ARTIST ADVISORS
Eric Allen, Artistic Director and Conductor
Serving as Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Lubbock Chamber Orchestra, Eric Allen has led the ensemble through stimulating performances of a variety of repertoire including symphony masterworks, as well as collaborative solo works with incredible local artists.
Allen also serves as Associate Professor of Music and Associate Director of Bands at Texas Tech University. His responsibilities include serving as conductor of the Symphonic Band, teaching undergraduate conducting and assisting with the direction of the Goin’Band from Raiderland. He also teaches music education courses within the summer masters program. Allen recently led the inaugural performance of NOW, the New/Contemporary Music Ensemble. Under his direction, the Texas Tech University Symphonic Band has performed a diverse series of concerts including many collaborative performances with faculty solo artists. The ensemble was selected by jury to perform at the 2016 CBDNA Southwestern Biennial Conference in Boulder, Colorado and the 2020 conference
in Norman, Oklahoma. Allen's recent work with conductors includes presentations at the Texas Music Educators Association Conference, Colorado Music Educators Association Conference, and the Florida Music Educators Association Conference, and Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. He has also been a featured clinician at the Conducting Symposium at Puebla State Conservatory in Puebla, Mexico.
Prior to his work in Lubbock, Allen served as Director of Bands at Sebastian River High School in Florida where his ensembles performed at the National Band Association Conference, the FMEA President's Concert, the National Concert Band Festival and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.
Allen frequently serves as a guest clinician in secondary schools throughout the region. He holds Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from Florida State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Allen is an active member of the Texas Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors National Association and the Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Mu. He holds honorary memberships with Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. He is the recipient of four Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association and was named Outstanding Faculty by the Texas Tech Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha.
Annie Chalex- Boyle, Concertmaster
Internationally recognized violinist Annie Chalex Boyle has had a wide-ranging career as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, and teacher. Her playing has been hailed by critics as “brilliant” (Kalamazoo Gazette),“eloquent and poignant” (The San Antonio Express Journal), and “has a commanding musical impersonation...inIves’ Second String Quartet” (Los Angeles Times). Equally comfortable with classical and contemporary works, Ms. Chalex Boyle has performed numerous new works composed for her as well as commissioned for the Harrington String Quartet. Ms. Chalex Boyle has won prizes at the Seventeen Magazine/General Motors National Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and was a finalist in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Stulberg International String Competition. She was also the Grand Prize Winner of the Junior Division of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
As a soloist, Ms. Chalex Boyle has performed recitals and been concerto soloist throughout North and South America. As first violinist of the Harrington String Quartet, the group toured extensively nationally and internationally, including a performance at Carnegie’s Weill Hall and on the roster of Mid-America Arts Alliance.The quartet was featured in the PBS television documentary entitled “A Sound Collaboration-The Harrington String Quartet” and released an Albany Recording of the complete string quartets of Daniel McCarthy. The Harrington Quartet performed with guest artists David Shifrin, Robert Levin, James Dunham, Arthur Rowe, Pepe Romero, James Dick, and members of the Pro Arte, Miro, and Cavani Quartets. She is formerly a member of the Southwest String Quartet, the quartet in residence with the Southwest Chamber Music Society, in Los Angeles. During her tenure, she worked with many contemporary composers including Elliot Carter, Oliver Knussen, and Stephen Hartke. Ms. Chalex Boyle has also been a member of the groups XTET and Pentacle, both contemporary music ensembles.
Orchestral engagements include performances as Concertmaster with the Amarillo, Lubbock, Wichita, Interlochen Faculty Orchestra, Lakeridge Chamber Orchestra, Amarillo Virtuosi, and Hot Springs Music Festival Orchestras. She has performed with a variety of ensembles throughout Asia and Europe. Ms. Chalex Boyle has also performed with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, American Sinfonietta, and Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. She has been heard frequently on NPR’s “Performance Today” with various chamber music ensembles and chamber orchestras.
