PCMF

Dr. Raúl Munguía is professor of violin and viola, and the Artistic Director and Conductor of both the Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburg State University Chamber Orchestra position he took in July of 2012. Born in the Caribbean country of Honduras, Raúl combines his work in orchestral conducting with an active career as an orchestral musician and a chamber player. As a violinist, he has held the concertmaster chair with The San Pedro Sula Chamber Orchestra, The Honduran Symphony Orchestra, The Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. He performed regularly with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra in Santa Fe, NM, performing on both period and standard violin. Currently, he’s been performing with the Springfield Symphony in Springfield, Missouri. His orchestral experience has given him the opportunity to perform with world renowned soloists such as Itzhak Perlman, Edgar Meyer, Plácido Domingo, Yo Yo Ma, Christopher Parkening, Susan Graham, Emanuel Ax, Ruggiero Ricci, James Galway, and Joshua Bell. As a conductor, Raúl has collaborated and guest conducted the Honduras Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Pedro Sula Chamber Orchestra, the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Orchestra among others. Munguia was a recipient of the Don and Kay Cash Grant from the Graduate School at Texas Tech that allowed him to do research in his native country Honduras on 20th Century Honduran composers. He was also recipient of the TTU String Project Research Grant, as part of the research trip to Maceió, Brazil in May of 2012. Munguia holds a Doctoral Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Tech University, a Master of Music degree in both Violin Performance and Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern State University of Louisiana studying violin with Dr. Andrej Kurti, and orchestral conducting with Dr. Douglas Bakenhus. He also holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from The University of Southern Mississippi under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Redfield working on both standard and period Baroque violin.