MSU Department of Music - Music Faculty



New Students Scholarships Departmental Admission Requirements Choir Keyboard Band Guard Ensembles Faculty Facilities Music Degrees Links		Music Faculty Dr. Larry Archambo, Professor of Music Joined University in 1988; Education: B.A., Oral Roberts University, M.M., The University of Kansas, D.M.A., The University of Kansas Dr. Archambo is director of the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble, and together with Mr. Alan Black, directs the Marching Band and the Basketball Pep Band. Dr. Archambo's masters and doctoral degree are in instrumental conducting. He was chair of the Music Program at MSU for seven years. Dr. Archambo teaches low brass, Music Technology, secondary music education courses, beginning and instrumental conducting, and the brass methods course. Dr. Archambo has taught at Thomas A. Edison High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. He is the principal trombonist with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra and a former member of the U. S. Navy Band. Office phone (940) 397-4210. Email Dr. Archambo. Mr Alan Black, Assistant Professor of Music Joined University in 1987; Education; B.A. Brigham Young University, M.A.Boise State University; Doctoral coursework completed, University of Utah Alan Black is the director of the MSU Jazz and Percussion programs, and teaches Applied Percussion, Jazz/Rock Music Appreciation, Percussion Instruments Class, Practicum in Marching Band, World Music Literature, and music education courses, along with directing the Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Steel Pan Ensembles. He is the co-director of the MSU Marching Band and Basketball Pep Band and coordinates the MSU Winterguard, one of the few university-sponsored competitive colorguards in Texas. He came to MSU in 1987. Prior to MSU, Mr. Black was the Associate Director of Bands at Northern MIchigan University, and taught high school bands in Burley, Idaho and Payson, Utah. Mr. Black was a percussionist in the first McDonald's All-American Marching Band in 1967. He has played professionally with symphonies and wind ensembles in Utah, Idaho, and Michigan, and is now timpanist/principal percussionist with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra. He also plays drums with the Ken Nelson Big Band and Ken Nelson Quartet and has played keyboards in Black Magic, a 10 piece soul band. Mr. Black is active in the Texas Music Educators' Association, The Texas Bandmasters' Association, the Jazz Education Network, and the Percussive Arts Society. Office phone (940) 397-4186. Email Mr. Black. Mr. Norval Crews, Associate Professor of Music Woodwinds, Music Appreciation, Instrument Repair. Office phone (940) 397-4294. Email Mr. Crews. Joined the university in 1970. Education: B.M. University of North Texas, M.M.E. University of North Texas; Doctoral coursework at the University of Oklahoma and the University of North Texas. Mr. Crews teaches applied woodwinds, woodwind methods class, instrument repair, music appreciation, and jazz/rock music appreciation. Prior to MSU, Mr. Crews was a band director in the public schools of Lawton, Oklahoma, served in the U. S. Army for three years as the enlisted director of the 77th Army Band, and directed the Symphonic Band and Jazz Band at Cameron College in Lawton, Oklahoma for five years. He has played professionally in orchestras in Oklahoma and Texas and has served as assistant conductor of the Lawton, Oklahoma Philharmonic Orchestra. He currently plays in the Wichita Falls Chamber Orchestra, performs with several jazz groups in the Wichita Falls area and performs with his wife as a popular Jazz Duo. He has appeared as a soloist and as a clinician at the Texas Music Educators' Association convention and has also recently published a book on the repair of woodwind instruments. Mr. Gary Lewis, Associate Professor of Music Piano, Music Appreciation. Office phone (940) 397-4185. Email Mr. Lewis. Joined the University in 1971; Education: B.M., Eastman School of Music; M.M., Michigan State University. Additional study with John Perry and David Renner at University of Texas, Austin. Awards: Grand prize for his performance of a Twentieth Century Piano Sonata submitted to the Teachers Division-International Recording Competition sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers; Second prize for his performance of a Late Beethoven Piano Sonata submitted to the Teachers Division-International Recording Competition sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers. Gary Lewis is presently teaching class piano, music appreciation, and Basic Music. At Midwestern, he has also taught applied piano and music history. Prior to coming to Midwestern, he has taught at the University of Kansas and at Belhaven College. Dr. Don Maxwell, Professor of Music Joined University in 1971; Education: B.A., Colgate University, B.M., Friends University, M.M., University of Oklahoma, D.M.E., University of Oklahoma Dr. Don Maxwell is a Professor of Voice and has been a member of the MSU faculty for 40 years. Dr. Maxwell has won numerous awards as a singer, including the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Adjudications, Metropolitan Opera Auditions, and the Bloch Young Artist competition which culminated in two solo engagements with the Oklahoma City Orchestra. His voice students have been winners in major vocal competitions and several have launched singing careers on an international scale. Dr. Maxwell has directed 18 operas and musicals. He frequently serves as a vocal judge for competitions and is in demand as a teacher of master classes. Dr. Maxwell teaches voice, opera workshop, vocal pedagogy and diction. Office phone (940) 397-4242. Email Dr. Maxwell. Dr. Ruth Morrow, Professor of Music and Chair, Department of Music; Dolores P. Bolin and D. Phil and Aurora S. Bolin Chair of Music Piano, Keyboard Literature, Accompanying. Office phone (940) 397-4789. Email Dr. Morrow. Dr. Ruth E. Morrow, NCTM, is the current Dolores P. Bolin and D. Phil and Aurora S. Bolin Chair of Piano and Chair of the Department of Music at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. She holds degrees from Indiana University (DM, Piano Performance and Pedagogy), the Eastman School of Music (MM, Piano; MA, Musicology), and Whitman College (BA, Music, Philosophy). With a background spans all musical styles and includes performances throughout the United States and Europe, Dr. Morrow remains in demand as recitalist, collaborative pianist, and lecturer on topics from ragtime to movement. She teaches at the Indiana University Piano Academy each summer, and is a Certified Instructor of the Feldenkrais® Method. In addition to her numerous musical endeavors, Dr. Morrow is an avid marathon runner. Dr. James Schuppener, Professor of Music Director of Choral Activities, Choral Conducting. Office phone (940) 397-4268. Email Dr. Schuppener. Dr. James Schuppener is the Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at MSU. Dr. Schuppener conducts the University Singers, Midwestern Singers, and the Oratorio Chorus. He also teaches Choral Conducting, Choral Literature, Vocal Diction, and applied voice lessons. Before coming to MSU, Schuppener was Professor of Music at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas for twenty years. Schuppener has also taught on the faculties of Lincoln College, Ripon College, and West Virginia Wesleyan College. Choirs under his direction have performed in Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, and Washington, DC. He has also conducted choirs that have toured Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Dr. Schuppener has earned a D.M.A. in Conducting from the University of Arizona, M.M. in Vocal Performance from Illinois Wesleyan University, and B.M.E. from Milton College. He has also done graduate work at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. MSU Home MSUMusic.org Home Top of Page Department of Music, 3410 Taft, Wichita Falls TX 76308, (940) 397-4267 Contact: Webmaster