant Director of Choral Activities
UTSA School of Music Faculty
Jordan Rodriguez and Jared Worman, School of Music Librarians
UTSA Band Managers
Upcoming Events
All events are in the UTSA Recital Hall and are free admission
Monday, April 15, 2024 – UTSA Symphonic Band
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 – UTSA Wind Symphony
Follow UTSA School of Music on social media
Website: colfa.utsa.edu/music/ Facebook: UTSA School of Music
Instagram: @UTSAmusic
Twitter: @UTSAmusic
