Dr. Veronica Salinas holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance and a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. In 2012, she earned her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Viola Performance at Texas Tech University under a full scholarship as an AT&T Chancellor’s Fellow. She has taught at all grade levels from elementary to the collegiate level, most recently having served as the Associate Professor of Strings at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, Music Director for the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra, and Director of Mariachi Javelina.

While in Kingsville she implemented the first ever Strings Project called JAVELINA Strings Youth Orchestra. In this Strings Project, KISD students attend free after school classes to learn to play in orchestra. This also serves as a training ground for college students to gain experiential learning in the orchestra classroom. In her first four years in Kingsville, she secured over $150,000 in funding through grants and fundraising efforts in this rural area to promote outreach initiatives and community programming with the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra.

She maintains her performance skills on and off the podium by performing on the viola as the Assistant Principal Violist in the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. In the conducting arena, she has held conducting fellowships at the Los Angeles Conducting Institute in San Diego, California, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the International Conducting Institute in New York City, and the International Conducting Workshop and Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. Additionally, she has served as the clinician and conductor for several region orchestras in Texas.

Dr. Salinas brings a wealth of knowledge from the non-profit and education industries. As the Artistic Administrator at OPERA San Antonio, she she oversaw the financial management of the company and co-wrote several funded grants including the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Kronkosky Foundation. Currently, Dr. Salinas serves as the Director of Orchestras for Bush Middle School in the North East Independent School District where she was recently voted Teacher of the Year at her campus and as also an NEISD District Teacher of the Year Finalist.

Service to her community is extremely important to Dr. Salinas and as such has held executive positions as a representative for the Texas Music Educators Association as the Region 12 Middle School Coordinator. In this role, she helped to support outstanding middle school orchestra students from all districts in Region 12, which include NEISD, Alamo Heights ISD, Comal ISD, Judson ISD and Schertz/Cibolo ISD by organizing performing opportunities for the Region 12 Orchestra Clinics and Concerts each fall. Region Orchestra is an excellent performance opportunity, as well as an honor, for those students who successfully audition to be members. She also in her free time, she serves as a Grant Panelist for the City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture where she reviews Artists Grants and Production Cost Grants.

Dr. Salinas is thrilled to be selected as the new Music Director for the Austin Civic Orchestra and is looking forward to promoting the mission of ACO by the following: cultivating outreach programming for children and young adults, nurturing collaborations with local performing arts groups, and providing the citizens of Austin emotional and engaging musical experiences.