MY BACKGROUND
A Dedicated Musician
Richard Peralta is expected to earn his Master of Music in Violin Performance in the 2025 from the University of Texas at San Antonio under the tutelage of UTSA faculty Dr. Stephanie Westney. He has worked with UTSA’s String Project program and is currently assisting the public orchestra programs in Northside, Northeast, and San Antonio school districts with private and group string instruction. Mr. Peralta earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas Permian Basin, where he studied violin under Dr. Alejandro Gomez-Guillén. Former violin instructors include Dr. Megan Poppe and Dr. John Madura.
In the West Texas school orchestra programs, Mr. Peralta began his string studies with Maria Mutis (2007), later became the concertmaster at Ector Junior High (2010) and Odessa High and took home 5th place in the All-Region competition (2013) thanks to the teachings of Dr. Daniel Loudenback and Kyle Davis.
Under the direction of former UTPB violin instructor Dr. John Madura, Mr. Peralta became the concertmaster of the UTPB Philharmonic, a position he held from his second semester until his graduation date. Mr. Peralta performs regularly with the San Antonio Philharmonic, Mid-Texas Symphony, Symphony Viva, West Texas Symphony, and has performed with the Big Spring Symphony. He was part of the Equinox New Music Collective in 2015, in which he played in the concert premiere of Alex Luttrell’s “(in)Sanity.” He also tied for top performer at UTPB’s American Composers Recital with a performance of Aaron Copland’s “Hoe-down" from 'Rodeo'. The following year, he led the Midland Festival Ballet Symphony as their concertmaster in a full production of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Cinderella" ballet and under the close instruction of violinist Dr. Megan Poppe, led the Video Games Live Symphony during their Midland/Odessa tour as their concertmaster and violin soloist. Recently, Mr. Peralta served as the concertmaster for Symphony Viva’s 2023 production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’, under the direction of Dr. Joe Kneer. Mr. Peralta has also served as concertmaster for the UTSA Philharmonic orchestra, directed by Troy Peters.
Mr. Peralta has performed in a solo-masterclass setting for the world-class violin artist Chee Yun, and in a chamber-masterclass setting for the chamber quartet from The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields.
One of Mr. Peralta’s highest honors was performing in Orvieto Musica’s 2018 ‘Intensive Strings’ Festival in Italy, where he represented UTPB on the international stage. The audition was worldwide and only accepted 9 musicians into the program.
Mr. Peralta also led First Baptist Orchestra in Odessa as their concertmaster and has accepted freelance gigs all around Texas. In addition to his classical training, Mr. Peralta also co-founded Mariachi Oro, a West Texas mariachi group consisting of classically trained musicians.
Upon graduation, Mr. Peralta would like to open up his own music studio and become a permanent member in the local symphony of wherever he resides.
Mr. Peralta Performs on a Sam Billings violin, 2016.
In his free time, Mr. Peralta enjoys practicing- yes, it’s true- exploring new dishes/recipes, traveling, spending time with his family, and spoiling his pug dog, Perry.