To Share Musical Passion
About Me
Table of Contents
Bio: Danny Cruz
Danny Cruz is an active performer and teacher serving the communities of Greater Houston and Baton Rouge. He has spent 11 years developing his skills as an educator including teaching at Zwink Elementary in Klein ISD and maintaining a private oboe and piano studio. He holds a bachelor degree in Oboe Performance and Music Education from The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
Danny maintains an active performing carrier as a freelancer and has performed nine solo recitals across many states including Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania. He has participated in the Texas Music Festival orchestra, and the Banff chamber festival and master class series. He was also invited to the Saarburg International Chamber Music Festival in Germany, the Vianden International Chamber music festival in Luxembourg, and the Aruba Symphony Festival as a guest artist. Most recently he won a spot in the Orchestra of the Americas.
In 2013 he won the Brighton Symphony Orchestra Concerto competition and performed with the orchestra. He also was runner up in the Mid-Texas Symphony concerto competition and the Clear-Lake concerto competition. Danny also enjoys playing and teaching piano, percussion, and guitar. To vary his work he will occasionally tutor Physics, Biology and Physiology, Chemistry and Math.
I put together this website to allow me to talk about myself in the third person, as well as to allow my students and colleagues to have access to the materials that I create including: instructional videos, reeds, materials for oboe pedagogy, as well as arrangements for various ensembles. Please explore the site and enjoy some serious oboe information as well as more light-hearted oboe nerd humor. More of my projects can be found by clicking this link to subscribe to OboeFiles on Youtube.
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Daniel Cruz
Oboe/English Horn
(713-598-7585) DCruz3@u.rochester.edu
Eastman School of Music + University of Texas at Austin
Education
– Bachelor of Music Education and Applied Music 2013
o Oboe studies with Dr. Richard Killmer
o Jazz Oboe studies with Charlie Pillow
– Graduate Work with Johanna Pennington at Louisiana State University 2018
– Master’s Degree with Dr. Andrew Parker at UT-Austin 2022
-Performers Certificate with Nathan Hughes at Lynn Unversity 2024-present
Teaching Experience
– Full Time Music Teacher at Zwink Elementary in Klein ISD
– Student Teaching placement in urban Rochester and rual Canandaigua
– Taught private lessons to children 5-18
– Conducted oboe master classes for students at various highschools in New York, Louisiana and Texas
– Creator of OboeFiles.com providing reeds and lessons to hundreds of students internationally
Competitions
– Clear Lake Concerto competition,
– MidTexas Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, 3rd Place Finalist
– TMEA All State member- 2 years
– Winner and soloist with Brighton Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Competition
Performance Experience
– Experience playing in Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Lake Charles Symphony, Symphony of Southeast Texas, Genesee Symphony Orchestra, St. Mathew’s Concert
Series Orchestra, St. Mary’s Worship Orchestra, New Eastman Outreach
Orchestra
– Solo oboe recitals in State College, PA; Houston, TX; Cypress, TX;
Coppell, TX; Rochester, NY
- Fellow for the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, Aruba Symphony Orchestra and Banff
- Fellow at Prisma Festival in British Columbia
- – Guest Artist for festivals in Luxembourg, Germany, and Colombia Professional Development
– Premiered new works for Oboe and Marimba at DRS conference 2022 as a presenting artist