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 Howard Hudiburg is the Director of Orchestral Activities and Associate Professor at Texas State University-San Marcos. He conducts the symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra and string orchestra and teaches instrumental conducting and string education classes. He holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Southwest Texas State University. Mr. Hudiburg studied post-graduate conducting with Victor Yampolsky, Kirk Trevor and Mariusz Smolij at Northwestern University, with Harold Faberman at the Conductors Institute, University of South Carolina at Columbia, and with Pierre Boulez at Carnegie Hall, New York City with the Cleveland Orchestra in residence.
Under his direction, the Southwest Symphony Orchestra performed at the Texas Music Educator's Association/American String Teacher's Association Clinic/Convention in 1993. Under his leadership, the orchestra toured Europe in 1995, performing in Poland, the Czech Republic, and in Austria, and in May 2000 in Scotland and England. The Texas State Symphony Orchestra performed under his direction as the featured university orchestra at the 2005 TMEA Convention. Recently, Maestro Hudiburg led the Texas State Chamber orchestra in performances at the White House in Washington D.C. and on tour in Italy as part of the 2009 American Celebration of Music in Italy. Master classes and clinics include those given at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Texas Music Educators Convention and the Texas Orchestra Director's Convention. Engagements as guest conductor include festival and collegiate orchestras in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin and Hong Kong. As a double bassist and electric bassist, Mr. Hudiburg has performed across the United States and Europe.
For nearly two decades, Professor Hudiburg has enjoyed working with music students and teachers from Texas high schools and junior high schools as clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator. Mr. Hudiburg is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the Texas Music Educator's Association and the College Orchestra Director's Association. He is an ordained and licensed Minister of Music and resides in central Texas with his wife Marianne. His daughters Sarah and Edye are currently students at Texas State.
 Lynn F. Ledbetter, a native of Austin, TX, holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Houston, and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Following nine years as a faculty member at Eastern New Mexico University, she returns to the Austin area to serve on the faculty at Texas State University as Professor of Violin. In addition, she has served on the music faculties of the College of Saint Scholastica and the University of Southern Mississippi. She has been affiliated in a principal or concertmaster capacity with the Musica Bella Orchestra of New York, the Broadway Bach Ensemble of New York, the Arlington (VA) Symphony, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Orchestra of Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Opera, Serenata of Santa Fe, the Lubbock Symphony, the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra, the Roswell Symphony, the Buffalo Commons Chamber Music Society, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Bedford Springs Festival, the Duluth-Superior Symphony and the Austin Symphony. For four years, she served as the Concertmaster of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and as First Violin with the Rochester String Quartet.
Dr. Ledbetter has performed and continues to concertize throughout the southwestern and midwestern United States as a solo-recitalist. As a chamber musician, she has toured Canada, China, Europe, Mexico and the United States.
In addition to her duties at Texas State University, Dr. Ledbetter currently performs as Concertmaster of the Caritas Chorale Symphony Orchestra of Sun Valley, Idaho, as Associate Concertmaster with the Arlington (VA) Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra, and as Assistant Concertmaster with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. She performs as First Violin with the Texas State University Faculty String Quartet, and she is in great demand as an adjudicator and as a chamber music coach.
As a teacher, her students have gone on to become successful string music educators throughout Texas and the United States, as well as professional orchestral players, soloists and chamber musicians. Most recently, she finished work as Chair of the Violin Committee for the upcoming third edition of the American String Teachers Association "String Syllabus".She currently holds the office of President-Elect in the Texas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.
Visit the Dr. Ledbetter website.
 Paula Bird, an accomplished violinist and pianist, is also an attorney. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio. She also studied music performance (violin and piano) at Temple University in Philadelphia.
A former member of the San Antonio Symphony, Bird currently plays first violin with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Lyric Opera, and she serves as Associate Concertmaster and Master Class Clinician with the Sunriver Music Festival in Oregon. She is also a principal player, soloist, and chamber player with the Conspirare Choir and the Victoria Bach Festival under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson..Bird currently teaches chamber music, private violin lessons, and co-teaches the String Methods classes at the Texas State University. Bird is also a certified teacher of Dr. Suzuki’s Talent Education Method and maintains an extensive private studio in Wimberley, TX. In addition to her responsibilities with Texas State University, including the University Summer Strings Camp, Bird is also the Director of the Texas State University Suzuki String Institute.
