Dr. Eugene Dowdy, Conductor and Artistic Director

Eugene (Gene) Dowdy stepped up to the podium as Conductor and Artistic Director of Symphony of the Hills, Kerrville, Texas, beginning with the 2015-2016 season, following two years as associate conductor and associate concertmaster under Jay Dunnahoo. Dowdy served for 23 years as director of orchestral studies and instrumental conducting at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and, upon his retirement in 2019, was named Professor Emeritus. Dowdy was the assistant conductor of the Mid-Texas Symphony from 2009-2013 under David Mairs, and also guest conducted the Camerata de Coahuila, the state orchestra of Coahuila, Mexico.

During his time at UTSA, Dowdy led the orchestral program in diverse venues and genres including collaborations and appearances with the Brubeck family of Jazz musicians, internationally-acclaimed Baroque violinist Rachel Podger, the progressive rock band KANSAS, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, and in world premieres of numerous orchestral and operatic works. The UTSA Orchestra, under Dowdy’s direction, performed as the featured university orchestra at the 2017 TMEA Convention, and has performed by invitation and on tour in Texas, Mexico, and Italy.

Gene grew up as the youngest of four children in a musical family, and began violin studies with Achille DiRusso in Corpus Christi, Texas. His parents both completed college degrees as they raised children. Dowdy received the doctoral degree in orchestral conducting with James Dixon at the University of Iowa, a master’s degree in music education from UTSA with Donald Hodges, and the bachelor’s degree from UT Austin, where he was awarded a Performance Certificate in Violin, studying with Vince Frittelli, and taught in the University of Texas String Project under Phyllis Young. He taught award-winning public school orchestras for nine years in San Antonio’s NEISD, conducted orchestras for nine summers at the Interlochen Arts Camp, and continues to serves as honorary Resident Conductor of the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. Dowdy is past president of both the Texas Orchestra Directors Association and the Texas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and a former executive director of the National String Project Consortium.

Dowdy is an active guest conductor, having appeared with orchestras and festivals around the United States (Texas, Florida, Alaska, Wyoming, Georgia, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, California, and Iowa), and in Mexico, Austria, France, and Italy. He is a member of numerous professional and honorary societies including the American Federation of Musicians (Local 23), Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Sigma Alpha Iota (Friend of the Arts), and Mu Omicron. Gene and his wife Stacy have two daughters; Jessica Lopez, a piano-playing pastry chef, and Rachel Dowdy, an orchestra director and cellist in the Symphony of the Hills. His late father, Warren, and his sister Margo both played in the Symphony of the Hills under Dr. Jay Dunnahoo.