The Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin has named Cliff Croomes as the new associate director of bands and the director of the Longhorn Band. He will step into this new role June 1.
“I am thrilled to return to my Longhorn roots at The University of Texas at Austin,” Croomes said. “I have a long history with the Longhorn Band, and it’s a dream come true to lead this program. I’m honored to work with these talented students as we write the band’s next chapter.”
Croomes is a 2001 graduate of the Butler School of Music and an alumnus of the Longhorn Band. He most recently served as the assistant director of bands at Louisiana State University and as the music director and principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Baton Rouge.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Cliff Croomes as he returns to the Forty Acres,” said Professor Jerry Junkin, director of University Bands. “A native Texan, former member of the Longhorn Band, successful Texas public school band director, and most recently on the faculty of Louisiana State University, Dr. Croomes is one of the finest musicians and human beings that I know. I am extremely excited to watch the Longhorn Band under his leadership, and I know that our students will love working with him.”
The Longhorn Band, also known as the Showband of the Southwest, was founded in 1900 by a distinguished professor of chemistry, Eugene P. Schoch. The band performs at all in-state football games, for various Texas Longhorn athletics teams and at special pep rallies and parades throughout the year. The band includes more than 380 students from across many majors, all of whom rehearse and perform as part of a year-round Longhorn Band course offered by the Butler School of Music. Croomes will be the 15th director of the Longhorn Band and succeeds Scott Hanna in the role.
Prior to his time in Baton Rouge, Croomes served as the director of bands at Georgetown High School in Georgetown, Texas. Under his baton, the Georgetown Wind Symphony was named a 2014 Mark of Excellence Commended Winner. Earlier in his career Croomes was the associate director of bands at Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Texas. He has also taught at Westview Middle School, Pflugerville High School and Bastrop High School. He has also served on the faculty of the University of Texas Longhorn Music Camp from 2001 to 2014.
Cliff Croomes and former Longhorn Band Director Vincent R. DiNino.
Croomes earned his Bachelor of Music Studies degree from UT’s Butler School of Music, and he holds both his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from LSU. He is an alumnus of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps from Rosemont, Illinois. He has performed with ensembles throughout the United States, London, Paris, Switzerland, Germany and Italy and has served as an international consultant throughout Japan. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician for marching and concert bands throughout Texas and Louisiana.
Croomes holds an artist/educator endorsement with Innovative Percussion Inc. and is a founding board member of the composer diversity initiative “And We Were Heard,” as well as a member of the Dr. William P. Foster Project advisory board. Croomes holds an honorary membership in Kappa Kappa Psi, as well as professional memberships in the Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, the Percussive Arts Society, Louisiana Music Educators Association and the Texas Music Educators Association.
