2023 Nebraska All-State Orchestra

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2023 ALL-STATE ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR BIO

Latin Grammy-nominated conductor Luis Viquez continues to gain attention as one of the most influential Central American musicians of his generation for his versatile career as an orchestral, opera, and wind band conductor. A native of Costa Rica, he currently serves on the faculty at the University of South Dakota, where he holds the Director of Orchestral Activities Endowed Chair with his tenure as the Music Director of the University of South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and is conductor of the University of South Dakota Opera Theater since 2016.

A sought-after guest conductor, Luis has led featured performances throughout the United States, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and England, collaborating with ensembles such as the Orquesta Sinfónica de Heredia (Costa Rica), the Cartago Municipal Orchestra (Costa Rica), the National Wind Orchestra of Guatemala, the Cherokee Symphony (IA), the Emporia Symphony Orchestra (KS) and the Midwest Chamber Ensemble (KS). Recently, he has held conducting fellowships with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra (PA), the Saratoga Orchestra (WA), and the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

His discography includes the albums Costa Rica desde Afuera recorded with the Heredia Symphony Orchestra, with chamber orchestra works by Andres Soto, José Mora, Pablo Chin and Guido Sánchez; Get Along ´Yotes with orchestral music by Corrado Maria Saglietti and Eddie Mora; and El Ruido del Agua - Music by Eddie Mora featuring the University of South Dakota Symphony, recently nominated for the 23rd Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Classical Music Album.

Parallel to his career as a conductor, Luis is an accomplished clarinetist. He has appeared as a soloist with the South Dakota Symphony, the Sioux City Municipal Band and the Heredia Symphony. In the early years of his career, he served as a member of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and toured with the World Youth Wind Orchestra in Taiwan. His chamber music performances have been broadcasted by the South Dakota Public Broadcasting and the University of Costa Rica Broadcasting System.

Dr. Viquez holds degrees from the University of Costa Rica (BM – Clarinet Performance), Truman State University (MA – Clarinet Performance & MA - Wind Band Conducting) and UMKC Conservatory (DMA – Orchestral Conducting). He is a clarinet artist for the brands Royal Global Clarinets and D’Addario Woodwinds USA.

2023 AUDITION MATERIALS

NMEA will again utilize the services of OpusEvent to collect student auditions. Auditions will include:

• Scales
• Etudes Set 1 from common repertoire (For some instruments, there may be multiple etudes.)
• An excerpt from the All-State Orchestra music (which will be made available on the NMEA website in August)

1. All-State Scale Sheets (click each link to download)

Specific scales for the 2023 audition will be announced in September.

2. All-State Etudes (click each link to download)

3. All-State Orchestra Music Excerpts (will be posted online in August 2023)