Carlos Quiroz

Director of Orchestras,
Alamo Heights High School

Carlos Quiroz is in his 7th year of teaching orchestra. Mr. Quiroz has taught in Klein ISD, Aldine ISD and now Alamo Heights ISD in San Antonio Texas. He currently is the head orchestra director at Alamo Heights High School and the strings area supervisor for the district. Mr. Quiroz obtained a Bachelor's degree in Viola Performance and Music Education from The University of Texas at Arlington. At UT Arlington, Mr. Quiroz studied viola under Cathy Forbes and orchestral conducting under Dr. Clifton Evans.

During the summers, he has participated in music festivals of Cactus Pear Music Festival, Colorado College Music Festival, Texas Conducting workshops and Colorado University Boulder conducting workshops with conductors Gary Lewis, Larry Livingston, Jeffrey Grogan and Farkhad Khudyev. Mr. Quiroz has received awards from the Texas Orchestra Directors Association Barbara Eads Scholarship, the Mavericks With Class Academic Achievement Award and the University of Texas at Arlington Music Scholarship Award. 

Mr. Quiroz currently holds memberships in American String Teachers Association, Texas Orchestra Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Mr. Quiroz’s orchestras continuously receive Sweepstakes awards at UIL evaluations by demonstrating a high quality of musicianship. Mr. Quiroz began studying the viola at a young age and continues to play professionally today. He performs in the Brazosport Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of The Hills, the Mid-Texas symphony, various musicals, and other groups within the Houston and San Antonio areas.

Mr. Quiroz has a private viola studio where his students consistently make TMEA region orchestras, Superior ratings at UIL solo contests, participate in Youth orchestras and receive scholarships from college auditions.

Mr. Quiroz’s philosophy is that all students can achieve extraordinary levels of success no matter their backgrounds.

Philippe Chao

Assistant Professor of Viola,
Texas Tech University

Since his 2021 appointment at Texas Tech University as Assistant Professor of Viola, Philippe Chao was twice selected to speak at the nation’s largest music educator’s conference, the TMEA. In addition to being invited as the Pre-college masterclass teacher for the 2023 ASTA National Conference, he was also the recipient of the prestigious RCAA Grant at TTU for a project advocating for the American composer Adolphus Hailstork. Just last year, Chao was featured as the concerto soloist in performances of the Krzysztof Penderecki Concerto with the University Symphony Orchestra and the Joel Puckett Concerto with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. 

He is a longtime member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Grand Teton Music Festival. He is on the faculty for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. 

Mr. Chao has performed on NPR’s Performance Today with Fred Childs and on Broadway in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s musical, Bright Star. His chamber music collaborators have included international artists Robert Koenig, James Buswell, Simone Porter, and Julian Rachlin. He can be heard on the Naxos recording featuring the works of Bernard Hermann.

In addition to transcribing a popular edition of the Bach Suites for viola duet and publishing several first editions of works by Marco Anzoletti, he has works dedicated to him by Sergey Akhunov and Adolphus Hailstork.

Jeffrey Lastrapes

Professor of Cello,
Texas Tech University

Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes is an active soloist, chamber musician, and teacher having performed and taught in Europe, Asia, South America, and in every region of the US. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Midland-Odessa Symphony, the Ibex Chamber Orchestra of New York, the Lower Marion Symphony of Philadelphia, the Festival Orchestra in Vina del Mar, Chile, the National Philharmonic of Honduras, and numerous others. He has also participated in major summer festivals around the world including the Evian Festival in France, Hot Springs Music Festival, Peninsula Music Festival, Bay View, the Bellingham Festival, and the Gregor Piatigorsky Seminar at the University of Southern California.

​Recently, Mr. Lastrapes recorded a video production of the Complete Bach Suites for Solo Cello in Los Angeles, California. The video will be released in Fall of 2019 on free streaming video services. He frequently performs complete versions of the Bach Suites in recitals in the US, Asia, South America, and Europe. His print edition of the Complete Bach Suites is available worldwide through BCMP Ltd and is the culmination of three decades of research, practice and performing.  Mr. Lastrapes holds degrees from The Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School where he studied with Orlando Cole and Harvey Shapiro respectively. He has recorded for New World Records and Centaur Records.

In 2009, Mr. Lastrapes gave his New York Debut at Merkin Hall to critical acclaim.

"An excellent cellist with consummate technical mastery, Lastrapes is a seasoned performer whose strong, outgoing personality lets him shape the music on a big canvas with bold colors and contours."

​~ Edith Eisler New York Concert Review.

​He is currently Professor of Cello at Texas Tech University, is the cofounder of Caerus Ensemble and has been on the faculty of the Interlochen  Arts Camp since 1996. He is also Co-founder and Co-artistic Director of the Montenegro Cello Festival and Course in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Mr. Lastrapes performs on a Francesco Ruggieri cello dated 1684 and a Paul Schuback cello dated 1987.