A Transformative Experience on the High Plains

Born in Seoul, Korea, David immigrated to the United States in 1985. David received a variety of music lessons during his childhood in Palos Verdes, California before focusing his energy exclusively on the piano. He later attended Oberlin College and Conservatory where he received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance.

In 1996, David won the E. Nakamichi Concerto Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and was awarded the Arthur Dann Prize at the Oberlin Conservatory. In 1999, while acquiring his Master of Music in Piano Performance at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, David was invited by Robert Spano and Seiji Ozawa to attend the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center as a Merrill Lynch Conducting Fellow. David was then invited by Larry Rachleff to study at Rice University where he served as guest conductor for the Shepherd School Orchestras while acquiring his Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting. David was subsequently invited by the Vienna Philharmonic to serve as an Assistant Conductor. As the recipient of the Karajan Fellowship, David has enjoyed residencies at the annual Salzburg Festival in Austria. In 2003, David was invited by Leonard Slatkin to participate in the National Conducting Institute during which time he made his début with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 

During the 2003-2004 season, David was selected to spend a year as the Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony under the mentorship of Michael Tilson Thomas. While on tour with the New World Symphony in New York City, David made his Carnegie Hall début conducting works by Copland and Tchaikovsky. During the orchestra’s Rome tour, David made his début at the Academy of Santa Cecilia conducting works by Luciano Berio and John Adams. David was then invited by his mentor Larry Rachleff to serve as the Resident Conductor of the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra from 2004-2006. During the 2006-2007 season, David held the Bruno Walter Resident Conductor Chair with the ensemble. 

During his tenure as the Associate Conductor of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera (2006-2011), David won First Prize at the Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition in Mexico City which resulted in numerous conducting engagements in Europe, Asia and South America. He has conducted the symphonies of Seattle, Houston, Austin, Memphis, Fort Wayne, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. He has collaborated with such guest artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Joshua Bell, Frederica von Stade, Sarah Chang, Daniel Müller-Schott, Jennifer Koh, Leila Josefowicz, Jennifer Frautschi and Alexander Kobrin. During previous summers, David made appearances at the Aspen Music Festival and the Grand Teton Music Festival.

After heralded guest appearances with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and 2009, David was appointed as the orchestra’s seventh Music Director in 2011. He began his tenure with the LSO in the 2012-2013 season and is now actively involved in community engagements.

Galen C. Wixson holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in cello performance from Wichita State University, and a second Master's degree in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University. His music career includes performing as a cellist in many different ensembles, including the Wichita Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony, and the Reno Chamber Orchestra. He continues to perform as a soloist and chamber musician. His non-profit management career includes Executive Director positions at the American String Teachers Association, the Reno Philharmonic, the Symphony of Southeast Texas, the Arkansas Symphony, the Austin Symphony, the Guitar Foundation of America and the Dream Come True Foundation. He assumed the office of President and CEO of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra in April of 2017. His interests away from the office include fitness, cooking, and of course, music! He and his wife, Dana, have been married for 30 years, and they have a daughter who currently attends Texas Tech University.

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Leslie Breslin was brought to West Texas via Texas Tech University. Following graduation from TTU, she chose to make Lubbock her permanent home. Leslie’s work history has largely focused on event planning and fundraising at local non-profit organizations, as well as for the Texas Tech University System and the Chancellor’s Council. Although she comes from a family of pianists, organists, and vocalists, she is happy to fundraise for the arts off-stage. Her interests include art, travel, the outdoors, and spending time with her family and dog, Frankenstein.

Born and raised in Lubbock, Mason graduated from Lubbock-Cooper High School in 2015. During his time at Cooper High, he qualified for the UIL State Marching Band competition as well as placed 2nd in the Bands of America marching competition preliminaries on the Flute. Mason has volunteered at local after-school and summer programs for at-risk youth in the past and has assisted the elderly trying to get back into the workforce. Mason came to the Symphony Offices to fix the copy machine one day, and after some friendly conversation, he ended up staying with us. Mason is excited to use his experience in customer (and copier) service in combination with his passion for the arts for the organization. In his free time, he enjoys playing board games with friends, attending music festivals, writing for several blogs, and binge-watching anime with his orange fluffball, Teddy.

Emily Gavaghan graduated in May of 2018 from Texas Tech where she completed a B.A. in University Studies. Her studies included Music, Media Strategies, and Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies. In her music career at TTU, she played bassoon, was part of the colorguard with the Goin’ Band from Raiderland, and a member of Tau Beta Sigma. Before joining the Lubbock Symphony full-time, she completed two terms as a Marketing Intern. Emily looks forward to combining her past sales and customer service experience with her passion for the organization. In her free time, she enjoys binge-watching on Netflix with her orange tabby cat, Oliver.

Amelia was raised in Colorado Springs and moved to Dallas for high school in 2008. She came to Lubbock to attend Texas Tech University where she graduated in 2018 with her degree in graphic design. She then worked for RD Thomas advertising agency until 2019, and afterward went on to do freelance work for various small businesses and local musicians for several months. She worked with muralist Joey Martinez as an assistant during this time as well. At the beginning of 2020 she started at the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra as a full-time graphic designer. Her dog, Archer (pictured above) has 5+ years experience as a Designated Office Goodboy (DOG) at RD Thomas and now at the LSO. In 2020 Amelia also started working part-time for Lubbock Live as the creative director. In her spare time she does yoga, paints, and is apprenticing to be a tattoo artist at Mala Suerte Tattoo studio.

Suzanne Rasco is a Lubbock native who graduated from Lubbock Christian University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Since then, most of her career has been in the Accounting field with some IT and Analyst experience. She is a music enthusiast and loves all kinds of music. She and her husband Ricky, a Muleshoe native and a site manager for a chemical company, have 3 children and 3 dogs.