GUEST ARTISTS
DR. MEGAN BOUTIN
East Texas A&M Universiy
DR. MATTHEW MIRELES
St. Mary's University
KEITH PACKMAN
Texas Woman's University
Shires Performing Artist
Dr. Megan Boutin is the Assistant Professor of Music in Trombone at East Texas A&M University. She has performed, presented, and adjudicated at conferences and festivals including the International Trombone Festival, American Trombone Workshop, Midwest Clinic, International Women’s Brass Conference, Big 12 Trombone Conference, and the Tourbon Festival (Chile). An active performer and soloist, she is the winner of the 2019 International Women's Brass Conference Tenor Trombone Category II solo division, and has also performed as a guest soloist at the Midwest Clinic. Dr. Boutin has held the position of principal trombone with the Temple Symphony Orchestra, and the Tri-Cities Opera Company Orchestra (Binghamton, NY), and she has performed with ensembles including the Dallas Symphony, Dallas Opera, Dallas Winds, Buffalo Philharmonic, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera, and Boston Brass.
As an educator she has been a featured guest artist for conferences as well as presented masterclasses and performed at universities throughout the United States. She served as a coach to the International Trombone Association’s Quartet Competition 2021 winners, and has had students place as finalists in the International Trombone Association’s annual competitions. An advocate for diversity and inclusion in music, Dr. Boutin is a member of the International Women’s Brass Conference and serves as a mentor with the IWBC mentorship program. She recorded Golden Trees, by Yukiko Nishimura, for the project Winds of Change: 12 Progressive Solos for Trombone from Diversify the Stand, which was published and released in 2022. Dr. Boutin is also a member of the International Trombone Association, serving as an Advisor for the ITA Student Council.
Dr. Boutin holds degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College (B.M., Music Education), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.) and the University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A.). Principal teachers include Dr. Harold Reynolds, Mark Kellogg, Dr. John Marcellus, and Dr. Nathaniel Brickens. She grew up in Brunswick, Maine, and loves returning to the state to visit beaches, hike, and carriage drive with her horse. Dr. Boutin is an S.E. Shires and Greg Black Artist.
Dr. Matthew Mireles is Chair of the Department of Music at St. Mary’s University, while also serving as Director of Bands and Professor of Euphonium and Tuba.
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Internationally recognized as a conductor and performer, Mireles has conducted and performed with groups including the United States Army Field Band: The Tutti World Music Festival Band in Beijing, China: The Military Wind Band of Upper Austria: The World Adult Wind Orchestra Project in Schladming, Austria: the San Antonio Symphony: the Backburner Tuba-Euphonium Collective: and numerous Honor Bands and institutions in the United States.
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As a euphonium soloist, Mireles was the Gold Medal Winner of the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Competition. He also won the Mid-Texas Symphony Young Artist Competition, the University of Alabama Concerto-Aria Competition and the International Tuba Euphonium Conference (ITEC) Chamber Music Competition. His solo album “Prometheus” is released on the Potenza Music record label and includes previously unrecorded works for euphonium with strings, wind ensemble and piano. Mireles has given solo recitals at ITEC, the United States Army Band Tuba Euphonium Workshop, the National Band Director Association convention, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters conventions, and numerous universities and conferences around the country.
Mireles is also the Musical Director and Conductor of the San Antonio Brass Band. The ensemble reached international acclaim as the winner of the North American Brass Band Association 1st Section Championship. Members of the ensemble include the top professional brass performers in the San Antonio area. As an active chamber musician, Mireles plays euphonium with the internationally renowned Boreas Quartet. Their album, “The Serpent’s Kiss,” was the winner of the ITEA Roger Bobo Award for Recording Excellence, which is the highest award for low brass recordings.
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Mireles also teaches one of the most successful euphonium and tuba studios in the country. His students have been previous winners and medalists at the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, ITEC, ITEA Regional Conferences, and have earned prestigious graduate school assistantships and fellowships. He has also taught high school students who have earned All-State honors in Texas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Alabama.
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Mireles earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Music degree from the University of Alabama, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with Teacher Certification from St. Mary’s University. His major teachers have been John Stevens, Demondrae Thurman, Ph.D., Lee Hipp, Scott Teeple and Mark Hetzler.
Keith Packman wears many hats thanks to the tuba: performing with symphony orchestras, teaching public school masterclasses, giving solo recitals, recording over a dozen albums, and numerous other types of musical work . He is grateful to have fulfilled one of his earliest career dreams of being an in-demand musician and educator in north Texas. Now, Keith is using these experiences to bring high levels of artistry to his nationwide performances and teaching positions.
