Lone Star Wind Orchestra
The Lone Star Wind Orchestra (LSWO) was founded in April 2006 by Robert Clark, Barry Knezek, and Christopher Tucker. The driving force behind forming this performing ensemble was the collective agreement between the founders to build an orchestra from a player’s perspective and be a vital participant in the North Texas arts community. The founders were in agreement that the organization needed to focus on these core values: making the best possible music, giving back to the community, and reaching out to the under-served.
The LSWO performs classical transcriptions, chamber music, and contemporary wind band literature in some of the finest performance halls available, primarily the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Charles W. Eisemann Center, and the Dallas City Performance Hall. The Lone Star Wind Orchestra is proud to nurture musical growth through its guest artists and conductors, and to support the expansion of the wind band repertoire through commissioning new works.
Among the organization’s many achievements, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra has formed the LSWO Youth Winds, a high school honor band; initiated the “Band Rewards” program, which gives local music organizations an opportunity to raise funds for their programs through ticket sales; expanded the organization’s successful “Lone Star Kids” program, providing a concert experience to Title-I music programs; and presented twelve (12) “Music Changing Lives” scholarships to deserving high school seniors. The LSWO has recorded and released two professional CDs, American Tapestry in April 2008 and Converging Cultures in February 2011, which are distributed nationally by the Naxos record label under the Wind Band Classics series. The LSWO has also commissioned new works for wind band by composers Donald Grantham and Cindy McTee. In the summer of 2008, the LSWO appointed Eugene Migliaro Corporon as the organization’s first Music Director and Conductor. The LSWO has performed twice (2008, 2010) at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention in San Antonio, TX, the 2012 Arkansas Bandmasters Association convention in Fort Smith, AR, and the 2012 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, IL.
These accomplishments are in addition to the numerous programs performed for free to community outreach groups and organizations. The LSWO has partnered with outreach organizations such as ARTreach and The Senior Source to provide over 8,000 free performance tickets to the artistically under-served in North Texas.
The Lone Star Wind Orchestra strives to embody “Music Changing Lives” to audiences and as a role model for young students, encouraging the pursuit of music involvement as a life-long passion.
The Lone Star Wind Orchestra partners with its musicians, patrons and audience to provide a world-class musical contribution to the cultural life of the North Texas community with opportunities for artistic growth through creative programming, excellence in performance, community collaboration and educational outreach.
