Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
The Baylor Wind Ensemble is the premier wind band of the Baylor University School of Music and has been praised as “one of the flagship programs in the nation.” Performances at previous state and national conferences in the country were characterized as “nothing short of spectacular” and “representing the best in wind band performance.”
Organized in 1972, the Baylor Wind Ensemble is guided by a philosophy that seeks to expose its students and audiences to the highest quality music written or transcribed for wind instruments representing all periods of music history. The repertoire of the ensemble represents selections ranging from music of the Renaissance to world premieres for wind band. In more than four decades of existence, the Baylor Wind Ensemble has appeared numerous times at regional and national conventions of the College Band Directors National Association, American Bandmasters Association, and Texas Music Educators Association. The Wind Ensemble has been featured on numerous recordings, particularly highlighting the music of Steven Stucky and Daron Hagen, and is currently recording another compact disc featuring the music of Scott McAllister.
Graduates from the Wind Ensemble hold distinguished teaching positions at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels. Former members of the ensemble hold positions in orchestras around the world, as well as the leading military bands of the armed services.
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY WIND ENSEMBLE
Conductor's Bio
J. Eric Wilson is in his ninth year as Director of Bands at Baylor University, where he administrates the band program, conducts the Wind Ensemble, and teaches and oversees the undergraduate and graduate conducting curriculum. Additionally, he has supervised student teachers and served as Chair of the Ensemble Division for four years. Dr. Wilson is Past-President of the Big 12 Band Directors Association and President-Elect of the CBDNA Southwestern Division. Recently he was elected into the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity and the American Bandmasters Association, and honored as Outstanding Professor for Tenured Teaching by Baylor University.
Dr. Wilson is in demand as a conducting clinician, adjudicator, and performing artist. As a conductor, he has directed numerous regional honor bands and conducted his own groups at conventions of the Texas Music Educators Association and the College Band Directors National Association. As a saxophonist, Dr. Wilson has performed as orchestral saxophonist, recitalist, and soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, Waco Symphony Orchestra, Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony, and Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra, in addition to over one hundred performances with bands, chamber ensembles, and pianists. He is also a former member of the nationally known saxophone quartet, Resounding Winds, with which he presented more than three hundred concerts, workshops, clinics, seminars, and Arts-in-Education sessions in fifteen states. Dr. Wilson has received awards and honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Meet the Composer, American Composers Forum, Texas Commission on the Arts, Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and Vienna Modern Masters International Recording Competition.
Among Dr. Wilson’s recordings are Heart of the Holidays and Near to the Heart of God, and his writings include “The Dallas Wind Symphony: Documentation of Its History and Artistic Significance.” Prior to joining the Baylor faculty, he served twelve years on the faculty of Abilene Christian University. Dr. Wilson holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (wind band conducting) and a Master of Music degree (saxophone performance) from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Abilene Christian University. Prior to his university appointments, Dr. Wilson taught in the Texas public school system. In addition to his performing opportunities as conductor, clinician, and saxophonist, Dr. Wilson enjoys spending time with his wife, Lynette, and their four children, Blake, Meredith, Luke, and Caleb.
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