J.D. Salas

Dr. JD Salas received his bachelor's degree in tuba performance from Baylor University in Waco, where he studied with Dr. Michael A. Fischer, and his master's degree from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Kentucky where he served as the teaching assistant studying under Dr. Skip Gray.

Prior to joining SFA's School of Music in 2006, Salas served as Bangkok, Thailand's, first full-time tuba-euphonium professor served as artist/instructor of Tuba and Euphonium Studies at Mahidol University. Other previous teaching appointments include adjunct positions at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where he taught low brass and jazz bass, and instructor of tuba at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

Salas currently performs with the Longview Symphony, The Four Horsemen Tuba-Euphonium Quartet, and the SFA Jazz Doctors. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia through invited participation in many International Tuba Euphonium Association Conferences and solo tours. He also has presented panel discussions and clinics on the tuba's use in the Mexican regional music of Banda Sinaloense.

An accomplished jazz bass player, Salas serves as the director of jazz studies at SFA, coordinating jazz minor studies and directing SFA's Swingin' Axes.

He's performed with:

• Temple Symphony Orchestra
• Louisville Orchestra
• Lexington Philharmonic
• Shreveport Symphony Orchestra
• Disneyland All-American College Band in Anaheim, California
• and the Disneyland Paris International Show Band in Paris, France.

He's performed with many musical legends, including:

• Bobby Shew
• Jiggs Wigham
• Steve Houghton
• Rick Baptist
• and Marvin Stamm.

Salas is a performing artist with Buffet-Crampon U.S.A. and performs on B&S tubas.