Faculty Research Connections Profile
Eric Posada is a vibrant and diverse conductor, choral educator, and mentor with sixteen years’ experience at the elementary, middle, high school, collegiate, university, community, church, and professional levels. Dr. Posada currently serves as Visiting Professor of Choral Music at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Previous appointments for Posada include Director of Choral Music at Tyler Junior College and Associate Director of Choral Activities at Texas A&M University. A native of McAllen, Texas, Dr. Posada founded the Rio Grande Valley’s first professional chorus, Pasión, and serves as the ensemble’s Artistic Director.
In 2020-2021, Dr. Posada will present interest sessions for the Louisiana Choral Directors Association and the state Music Educators Associations of Oregon, Alabama, Utah, Ohio, Minnesota, and New Jersey. In addition to his work in academia, Dr. Posada has served fourteen years as a Director of Music in liturgical settings, the highlight of which was a performance at Notre-Dame de Paris. Additionally, Posada has held conducting posts with community choruses such as the East Texas Symphony Chorus, Brazos Valley Chorale, and The Lubbock Chorale. A champion of philanthropic work, Dr. Posada’s non-profit organization, Pasión, provides the highest artistic product and administers to the counties of South Texas.
Throughout his career, Dr. Posada has had the distinct honor and privilege of collaborating with esteemed colleagues and ensembles across the world. During the summer of 2022, Posada will lead an international choral festival at St. John’s Smith Square, London alongside composer Shawn Kirchner. In 2019, Dr. Posada’s students from Tyler Junior College had the opportunity to perform under the direction of two-time GRAMMY award winner Craig Hella Johnson. Recently, Posada’s professional chorus, Pasión, presented the Concert World Premiere of and recorded composer Michael John Trotta’s Light Shines in the Darkness. The album was released on iTunes in 2018 and reached #11 on the classical music charts. While at Texas A&M University, Dr. Posada’s choruses performed at Carnegie Hall and toured across Germany and Canada. Noteworthy partnerships during this tenure included projects with the internationally acclaimed Nordic Choir and composers Ola Gjeilo and Shawn Kirchner, as well as the World Premiere of Michael John Trotta’s Tu Sola Remedio.
Postdoctoral work for Dr. Posada has included study with GRAMMY award winner Jerry Blackstone and Dan Bara. Moreover, in 2017 Chorus America honored Posada with a Conducting Fellowship to attend their summer conducting academy at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Posada earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from Texas Tech University and served as graduate assistant under the tutelage of Richard Bjella. Prior to his doctoral studies, Posada was a graduate assistant of Allen Hightower and completed his Master of Music degree in choral conducting at Sam Houston State University. In 2003, Dr. Posada received his Bachelor of Music degree with concentration in Teacher Preparation, also from Texas Tech, at which his conducting teachers were John Dickson, Pamela Elrod, and Gary Lewis.