Before moving to Lubbock, she taught violin at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and was also a chamber music coach for the Chicago Symphony Youth Orchestra. In the summer, Ms. Chalex Boyle is a frequently requested teacher and has been on the faculties at Midwest Young Artists Chamber Music Program in Wisconsin, the Austin Chamber Music Center in Texas, the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. She has performed at numerous festivals including the Fontana Chamber Arts Festival in Michigan, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Wintergreen Festival in Virginia, the Bellingham Festival of Music in Washington, Chamber Music at the Barn in Kansas, and the Festival-Institute at Roundtop in Texas. In 2016, Ms. Chalex Boyle founded the Lake City String Academy (in Colorado), a festival for collegiate aged violinists now celebrating its fifth season in 2020. She will also be teaching at the Orfeo Music Festival in Italy and the Hot Springs MusicFestival in Arkansas.
Born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Ms. Chalex Boyle began violin in the Music for Youth Suzuki Program with Donna Cook. At the Music Center of the North Shore (now the Chicago Music Institute) she continued her work with Almita and Roland Vamos. She also attended the University of Southern California studying with Robert Lipsett, and worked with Robert Mann and Felix Galimir at The Juilliard School. Ms. Chalex Boyle performs on a1652 Andrea Guarneri. She is currently an Associate Professor of Violin at Texas Tech University. For further information, visit anniechalexboyle.net
Lisa Garner Santa, Principal Flute
Lisa Garner Santa currently serves as principal flutist with Lubbock Chamber Orchestra and is Artist-Performer and Professor of Flute at Texas Tech University where she enjoys a diverse career as teacher, recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician. Garner Santa's playing has been described as "the kind of tone I prefer-rich, colorful, perfectly in control, and always in tune. Her phrasing is all well-shaped and thoughtful...a truly remarkable artist with dazzling musical ability." (American Record Guide)
Lisa Garner Santa's versatile programming ranges from the elegant Baroque music of Bach to the jazz-inspired writings of Mike Mower. Her passion for contemporary flute repertoire was sparked over a decade ago by the early flute works of Lowell Liebermann, which was the topic of her dissertation. Since then, she has supported the effort to expand and promote new music by performing and commissioning works from young as well as established composers including Warner Hutchison, Matthew Santa, Mike Mower, JoelPuckett, Derek Bermel, Roger Zare, and Peter Fischer.
As a pedagogue, Lisa Garner Santa presents master classes throughout the United States and abroad. International exchanges include master classes at the Royal College of Music in London, England and Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, as well as Peking University in Beijing, China. Most recently she has presented and performed in symposiums in Naolinco (Mexico), San Jose (Costa Rica), and Mendoza (Argentina). Presentations and performances at various regional and national conventions include a 2020 performance as soloist on Joel Puckett's Shadow of Sirius at the Regional CBDNA conference with TTU's Symphonic Band under the direction of Dr. Eric Allen. Her research, pedagogical articles and interviews are published in The Flutist Quarterly, Flute Talk, and The Instrumentalist. She is a recipient of the Texas Tech Big 12 Fellowship, the Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty Award, the President's Excellence in Teaching award, the President's Excellence in Diversity and Equity Award and was recognized in 2020 as an TTU Integrated Scholar. She has also served as an Executive Council member of Texas Tech University’s prestigious Teaching Academy, as a TTU Service Learning Faculty Fellow, and is a graduate of TTU's Institute for Inclusive Excellence.
As an active member of the National Flute Association, Dr. Garner Santa has been a featured performer at the numerous conventions. She has served as adjudicator and/or coordinator for many NFA events and competitions including the High School Soloist Competition, the NFA Newly Published Music Competition, the NFA Professional Flute Choir Competition, as the General Competitions Coordinator, and as NFA Convention Associate Program Chair for the 2002 convention. She served the NFA as Program Chair for the 2011 convention held in Charlotte, NC followed by two years on the NFA Executive Committee. Currently she serves on the NFA Performance Health Care and Archives and Oral History Committees.
