Eric Posada

Eric Posada is the Director of Choral Music at Tyler Junior College (TJC) and Director of Traditional Worship at First United Methodist Church Paris. 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. Prior to his appointment at TJC, Posada resided in Bryan-College Station and held the titles of Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Texas A&M University, Artistic Director/Conductor of the Brazos Valley Chorale, and Director of Music at St. Joseph Catholic Church. 

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 2020, Posada will conduct his professional chorus Pasión and lead a choral festival at Cadogan Hall, London alongside composer Shawn Kirchner. Most recently, 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 soared to #11 on the classical music charts. While at Texas A&M, Dr. Posada’s choruses performed at Carnegie Hall and toured across Germany and Canada. Noteworthy collaborations during this tenure included projects with the acclaimed Nordic Choir and composers Ola Gjeilo, Michael John Trotta, and Shawn Kirchner. With periods in Lewisville and Brownsville, Posada successfully taught public school choir in Texas. His ensembles received numerous sweepstakes awards and Best in Class trophies, and he remains active as a clinician and adjudicator across the state. As a church musician, Dr. Posada has served in liturgical settings for the past twelve years, and in 2010, the Texas Choral Directors Association (TCDA) awarded him the Abbott-IPCO Professional Scholarship.  

Postdoctoral work for Dr. Posada includes study with 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 DMA degree in choral conducting from Texas Tech University and served as graduate assistant under the tutelage of Richard Bjella. Before his doctoral studies, Posada was a graduate assistant of Allen Hightower and completed his Master of Music degree 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.    

Additional conducting for Dr. Posada has included engagements in France, with the Brazos Valley Symphony, the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region XV Treble Choir, and at the TCDA Convention during the summer of 2012. Coupled with his mentors, other prominent musical influences throughout Dr. Posada’s career include Paul Salamunovich, Donald Neuen, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Kenneth Davis.