Wind Symphony & Symphony Band

About the Artists

Clifton Croomes

Cliff Croomes serves as the Associate Director of Bands and Director of the Longhorn Band at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to this appointment, Croomes was the Assistant Director of Bands at Louisiana State University and the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Baton Rouge. Previous to his appointment the faculty he studied at LSU for his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. Dr. Croomes earned his Bachelor of Music Studies degree from the University of Texas at Austin and is an alumnus of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps from Rosemont, Illinois. He has performed with ensembles throughout the United States, London, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and consulted throughout Japan. Dr. Croomes holds an endorsement with Innovative Percussion Inc. and is a founding board member of the composer diversity initiative “And We Were Heard” as well as a member of the Dr. William P. Foster Project advisory board. Dr. Croomes also holds an honorary membership in Kappa Kappa Psi.

T.j. Anderson

T.j. Anderson (he/him) is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Wind Conducting as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music at Coastal Carolina University, focusing on percussion under the mentorship of Dr. Jesse Willis. T.j. continued his education by pursuing a Master’s Degree in Instrumental Conducting at Appalachian State University. There, he studied primarily with Dr. John Stanley Ross. As a graduate teaching assistant, T.j. made contributions to university bands, teaching conducting, band literature, and band methods courses. He also worked with the Marching Mountaineers as a winds and percussion instructor/arranger and served as Musical Director for the Appalachian Concert Band. In addition to his academic pursuits, T.j. has held leadership roles as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Festive Brass and Assistant Conductor of the Carolina Master Chorale. He is an active member of various professional music and education organizations and has been recognized as an Honorary Brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and a Sigma Alpha Iota Friend of the Arts.

Drew Eary

Drew Eary is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Band Conducting at The University of Texas at Austin studying under Professor Jerry Junkin. Eary holds a Master of Music in Wind Band Conducting from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University where he studied with Dr. Jamie L. Nix and assisted the annual CSU Conductors’ Workshop. He also received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from The University of Arizona. Prior to beginning his MM, Eary was the Director of Bands at Casteel High School (Arizona). Eary has appeared as a guest conductor with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” and was a Conducting Fellow for the H. Robert Reynolds Conducting Institute at the 75th Annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. Eary was also named a finalist for the 2021 American Prize in Conducting. He has presented at the annual Arizona Music Educators’ Association In-Service Conference and was named an ‘Educator to Watch’ by the Arizona Republic newspaper. 

Douglas Henderson

Douglas Henderson serves as Associate Director of Bands at The University of Texas at Austin, where his responsibilities include conducting the Wind Symphony, teaching advanced undergraduate and graduate conducting, and teaching band literature. Prior to joining the UT faculty, Dr. Henderson was an Associate Professor, Associate Director of Bands, and Director of Athletic Bands at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Henderson is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the United States, and he has guest conducted in Austria and Japan. He is a frequent guest conductor of the World Youth Wind Orchestra Project (WYWOP), in Schladming, Austria. Dr. Henderson received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Studies from The University of Texas at Austin, his Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin. From 2003-2006, he was the Associate Director of Bands at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas.

Mike Lebrias

Mike Lebrias is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting at the University of Texas at Austin where he studies with Professor Jerry Junkin and serves as an assistant instructor for the UT Bands. His responsibilities include co-teaching undergraduate conducting, serving as an assistant conductor for the concert bands, and a teaching assistant for the Longhorn Band. An active clinician & guest conductor, Mike has worked with various schools in the Austin and Tampa areas. Mike is also active in the transcription and arrangement realm, where he has transcribed multiple works for winds, most notably Orbital (originally for percussion quartet and orchestra) by New Zealand composer John Psathas - in addition to a large body of arrangement work for collegiate and high school marching bands. Recently, Mike has taken up content creation and maintains a steady presence on social media platforms. He aims to provide educational music and conducting content to his viewers, with hopes to help bring the Wind Band art form into the mainstream.

Kevin Charoensri

Kevin Charoensri (b. 2003) is a Thai-American San Diego native who now resides in Austin, studying music composition (BM) at the University of Texas at Austin.  Charoensri began writing music at age 12, and he has written works for band, orchestra, choir, chamber music, jazz, film scores, and pop music production in Los Angeles. Charoensri currently studies with Omar Thomas, Donald Grantham, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and Russel Podgorsek at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently a junior and a piano principal, being the jazz pianist for the UT Jazz Bands. In September of 2022, Charoensri’s work “Rising Light” was premiered by the University of Texas Wind Symphony under Dr. Ryan Kelly. The piece was well-received and Charoensri’s work has had several performances at major universities. He has also been on several guest composer visits/residencies at schools including, but not limited to, UCLA, Texas Tech University, Texas A&M Commerce, Orange County School of The Arts, Cal State Fullerton, University of Delaware, and the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble.

Symphony Band

Wind Symphony

Upcoming Events

Wind Ensemble 
Sunday, April 14, 4:00 pm  
Bates Recital Hall

Symphony Band 
Wednesday, April 24, 7:30 pm  
Bates Recital Hall

Wind Symphony 
Friday, April 26, 7:30 pm  
Bates Recital Hall