With co-authors Matthew Santa and Thomas Hughes, Lisa Garner Santa developed the Flute/Theory Workout, a method that efficiently introduces full-range scalar and chordal flute technique while introducing music theory fundamentals at the same time. The Workout, which comes with an entertaining accompaniment CD, is available through Carolyn Nussbaum Music Co., and Flute World. You can also find all-level tutorials online through MusicProfessor.com or Udemy. Dr. Garner Santa holds performance degrees from West Texas State University, Florida State University, and The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Her teachers to whom she is eternally grateful include Carol Wincenc, Charles DeLaney, Sally Turk, and Helen Blackburn.
Wonkyung Kim- Sills, Principal Keyboardist
Wonkyung Kim- Sills has been an active concert pianist both as a soloist and collaborator in the Lubbock area since she graduated from Texas Tech University with a Doctor of Musical Arts in 2012.
Kim-Sills’s solo repertoire covers a wide variety of styles from J.S. Bach and D. Scarlatti to more modern composers such as Carl Vine and Benjamin Lees. She has presented as a solo pianist at the Tuesday Musical Club’s Young Artists Competition in San Antonio, where she was honorable mentioned, the National Artists Competition in Midland, and the Young Texas Artist Competition in Conroe. She was also the winner of the concerto competition at Texas Tech University School of Music and performed with the TTU Symphonic Orchestra. Later, she performed as a featured soloist with LakeRidge Chamber Orchestra where she served as the principal keyboardist.
As an avid collaborative pianist, Dr. Kim-Sills has performed in numerous degree recitals for vocalists, strings, percussion, wind, and brass instruments and also been a member of larger ensembles such as Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and Matador Singers at TTU, and Lubbock Symphony Orchestra as a guest principal keyboardist. Her sensitivity and musical flexibility brought her opportunities to work as a staff accompanist for TTU School of Music, Wayland Baptist University School of Music, West Texas Children’s Chorus, and numerous bands and choirs at local public schools.
Wonkyung Kim-Sills holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Busan National University in South Korea and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. She works at LakeRidge United Methodist Church as the Associate Director of Music, plays as the principal keyboardist for Lubbock Chamber Orchestra, and lives with her husband Josh and three little furry kids.
Andrew Stetson, Principal Trumpet
Dr. Andrew Stetson maintains a versatile career as a performing artist, clinician, educator, and scholar. As an orchestral musician, he serves as principal trumpet with the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra, and has performed with the Alabama Symphony, Albany Symphony (NY), Boston Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, and Steamboat Springs Symphony Orchestras. In addition to performances with the Texas Tech Faculty Brass Quintet, Dr. Stetson has performed with Music Society and as part of the Monadnock Music Festival. As a soloist, Dr. Stetson presents numerous recitals throughout the United States and has appeared as a featured soloist with the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra, Texas Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and Texas Tech Symphonic Band. Prior to his appointment at Texas Tech, he placed in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition and performed in the live rounds of the National Trumpet Competition.
Winner of the 2016 Hemphill-Wells New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, a university-wide honor at Texas Tech University, Dr. Stetson continues to serve as a committed and diligent educator. Students of Dr. Stetson have performed in both solo and ensemble rounds of the National Trumpet Competition, performed as a finalist in the Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Solo Competition, won positions with full-time military ensembles, and gained entry into top graduate programs. In 2017 and 2018 his entire applied studio was invited to compete in various ensembles as part of the live invite-only rounds of the National Trumpet Competition.
As a clinician, Dr. Stetson has presented at numerous high schools throughout the country and at large educational conferences such as the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic and Convention and the Florida Music Educators Association Convention.
Stetson received the Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, the Master of Music degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University. His principal studies have been with Charles Schlueter, Eric Berlin,Terry Everson, and Thomas Siders.
Dr. Stetson is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
Check out Dr. Stetson's website at: www.andrewstetson.com
Follow Dr. Stetson's studio on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TexasTechTrumpets