Jeff Baker, DMA

Associate Professor, Tuba

Jeff Baker is Associate Professor of Tuba & Euphonium at A&M-Commerce. Dr. Baker received music degrees from the University of Oklahoma (BM) and the University of North Texas (MM and DMA). He has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Texas and Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, and taught private lessons in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex for almost 20 years.

Dr. Baker is Principal Tuba/Cimbasso for the Dallas Opera Orchestra. As a freelance musician, he has performed with numerous ensembles including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Winds, the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, and the Wichita Grand Opera. Dr. Baker has also been a part of over twenty recording projects on the Dallas Opera, Ft. Worth Symphony, EPR, Klavier, Mark, and Naxos labels. He has performed as a featured soloist with a variety of groups, most notably the US Army Orchestra (Pershing's Own) and as a concerto competition winner with the University of North Texas Symphonic Band.

In 2018, Dr. Baker received the H.M. Lafferty Distinguished Faculty Award, the highest research honor offered by A&M-Commerce, and in 2019, he was recognized as a Global Fellow for his teaching, service, and research endeavors in Brazil. He was also awarded a research grant in 2019 in an effort to commission new works for cimbasso and in 2020, he was awarded a research fellowship for his interdisciplinary project Sinfonia Migrante: Musician Networks Forged Through Migration.

Dr. Baker serves as the coordinator for the Commerce, Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Allen, TUBACHRISTMAS events and is the master of ceremonies for the Denton TUBACHRISTMAS. These annual holiday concerts involve over 750 tuba and euphonium players from the North Texas area and total audience attendance numbers in the thousands. He is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, the International Trombone Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Educational Background

• DMA, Tuba Performance, University of North Texas, 2012
• M.M., Tuba Performance, University of North Texas, 2005
• B.M., Tuba Performance, University of Oklahoma, 2003

Recordings

• Pictures at an Exhibition, Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, 2018
• Songs and Melodies From Youth: Works by Gustav Mahler, 2018
• Becoming Santa Claus, Dallas Opera, 2016
• Death and the Powers, Dallas Opera, 2014

Selected Performances

• Featured Soloist, V Encontro de Tubas e Euphonios Valmir Vieira, UFPB Brazil, November 2019
• Featured Soloist, ITEA South American Conference, Tatui Brazil, August 2018
• Featured Soloist, US Army Band Tuba/Euphonium Workshop, February 2016
• Principal Tuba/Cimbasso, Dallas Opera Orchestra, 2012-Present

Professional Organizations

• American Federation of Musicians
• International Tuba and Euphonium Association
• International Trombone Association
• Texas Music Educators Association
• College Music Society
• Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia