My focus at UTEP since joining the faculty has been mainly on teaching,
collaborating with UTEP faculty in performance projects, designing curriculum and
building programs. While at UTEP i have designed curriculum for two courses: Social
History of Rock and mariachi ensemble. In addition, I have devoted considerable time to
founding, launching and developing the UTEP mariachi program, Mariachi Minero. Finally, I
have spent the past 7 years building the guitar area. The main emphasis has been on
raising the standards of the program and integrating the program into the mainstream
classical music community within the department and local community. 

My studies included private study with Pepe Romero (UCSD) and with a dozen other guitar
virtuosi during my undergraduate and graduate degrees. My teachers instilled in me a
solid foundation of technique and musicianship, which I have shared with my students over
the decades at UCSD, New Mexico State University, the El Paso and Houston area community
colleges, and at the El Paso and Houston Independent School Districts. 

As a performer I have spent a significant amount of time playing chamber music and
contemporary music for guitar. I was a member of SONOR, the contemporary music ensemble
in La Jolla, CA. Today, while active as a solo performer, I have focused my performing
activities around collaborations with faculty. I have presented a wide variety of chamber
music projects from duos to ensembles with as many as 11 members. I believe that through
chamber music, the guitar can be integrated into the mainstream classical music
community. Also, in the past I have collaborated with composers in an effort to advance
the repertoire. Most recently, I collaborated with UTEP faculty composer, Dr. Dominic
Dousa, on 3 projects for guitar. 

My teaching experience includes classical guitar, ensemble coaching, and courses
involving music and culture. As a teacher of guitar I cover a wide range of levels from
beginner classes to high school students wanting to major in music, to undergraduate and
graduate students majoring in music. My ensemble coaching experience includes guitar
ensemble and university mariachi groups. I teach upper level, multidisciplinary courses
dealing with music and culture such as Social History of Rock and Histories and Cultures
of the Guitar. In past years I taught courses in the history of American Popular Music. I
find the subject of music and society to be fascinating, as it informs us about ourselves
and those around us. A comprehensive understanding of music cannot be obtained with an
understanding of the role of music in society and the relationship between music and
self-image. 

When I joined the faculty I was charged with founding a mariachi program. I submitted
proposals for funding, recruited a musical director and students, and launched the
program in 2008. The program has proved to be very successful and is in great demand
within the university and community. Mariachi Los Mineros is comprised of UTEP students
from a variety of disciplines including music, engineering, psychology, education,
biology, and business. The UTEP mariachi program, Mariachi Minero, which has the
enthusiastic support of the administration, is dedicated to giving students the
opportunity to celebrate and express their culture, bringing mariachi music to as many
people as possible, and preserving and advancing the art form of mariachi music. We have
been very successful in achieving our goals. 

My administrative duties include Head of the Guitar Division, Director of the Mariachi
Program, and undergraduate advisor. I manage 2 budgets, administer resources, advise
students on curriculum and carrier choices, and oversee two instructors.

Philosophy of Research

Philosophy of Teaching (2001)

The main objective of my teaching is to empower the student. I would consider myself...