Efrain E. Munguia is currently an Orchestra Director at Southwest Early College High School in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District in Pharr, Texas. He is currently in his 9th year of public-school teaching.
A native of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Mr. Munguia studied at the University of Texas Pan-American (UTPA) in Edinburg, Texas where he focused on Music Education and received his Bachelor of Arts. He continued his education at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where he received his Master of Music. His major teachers include Dr. Christopher Munn, Sarah Kapps, Dr. Curtis Tredway, Dr. Mark Schuppener, and world-renowned cellist and Grammy award winner, Zuill Bailey.
An avid recording artist, Mr. Munguia enjoys spending time in recording studios. In the past, he has recorded in studios such as: Noonday Studios (Harlingen, Texas), Sound of Rain Studios (Edinburg, Texas), and the largest residential recording studio, Sonic Ranch (Tornillo, Texas). He has recorded for several bands, artists, and projects, such as: Corine Garcia & the Meow Meow Meows, Static Cycle, ArcaneDisplay, AeroTek, Ali Wagner, Liberty King, Rachel Corsi, and Bert Saenz. Songs from these artists can be found on Pandora Radio, Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and other streaming services.
An amateur composer and arranger, Mr. Munguia is the author of the Sight-Read to Succeed: Coverage of the Texas UIL Orchestra Sight-Reading Criteria series, as well as Scale & Rhythm Rudiments: Exercises in Correlation with the Texas UIL Orchestra Sight-Reading Evaluation series. In addition, he is the owner of La Hacienda Musica, a local sheet music publishing house in the Rio Grande Valley. Visit https://www.haciendamusica.com/ for more information.
This will be Mr. Munguia’s sixth year conducting the Novice Ensemble at the 2020 Pan American Cello Festival. This year’s ensemble will premiere a composition of Mr. Munguia’s entitled “The Three B’s Get Boomwhacked”.
Southwest Early College High School