Lute/theorbo - Texas Toot

Bruce Brogdon

Bruce Brogdon studied classical guitar at the University of St. Thomas. His interest in early music led him to take up the lute, and he has studied privately and in masterclasses with Paul O’Dette and Pat O’Brien. Bruce has performed with the Texas Baroque Ensemble, the Green Mountain Consort, the Houston Baroque Ensemble, the Texas Early Music Project, La Follia Austin Baroque, Ars Lyrica Houston (based at University of Houston), and Aquinas, the resident ensemble of the University of St. Thomas.

Bruce leads his own group, Canzonetta, which specializes in plucked string continuo (lutes, guitars, and harp), and features music of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Scott Horton

Lute/theorbo

Scott Horton studied lute and continuo with Nigel North at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He was a member of Texas Baroque Ensemble which toured the Netherlands and Finland, and accompanied Dutch baritone Max van Egmond on tour in the United States.

After moving to Washington, D.C. in 1986, he was active in the field of early music, having performed with the Washington Opera, Washington Bach Consort and Maryland Handel Festival among other ensembles. He was invited back to Texas in 1989 to perform with the Houston Grand Opera and in 1992 was the featured performer at the Early Music Festival at Round Top, to which he returned in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

Mr. Horton has taught at the University of Texas, University of North Texas, University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. In 1995, he relocated to Texas where he performed in various groups including Texas Baroque Ensemble, Aquinas Ensemble, Ars Lyrica, Texas Early Music Project, Texas Bach Choir and La Follia Baroque. He performed recently in productions of Orfeo, Coronation of Poppea and Ariodante of Houston Grand Opera and Dallas Opera. He is also presently on the faculty of the Armstrong Community School at the Austin Lyric Opera.

Héctor Torres

Lute/theorbo

Dr. Héctor Alfonso Torres González was born in Puerto Rico, where he started his guitar studies at the Preparatory School of the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory. He worked on his bachelor’s degree at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus; his master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and his doctorate in musical arts degree with a specialization in early music at the University of North Texas.

Héctor has concertized and taught throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, South America, Europe, and China, both as a soloist and ensemble musician. Distinguished by his versatility and sound, he frequently performs many styles of music, including early music, Latin music, and modern classical. As an early music performer, he regularly plays baroque guitar, theorbo, lute, and other period plucked instruments with different chamber groups and orchestras across the U.S, including the Texas Early Music Project, Austin Baroque Orchestra & Chorus, Ars Lyrica Houston, Lumedia Musicworks, La Follia, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Fantasmi, Camerata del Sol, Red River Lyric Opera, Orchestra of New Spain, and his newly founded group Bambulaé Barrocá.

Currently Dr. Torres-González serves as an Associate Professor of Music at Tarrant County College – Trinity River Campus located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.