Director of Orchestras

Leonel Garza, violin, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Brownsville (now UTRGV – Brownsville) where he studied Music Education and Violin under Dr. Martha Placeres. From 2012-2013 he served as Concertmaster of the UTB Symphony Orchestra, String Ensemble and Mariachi Escorpión. In 2013 he traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to continue his violin studies at Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia under Professor Olga Fyodorovna Rubalcheko and perform with the St. Petersburg State Philharmonia Orchestra “Klassika” under Conductor Alexander Kantorov.

Mr. Garza has twice been awarded the University of Texas at Brownsville Scholastic Excellence Award in Instrumental Studies and has been awarded as winner of the Instrumental Conducting division of the 6^th Annual UTB Concerto/Aria Competition (2012). In addition, he has had the privilege of being named an apprentice in the Hot Springs Music Festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Lake City String Academy in Lake City, Colorado, and has performed with the Texas Tech University Combined Chamber Orchestra/Choir at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, New York.

He has collaborated with many non-university string education programs across the Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) and West Texas including Brownsville ISD, Brownsville String Musician Artist Retention and Training (BSMART) Orchestra, Harlingen CISD, South Texas College and The University of Texas Pan American (now UTRGV – Edinburg), Lubbock ISD, and the Youth Orchestras of Lubbock (TX). He is a frequent invited guest clinician for string education programs in the Lubbock and Midland-Odessa areas. He has served as a guest lecturer for professional development in undergraduate studies at universities and public schools across Kansas, Ohio and Texas. From 2014-2015 Mr. Garza served as Assistant Orchestral Director teaching secondary orchestra for Mercedes ISD in Mercedes, Texas and continued performing with Mariachi Valle Real.

Mr. Garza graduated with a Master of Music Education degree from Texas Tech University (2017) where he held a Graduate Teaching Assistantship in String Education under Dr. Blair Williams and the Texas Tech University String Project. He also joined the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra (TX) as a section violinist under Maestro David Cho. Mr. Garza most recently graduated with a Master of Music in Performance degree from Texas Tech University (2019) where he studied violin under Professor Annie Chalex Boyle and held a Graduate Teaching Assistantship under former Texas Tech University School of Music Director, Professor Kim Walker.

Mr. Garza is currently the new Director of Orchestras at Coronado High School and the Commander William C. McCool Academy for Lubbock ISD where he teaches String and Symphony Orchestra classes, AP Music Theory, and collaborates with the middle school feeder orchestra directors.