 Ames Asbell, a native of Columbus, GA, completed viola performance degrees at Furman and East Carolina universities before relocating to Texas. In 2001, she received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a teaching assistant to Roger Myers during the 25th International Viola Congress, and worked with renowned Bartók scholar Elliott Antokoletz on her treatise, An Analysis and Performance Guide for the Bartók Viola Concerto.
A founding member of the Austin-based Tosca String Quartet, Ames performs and records in many musical genres. Most recently, she and the Tosca Strings accompanied rock legend David Byrne on two world tours and his album, Grown Backwards, on the prestigious Nonesuch label. These performances took the group to nearly 30 countries and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Town Hall and the Apollo Theater in New York, and Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. An ongoing collaboration with tango composer/arranger Glover Gill has resulted in concerts in Argentina, California, and throughout Texas, as well as recording the soundtrack to Richard Linklater’s film Waking Life. A fixture in Austin’s contemporary classical music scene, the quartet specializes in premiering new works by local composers. Their performance of Bartók’s Fifth String Quartet was a highlight of the International Bartók Congress 2000. A seasoned studio musician, Ames has recorded on over 40 CDs, including the Dixie Chicks’ Grammy-winning album, Home.
In addition to her activities with Tosca, Ames is Assistant Principal of the Austin Lyric Opera orchestra, maintains a private studio, and performs frequently with the Austin Symphony, Barbwire Music Project, Golden Hornet Project, and various chamber music series in Austin. Past performing engagements include the San Antonio Symphony, Conspirare, Victoria Bach Festival, North Carolina Symphony, Breckenridge Music Institute, and National Repertory Orchestra. Ames recently co-founded and serves as the first President of the Central Texas Viola Society, a local chapter of the American Viola Society, which promotes viola performance and research.
 Benjamin Westney received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees
from The University of Texas at Austin, where his teachers were Bion
Tsang and Phyllis Young. He is currently a tenured member of the Austin
Symphony, and has served as tenured Principal Cello of the Waco Symphony and
as cellist with the San Antonio Symphony. Ben also performs with many summer
festivals, including the Victoria Bach Festival (TX), Sunriver Music
Festival (OR), and Opera in the Ozarks. In addition, Ben is an active
chamber musician and teacher, performing with many prominent local
chamber groups including Austin Chamber Music Center, Austin Chamber
Ensemble, Salon Concerts, American Repertory Ensemble, Audio
Iversions, Monte Vista String Quartet, PKW Productions, and several
others. Ben has been consistently active in performing new music
throughout central Texas and was the cellist for the UT New Music
Ensemble for over two years. One highlight of this involvement was a
performance of George Crumb's Sonata for Solo Violoncello on a concert
at which Mr. Crumb was
honored. Ben has also toured half the world with recording artist
David Byrne (formerly of The Talking Heads), including performing on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Austin City Limits, and can be heard
on internationally distributed and Grammy-nominated recordings on the Naxos,
Capstone, Harmonia Mundi, Jagjaguwar, Bedlamb, and Merge labels. Ben maintains vibrant studios as a faculty member of Texas State
University, San Antonio College and as a private teacher.
 David Dawson began his career performing with the Ft. Worth Symphony and Dallas Symphony while still in high school. He has since been a member of the San Antonio Symphony and the Orchestra of Santa Fe. He has participated in numerous summer festivals including the Colorado Music Festival at Boulder, the Spoletto Festival of Italy and the Victoria Bach Festival. He is currently engaged as the Assistant Principal Bassist for the Austin Lyric Opera and the Austin Symphony. He is also a frequent guest on numerous chamber music series such as the Chamber Soloist of Austin and Camerata San Antonio. Mr. Dawson has performed with many jazz/popular music groups and in 1988, he won a Grammy Award for his recording with the Texas Swing Group Asleep at the Wheet. He has performed on numerous television and radio broadcasts including Austin City Limits and Baroque Orchestra, the Handel-Haydn Society of Austin, and Cappricio Stravagante of the Kirtan styles of India and has undertaken studies of the classical music of North India on the sitar.
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