Tim Andersen
Yamaha Artist, Co-Principal Trumpet of Dallas Winds, and Renowned Performer & Educator
B.M.E. 1982
Tim Andersen, a Yamaha Performing Artist, has enjoyed a 38-year teaching and performing career in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Co-Principal Trumpet with the Dallas Winds for 33 years, he regularly performs and records with the Dallas Symphony and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras and has appeared at major conventions like TMEA and TBA. His performances are featured on over 20 recordings, including with the Dallas Brass and in the video game Banner Saga.
Beginning his teaching career in 1988, Andersen has presented clinics at TMEA and TBA and taught master classes at UNT and LSU. He holds a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master’s in Trumpet Performance from Indiana University, where he earned the Performer’s Certificate. In 2022, he received the Hixson-Lied College Alumni Achievement Award.
Don Gorder
vice president of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM)
B.M. in music performance (trumpet) in 1973
Gorder, former chair and founder of Berklee College’s Music Business/Management Department, is an attorney, educator, and musician. He holds advanced degrees in law and music, has published extensively on the music industry, and regularly speaks at national and international events. As an attorney, he specializes in copyright and contract law, and he is an active jazz and commercial trumpet player.
Gorder is vice president of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Affiliated Music Business Institutions, a past officer and board member of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators’ Association, and currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. He is active in the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) and the International Association for Jazz Education, where he is a member of the resource team, representing music business/management. Gorder is our 2025 Alumni Master.
Kathryn Hibbard
dance artist
Bachelor of Arts, Dance, 2012
Kathryn started dancing at age four in the back of an old church in London. She trained in ballet in the Cecchetti method. Through the Cecchetti Society, she was also exposed to other dance forms that included modern, jazz, Irish, flamenco, mime and tap dance. When she was sixteen, she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she was a member of the Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company.
She received her BA in dance from University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she trained in modern and ballet and completed the One Year Programme at Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance. Throughout college she also attended the White Mountain Summer Dancer Festival, Bates Dance Festival, and American Dance Festival. She lives in New York where she is work-study at the Mark Morris Dance Center.
Sam Loeck
Principal Bass of the Calgary Philharmonic, Acclaimed Performer, and Festival Musician
B.M. 2014
Loeck joined the Calgary Philharmonic as principal bass in 2016. A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, he earned his bachelor’s degree in music performance from UNL. He then earned a Master’s degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he was named the winner of the IU Bass Concerto Competition.
He has participated in numerous music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, Moritzburg Festival, Pacific Music Festival and the Banff Centre International String Quartet Festival.
Recently, Loeck was under consideration for the position of principal bassist of the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the premier orchestras in the world. While he did not get the position, the year-long process allowed him several stints as guest principal bass with the orchestra.
He has also served as a substitute bass with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony.
Loeck received the Hixson-Lied College’s Alumni Achievement Award in 2023.
Eugene O'Brien
Executive Associate Dean; Professor of Music (Composition), Indiana University
Master of Music , 1969
Eugene O’Brien is Professor Emeritus of Composition at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He has received the Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Rome Prize, and awards from BMI, ASCAP, and the ISCM, with fellowships from Guggenheim, Rockefeller, Fulbright, and NEA.
O’Brien’s music has been performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, Italian Radio Orchestras, and Omaha Symphony, among others. His recordings appear on CRI, Golden Crest, Crystal, Capstone, and IU labels, and his works are published by Codex Nuovo, G. Schirmer, and Boosey & Hawkes. He co-founded the Cleveland new music ensemble Reconnaissance and directed the Indiana University New Music Ensemble.
Educated at the University of Nebraska and Case Western Reserve University, he studied under Robert Beadell, Iannis Xenakis, and others. At Indiana University since 1987, he also served as Chair of the Composition Department, Executive Associate Dean, and previously as composer-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Chair at the Catholic University of America.
Laurie Scott
Assoc. professor of music and human learning, University of Texas at Austin
M.A., 1979
Laurie Scott is Associate Professor of Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, she serves as the director of The University of Texas String Project, named "String Project of the Year" in 2008 by the American String Teacher's Association and the National String Project Consortium.
Scott holds a master's degree in applied violin from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and a bachelor's degree in music education from the State University of New York at Fredonia. She received her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Texas. Before moving to Texas in 1981, Dr. Scott taught in rural string programs in Nebraska and performed with the Omaha and Lincoln Symphonies and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra.
Scott is co-author with William Dick of the textbook Mastery for Strings, Level One and Two, and Learning Together: Sequential Repertoire for Solo Strings or String Ensembles, co-authored with William Dick and Winfred Crock. Her latest publication, From the Stage to the Studio: How Fine Performers become Great Teachers, is co-authored with Cornelia Watkins and was published by Oxford University Press in April 2012.
Richard Svoboda
principal bassoon, Boston Symphony Orchestra, member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players
B.M.E., 1978
Richard Svoboda has been principal bassoonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players since 1989.
He is on the faculties of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center. He has also taught at the Sarasota Music Festival, the Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar, the Popkin-Glickman Bassoon Camp, and the Symphony School of America, and has given master classes throughout the world.
Prior to his appointment to the BSO, he performed for ten seasons as principal bassoonist of the Jacksonville Symphony. He studied with William Winstead, George Berry, and Gary Echols. Mr. Svoboda appears frequently with chamber ensembles, as orchestral soloist, and in recital. Among his solo appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra have been performances of John Williams's bassoon concerto The Five Sacred Trees with the composer conducting, as well as Weber's Concerto for Bassoon under the baton of Seiji Ozawa.
Stephanie Taylor
Entertainment and music industry attorney, Bone McAllester Norton, Nashville, TN
B.A., 1999
Stephanie Taylor is an entertainment and music industry lawyer for clients involved in the creation, production and management of creative works.
She specializes in entertainment law and understands the special needs of the entertainment industry, including copyright law, music publishing, record labels, media and general business matters. Taylor represents record labels, recording artists, songwriters, producers, artist managers, music publishers, promoters and music industry entrepreneurs.
She specializes in entertainment law and understands the special needs of the entertainment industry, including copyright law, music publishing, record labels, media and general business matters. Taylor represents record labels, recording artists, songwriters, producers, artist managers, music publishers, promoters and music industry entrepreneurs.
Lt. Col. Cristina M. Moore Urrutia
Commander and Conductor of the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West at Travis Air Force Base in California
B.M. 1995, M.M. 1998
Lieutenant Colonel Cristina M. Moore Urrutia is the Commander and Conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West at Travis Air Force Base, CA. She leads a 60-member unit with 10 musical ensembles, performing over 350 missions annually across five states. The band serves as an ambassador for the Air Force, fostering patriotism, resilience, and public engagement to support national defense priorities.
Lt. Col. Moore Urrutia began her military career in 1992 with the U.S. Army as Principal Horn and Associate Conductor of the 43rd Army Band, later commissioning into the U.S. Air Force in 2001 as a Distinguished Graduate of Officer Training School. She has held roles as Director of the Singing Sergeants and Assistant Conductor of the Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and previously commanded the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band, promoting partnerships throughout Europe and Africa.
A native of Kimball, Nebraska, Lt. Col. Moore Urrutia earned her Bachelor of Music in French Horn Performance and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she studied under Dr. Tyler White.