As a performer, Keith has had an active freelance career in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for over a decade. He can regularly be heard performing with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, one of the few professional wind bands in the country, and as principal tuba with both the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra and the McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, he has performed with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Allen Philharmonic, Richardson Symphony, Irving Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony and the musical company Lyric Stage. Also a specialist in chamber music, Keith is a part of two professional tuba-euphonium quartets, fLOW Quartet and Isomer Quartet, that have recorded albums and performed across the United States and Japan. In various competitive settings, Keith has been a prize-winner at multiple prestigious international tuba competitions including those hosted by the International Tuba Euphonium Association and the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival. He can also be heard in the viral video "Down in the River to Pray" with the University of Texas at Austin tuba-euphonium studio, which has surpassed 1.7 million views on YouTube.
As an educator, Keith has taught at all academic levels from pre-middle school to collegiate graduate students. His pedagogical practice revolves around developing a high-level of musicality and the best possible sound quality, all while instilling a strong sense of the students’ individuality. His college students have gone on to start their careers as various types of music educators and his younger students have achieved many accolades including the coveted TMEA All-State status.
Keith is currently on faculty at Texas Woman's University and Collin College teaching applied tuba and euphonium lessons as well as music theory. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas (BM - Performance, BM - Music Theory) and the University of Texas at Austin (MM - Performance). He has had extended tuba studies with Don Little, Charles Villarrubia and Matt Good.
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For a complete curriculum vitae, please visit www.keithpackman.com/cv
HIGH SCHOOL MASTERCLASS CLINICIANS
LOW BRASS FACULTY
BRIAN KAUK
University of Houston
Houston Grand Opera & Ballet, ret.
Brian Kauk (Trombone) became an Affiliate Artist of Trombone at the Moores School of Music in 1995, and was a member of the Moores Faculty Brass Quintet for 13 years. As a student of Allen Barnhill, he earned his B. M. in Applied Music from the University of Houston. He has performed extensively with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, including two international tours and can be heard on various recordings. In addition, he has performed with the Utah, San Antonio, and Jacksonville symphonies, and for numerous summers with the Utah Festival Opera Company and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Mr. Kauk has taught at the Texas Music Festival for many years and, in 2004, led efforts to successfully establish the Al Lube Scholarship Endowment, in honor of his former teacher. After decades of service, he retired as Principal Trombone of both the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet orchestras. While a member of the HGO orchestra, Mr. Kauk participated in NPR broadcasts as well as HGO's commercial CDs of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas and Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men.
PHILLIP FREEMAN
University of Houston
Houston Symphony
Phillip I Freeman joined the Houston Symphony in 2007 after six seasons with the Sarasota Opera. He has also performed with the Dallas Symphony, the Grant Park Music Festival, the Houston Ballet, the Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Sarasota Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Utah Symphony on bass and tenor trombones, euphonium and bass trumpet.
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A graduate of the University of Houston, Freeman received his bachelor’s degree in composition. He went on to study bass trombone at the Manhattan School of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center.
Formerly on faculty at the Shepherd School of Music, he teaches at the Moores School of Music and the Texas Music Festival and has presented masterclasses and recitals at Baylor, McGill, Rice, UH, and UTSA.
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Freeman is a MICHAEL RATH TROMBONES performing artist.
DR. KEVIN FENSKE
University of Houston
Texas Low Brass Academy
Dr. Kevin Fenske is the Professor of Practice in Euphonium at the University of Houston where he teaches undergraduate and graduate applied lessons, as well as brass chamber music at the Moores School of Music. Dr. Fenske serves as the Director and Founder of the Texas Low Brass Academy, a summer music camp and educational series for young low brass musicians centered around the exposure to low brass chamber music, artistic and personal development, and accessible world-class musical instruction.
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As a performer, he has won prizes at various solo and chamber competitions, including the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, International Tuba-Euphonium Conference, The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Tuba-Euphonium Workshop, International Women’s Brass Conference, and the Briggs Chamber Music Competition, among others. He has performed with groups such as the Houston Symphony, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic, and the Akron Symphony Orchestra.
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He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from the University of Houston, a Master of Music degree in euphonium performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan. His primary teachers include Danny Vinson, Charles Villarrubia, and David Zerkel. Dr. Fenske is a Willson performing artist.
MARK BARTON
University of Houston
Houston Grand Opera and Ballet
Mark Barton is currently principal tuba with the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Houston Ballet Orchestra. He has also performed with the Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Waco Symphony, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Barton received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of St. Thomas, a Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education from Baylor University. In recent years he has participated in the production of eight world premiere performances with Houston Grand Opera, the most recent being Andre Previn's A Brief Encounter. Barton is also an active freelance artist and clinician.