Legendary Texas Bandmasters

University of Texas

Following a distinguished 33 year teaching career, Professor Paula A. Crider continues to share her passion for meaningful music-making through an active schedule as guest conductor, lecturer, clinician, consultant and adjudicator. She has enjoyed engagements in 47 states, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Taiwan Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

University Interscholastic League (UIL)

In 2014 Floyd retired as State Director of Music at the University of Texas at Austin where he coordinated all facets of secondary school music competition for some 3500 performing organizations throughout the state for 30 years. He now holds the title Texas State Director of Music Emeritus. He also serves as Musical Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphonic Band.

December 16, 1938 – June 2, 1991
Southern Methodist University

Conductor, clinician, and educator beyond compare, Howard Dunn had a giant impact on band music in Texas and around the world. Born on December 16, 1938 in Nashville, Tennessee, Dunn grew up in Dallas and attended Woodrow Wilson High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and his master’s from the University of North Texas.

Texas Music Educators Association

Robert Floyd began his 25 year career in music education in Richardson, Texas after completing his music education degree at Southern Methodist University in 1967. He also holds a B.S. in mathematics from SMU and a MA from West Texas A&M University.

University of Houston

Eddie Green has been dedicated to instrumental pedagogy for over fifty years. He has experience teaching all levels of instrumental ensemble performance, from small school programs, to very large junior and senior high school programs. His university experience includes work at Western Michigan University and the University of Houston. He has many students from these universities who are leading music educators today.

Alice High School

Bryce Taylor has been helping shape band music in Texas since 1951. A World War II veteran, he served as a trumpeter with the U. S. Marine Corps Band, stationed in San Diego and Pearl Harbor. The Edinburg, Texas, native received his college training at the University of North Texas, Pan American University, and Texas A&I, where he graduated summa cum laude, first in his class.

Victoria High School

Although Fred Junkin is most widely recognized for his distinguished 31-year career with the Victoria, Texas, band, his musical accomplishments include work as a musician, arranger, symphony founder, and active participant in professional development for band directors across Texas.

Sam Houston State University

Dr. Ralph Lee Mills began his clarinet career in the fourth grade under Dr. Raymond T. Bynum in the Abilene Texas Public Schools through elementary and high school where he played in both bands and orchestras and graduated in 1940. He continued his education at the University of Texas at Arlington majoring in music and studying from Robert Ernst., clarinetist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for two years before the United States Air Force required his service for the next thirty eight months as a bandsman, mostly in Utah and Colorado”, where he also played with the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra.

West Texas State University
(West Texas A&M)

Gary Garner was born in Dodge City, Kansas, to Frank and Madge Garner on August 14, 1930. When he was seven, the family moved to Eugene, Oregon, where they remained for one year before coming to Texas.

Permian High School

Being recognized for excellence in teaching, leadership, and performance is nothing new for J. R. McEntyre. The west Texas oil patch native has spent only six years of his life outside Odessa; he attended college at Texas Tech, he was in the paratroopers during World War II, and his first teaching job was at San Benito, Texas. His contributions to the musical and cultural life in Odessa are legendary, and he continues to serve that area of Texas as Executive Secretary of Region VI.