MEET THE ORCHESTRA

Ernest Múzquiz is a native of Moore, Texas (San Antonio area) and attended Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M–Kingsville), where he received his B.M. in 1970. He received his M.M. from the Eastman School of Music in 1971. Before joining the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in 1974, he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate, the Eastman School’s highest award.

His main percussion teachers were Dr. Joseph L. Bellamah (Texas A&I), John Beck (Eastman), James Dotson (San Antonio Symphony) and Leigh Howard Stevens (virtuoso marimba artist). In 1978, he accepted Maestro Christopher Keene’s invitation to serve as the SSO’s Assistant Conductor (10 years) and director of the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra (16 years), duties that he carried out while maintaining his position as full-time percussionist in the SSO.

As percussionist, Múzquiz has also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony (Previn, Maazel), the Baltimore Symphony (Commissiona, Fleischer), and the Rochester Philharmonic (Zinman). As timpanist, he has performed with the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra in Greensboro, NC (1975), and for a decade with the Skaneateles Festival. He served as percussion instructor at Syracuse University from 1974 to 1994 and also as conductor of the S.U. Summer Orchestra (1980-2000).

He is married to Alice Valentine, who served as Chief Accompanist in the S.U. Drama Department and as accompanist for the Syracuse Children’s Chorus for many years. His daughter, Minerva, currently works for the Kennedy School of Public Policy at Harvard. His three stepsons and their families live in New England.

Múzquiz gives special thanks to several colleagues and teachers who were influential in his career, including Dr. Everett Gates (chair of music education, Eastman); Herbert Flower (former principal percussionist, SSO), Douglas Igelsrud (former principal timpanist, SSO), Dave Mancini (drummer with Doc Severinsen, Maynard Ferguson, Chuck Mangione), John Soroka (former principal percussionist, Pittsburgh Symphony), Gordon Stout (world-renowned marimba artist and composer), Dr. David Russell Williams (professor of theory, Eastman), and former students Michael W. Bull and Laurance Luttinger (now his professional colleagues in The Syracuse Orchestra).