Felix Torres
Executive & Artistic Director
Conductor, Symphony Orchestra
Felix Torres is the Executive & Director of the East Texas Youth Orchestra, Music Director of the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of the University of Texas at Tyler Wind Ensemble. Under his direction, ETYO completed its first international tour to Vienna, Austria, and continues to expand ETYOs offerings to reach even more young musicians across East Texas.
Prior to his appointment with ETYO, Mr. Torres was an Associate Director of Orchestras at Arlington High School in Arlington, TX for three years. There he taught over 150 students across six orchestras including the full orchestra. Prior to his arrival at AHS, Felix taught beginning strings at three elementary schools which fed directly into AHS.
Mr. Torres was also the Apprentice Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2012–2014. Working closely with Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya, he conducted the FWSO in neighborhood and youth education performances, as well as assisting Harth-Bedoya in subscription concerts at Bass Performance Hall during the 2013–2014 season. Mr. Torres has worked with various youth orchestras in both Texas and Illinois, including the Fort Worth Youth Orchestras.
Mr. Torres holds a Bachelor of Music Education (2006), a Master of Music in Wind Conducting (2012), and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting (2014) degrees from Texas Christian University. At TCU, Mr. Torres was a Graduate Conductor with the TCU Bands and Assistant Conductor of the TCU Symphony Orchestra. Felix made his international conducting debut with the TCU Symphony Orchestra on their tour of Argentina in the Spring of 2013.
He studied orchestral conducting with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Germán Gutierrez; wind conducting with Bobby Francis; and choral conducting with Dennis Shrock and Ron Shirey.
In addition to his conducting pursuits, Mr. Torres is a Co-Founder & Associate Artistic Director of the Texas Institute for Orchestral Studies – dedicated to training the next generation of orchestral musicians, Director of Admissions of The Conducting Institute – dedicated to training the next generation of orchestral conductors, and Managing Director of FILARMONIKA Music Publishing – dedicated to the promotion and performance of music from Latin America & the Caribbean.
Mr. Torres and his wife, Dr. Wright, started the Wright Torres Foundation in 2019 as a way to give back to the areas which have provided them with so much fulfillment: animals, mental health, and music. Mr. Torres splits his time between North & East Texas with Dr. Wright, and their three dogs: Eve, Cali, and Rex.