Dr. Veronica Garcia

Dr. Veronica Garcia is a conductor, violist, and arts administrator whose career bridges public education, higher education, nonprofit leadership, and professional performance. She currently serves as Music Director of the Austin Civic Orchestra.

She earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Sam Houston State University, and her Doctor of Musical Arts in Viola Performance from Texas Tech University, where she was an AT&T Chancellor’s Fellow.

Dr. Garcia’s teaching career spans every level, from middle school to university. Most notably, she served as Associate Professor of Strings at Texas A&M University–Kingsville, where she was also Music Director of the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra and Director of Mariachi Javelina. She founded the JAVELINA Strings Youth Orchestra, securing over $150,000 in funding to provide free after-school orchestra instruction to local students and real-world teaching experience to music education majors.

In San Antonio, Dr. Garcia led the orchestra program at Bush Middle School and was named 2023–2024 Teacher of the Year and a finalist for NEISD District Teacher of the Year. She also served as Region 12 Middle School Coordinator for the Texas Music Educators Association, coordinating events for students across the greater San Antonio area.

Her leadership in the nonprofit arts sector includes her tenure as Artistic Administrator for OPERA San Antonio, where she managed financial operations and helped secure major grants from the NEA, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Kronkosky Foundation. Her design and marketing work also supported branding and outreach for multiple seasons and events.

An active guest conductor and clinician, Dr. Garcia has led numerous region orchestras across Texas and held fellowships with the Los Angeles Conducting Institute, the Allentown Symphony, the International Conducting Institute (NYC), and the International Conducting Workshop and Festival (Bulgaria). She regularly presents on topics of pedagogy, programming, and music education, including appearances at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention and the American Viola Society Festival.

Dr. Garcia is passionate about inclusive access to the arts, community collaboration, and mentoring the next generation of musicians. Her programs and performances consistently reflect a commitment to both excellence and meaningful engagement.

Dr. W.P. Sterneman III

Gus has been with the ACO since 2014 and currently serves as Associate Conductor. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas; a Master’s degree from Butler University in Indianapolis with a double major in Conducting and Music History; and a Doctorate in Opera and Musical Theatre Conducting at Arizona State University.

In addition to his work with the ACO, Gus serves as the Director of Worship and Arts at Abiding Love Lutheran Church. Gus is also the Music Director for the Heart of Texas Chorus, an acappella barbershop chorus in San Marcos, and is an active clinician with the Barbershop Harmony Society. His passion for stagecraft can be seen on display with Austin’s One Ounce Opera as their Technical Director.

Gus spends his free time playing tabletop games with his wife, teaching his two children the finer points of musical theatre, and practicing his passion for lutherie. He feels Menotti is the epitome of English text setting and hesitantly admits to preferring Verdi over Wagner, but always comes home to Beethoven. He enjoys a good pun, but loves a really bad one. And coffee. Lots of coffee.

Dr. Lois Ferrari

Italian-American conductor Lois Ferrari served as Music Director of the Austin Civic Orchestra from 2002-2023. During her tenure, Maestra Ferrari was thrice awarded 2nd place for the American Prize in community orchestra conducting. She was also honored as the first woman to conduct an orchestral performance at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin. Over the years, Dr. Ferrari brought many celebrated guest artists to the ACO stage, including David Amram, Peter Bay, Lauren Lane, Jessica Mathaes, Anton Nel, and Michelle Schumann.

Dr. Ferrari was also intimately involved with nurturing future virtuosi through the ACO’s Pearl Amster Youth Concerto Festival and Chamber Music Program, and with the Texas Rising Stars Concert, presented in collaboration with the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas.

An enthusiastic champion of new music, Dr. Ferrari founded the ACO Composition Contest and is proud to have premiered nearly thirty works during the course of her career. One such work was nominated by the Austin Critics’ Table for Best Symphonic Performance. In addition, she and the ACO were commissioned by composer David Amram to present the Texas premiere of his Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie.

​Dr. Ferrari is also Professor Emeritus of Music at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and was a member of its distinguished faculty for nearly 30 years. During that time she conducted the SU Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Pit Orchestra. She also taught conducting courses and served as host and clinician for the SU Conductors’ Institute in Instrumental conducting.

Maestra Ferrari has served as clinician and guest conductor for all-state, all-county, all-region, and all-city ensembles, from Texas to New York and Washington states. She has also taught music in New York state, for the Levittown and Marcus Whitman public schools.

​A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting, Dr. Ferrari received a full doctoral fellowship and was appointed Associate Conductor of the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble. She also earned a Master of Music degree in conducting and a Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in flute performance and music education from the Ithaca College School of Music. Her principal teachers were Donald Hunsberger, Rodney Winther, David Berman, David Effron, Pamela Gearhart, Larry Doebler, and Donald Neuen.

Originally from Deer Park, NY, Dr. Ferrari now resides in Lewes, Delaware with her husband, Dr. Paul Gaffney, and their black sister kitties, Hilda and Zelda. Her extra-musical interests include cooking, pickleball, and beach strolling.