- Contact
- Academic History
Originally from Mexico, Dr. Martha Placeres is the new director of orchestras at Washburn University. She has a Bachelors Degree from the Puebla State Conservatory of Music in Violin Performance, a Masters Degree in Music Education from the University of Texas at Brownsville and a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Tech University.
- Service Interests/Activities
As a music educator advocate, Dr. Placeres created and developed the string and orchestra programs at the University of Texas at Brownsville and was also involved in bringing string education to the city of Brownsville by founding the UTB String Project which led to the creation of the Brownsville SMART Orchestra and Skinner Elementary String Project. She is an active clinician and adjudicator for the Texas Music Educators Association Orchestra Division in Regions 28, 22 and 15.
- Career Accomplishments
Dr. Placeres was given an Award in November 2008 as “Woman of the Year in the Arts” in the State of Puebla, Mexico. The Award “Carmen Serdán Alatriste” is only given to women from Puebla who have an outstanding career and have contributed to the culture in the State.
As a conductor, Dr. Placeres has being featured with different orchestras in Mexico such as the Puebla State Conservatory of Music Youth Symphony, Puebla State Symphony Orchestra and University of Tamaulipas Symphony Orchestra as well as the Texas Tech University Symphony and String Orchestras. Dr. Placeres was recently invited to conduct the Camerata Angelopolitana in Italy and the Lustenau Sinfonietta in Austria, and in 2014 she was appointed the Executive Director of the American Symposium of Orchestral and Band Conducting at the Puebla State Conservatory of Music in Mexico.
