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About

Composer Wayne Oquin was born in Houston, TX. His music has been commissioned and programmed by the Danish National Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as by the King's Singers, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, and Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin has led The Philadelphia Orchestra in six performances Oquin’s Resilience. This concerto featuring organist Paul Jacobs was toured, Nézet-Séguin leading Philadelphia in additional performances in Brussels, Luxembourg, and Hamburg. Oquin’s Echoes of a Solitary Voice, a tribute to the late Maestro Lorin Maazel, was performed by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, and was a required piece in the finals of the 2015 Malko Competition for young conductors. In September 2021 the Pacific Symphony opened its season with Oquin’s Tower Ascending, a work they commissioned for the occasion.

Oquin’s choral music has been commercially recorded by the New York Concert Singers, the Houston Chamber Choir, and the Dallas Chamber Choir. His O Magnum Mysterium and Alleluia have both been conducted by Kent Tritle in New York’s historic Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Widely known for his contributions to the symphonic wind literature, Oquin has been performed by the United States Air Force, Army Field, Coast Guard, and the Marine Bands and by many of the leading university wind ensembles around the country. His Song for Silent Voices, composed for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wind Symphony, is the 2018 winner of the National Band Association’s William D. Revelli Award, the second time Oquin has won the prize. In addition, Oquin is a recipient of the Commander’s Medal of Excellence from the U.S. Air Force Band.

While a student at Juilliard Oquin earned the Palmer Dixon Prize and the Arthur Friedman Award for his orchestral music. Upon graduation he received the Juilliard Inner-Arts Award as well as the Richard F. French Prize for best dissertation.

Oquin is a Distinguished Alum of Texas State University. He holds an MM and DMA from Juilliard where studied composition with Milton Babbitt and Samuel Adler. He has been a College faculty member since 2008 currently teaching music theory, graduate studies, and ear training. He was named chair of the Ear Training Department in 2013.