Music Faculty
Dr. Larry Archambo, Professor of Music 
Joined University in 1988; Education: B.A., Oral Roberts University, M.M., The University of Kansas, D.M.A., The University of Kansas
Dr. Archambo is director of the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble, and together with Mr. Alan Black, directs the Marching Band and the Basketball Pep Band. Dr. Archambo's masters and doctoral degree are in instrumental conducting. He was chair of the Music Program at MSU for seven years. Dr. Archambo teaches low brass, Music Technology, secondary music education courses, beginning and instrumental conducting, and the brass methods course. Dr. Archambo has taught at Thomas A. Edison High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. He is the principal trombonist with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra and a former member of the U. S. Navy Band. Office phone (940) 397-4210. Email Dr. Archambo.
Mr. Alan Black, Assistant Professor of Music
Joined University in 1987; Education; B.A. Brigham Young University, M.A.Boise State University; Doctoral coursework completed, University of Utah.
Alan Black is the director of the MSU Jazz and Percussion programs, and teaches Applied
Percussion, Jazz/Rock Music Appreciation, Percussion Instruments Class, Practicum in
Marching Band, World Music Literature, and music education courses, along with directing
the Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Steel Pan Ensembles. He is the co-director
of the MSU Marching Band and Basketball Pep Band and coordinates the MSU Winterguard,
one of the few university-sponsored competitive colorguards in Texas. He came to MSU in
1987. Prior to MSU, Mr. Black was the Associate Director of Bands at Northern Michigan
University, and taught high school bands in Burley, Idaho and Payson, Utah. Mr. Black was
a percussionist in the first McDonald's All-American Marching Band in 1967. He has played
professionally with symphonies and wind ensembles in Utah, Idaho, and Michigan, and is
now timpanist/principal percussionist with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra. He also
plays drums with the Ken Nelson Big Band and Ken Nelson Quartet and has played
keyboards in Black Magic, a 10 piece soul band. Mr. Black is active in the Texas Music
Educators' Association, The Texas Bandmasters' Association, the Jazz Education Network, and the Percussive Arts Society. Office phone (940) 397-4186. Email Mr. Black.
Mr. Norval Crews, Associate Professor of Music
Woodwinds, Music Appreciation, Instrument Repair. Office phone (940) 397-4294. Email Mr. Crews.
Joined the university in 1970. Education: B.M. University of North
Texas, M.M.E. University of North Texas; Doctoral coursework at the
University of Oklahoma and the University of North Texas.
Mr. Crews teaches applied woodwinds, woodwind methods class,
instrument repair, music appreciation, and jazz/rock music
appreciation. Prior to MSU, Mr. Crews was a band director in the
public schools of Lawton, Oklahoma, served in the U. S. Army for
three years as the enlisted director of the 77th Army Band, and
directed the Symphonic Band and Jazz Band at Cameron College in
Lawton, Oklahoma for five years.
He has played professionally in orchestras in Oklahoma and Texas and
has served as assistant conductor of the Lawton, Oklahoma Philharmonic
Orchestra. He currently plays in the Wichita Falls Chamber Orchestra,
performs with several jazz groups in the Wichita Falls area and performs with his wife as a
popular Jazz Duo.
He has appeared as a soloist and as a clinician at the Texas Music Educators' Association
convention and has also recently published a book on the repair of woodwind instruments.
Dr. David Johnson, Instructor of Music
David Johnson is a composer and violinist currently teaching at Midwestern State
University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He has taught at the University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma, Washington and Mercer University's Townsend School of Music in Macon,
Georgia, where he was chair of theory and composition as well as concertmaster of
the Macon Symphony Orchestra.
Born and raised in California's High Desert, he completed a Bachelor of Music degree
in violin performance and composition at the Thornton School of Music at the University
of Southern California. At Yale, he earned an MM in composition, and went on to
receive a DM in composition from Indiana University.
Some of David's recent commissions have included an oboe piece for the 36th annual conference of the International Double Reed Society, a concert overture celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Macon Symphony, and a piano trio for the Rothko Trio. Recently, his Gnomus for brass choir was premiered by the University of Puget Sound Brass Ensemble, and the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra performed Overture XX for large orchestra, a commission in honor of their 20th anniversary.
Mr. Gary Lewis, Associate Professor of Music
Piano, Music Appreciation. Office phone (940) 397-4185. Email Mr. Lewis.
Joined the University in 1971; Education: B.M., Eastman School of Music; M.M., Michigan State University. Additional study with John Perry and David Renner at University of Texas, Austin.
Awards: Grand prize for his performance of a Twentieth Century Piano Sonata submitted to the Teachers Division-International Recording Competition sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers; Second prize for his performance of a Late Beethoven Piano Sonata submitted to the Teachers Division-International Recording Competition sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
Gary Lewis is presently teaching class piano and music appreciation. At Midwestern, he has also taught applied piano, music history, and basic theory. Prior to coming to Midwestern, he has taught at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas and at Belhaven College, Jackson, Mississippi.
Dr. Don Maxwell, Professor of Music
Joined University in 1971; Education: B.A., Colgate University, B.M., Friends University, M.M., University of Oklahoma, D.M.E., University of Oklahoma
Dr. Don Maxwell is a Professor of Voice and has been a member of the MSU faculty for 40 years. Dr. Maxwell has won numerous awards as a singer, including the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Adjudications, Metropolitan Opera Auditions, and the Bloch Young Artist competition which culminated in two solo engagements with the Oklahoma City Orchestra. His voice students have been winners in major vocal competitions and several have launched singing careers on an international scale. Dr. Maxwell has directed 18 operas and musicals. He frequently serves as a vocal judge for competitions and is in demand as a teacher of master classes.
Dr. Maxwell teaches voice, opera workshop, vocal pedagogy, diction, and vocal performance class. Office phone (940) 397-4242. Email Dr. Maxwell.
Dr. Ruth Morrow, Professor of Music and Chair, Department of Music; Dolores P. Bolin and D. Phil and Aurora S. Bolin Chair of Music
Piano, Keyboard Literature, Accompanying. Office phone (940) 397-4789. Email Dr. Morrow.
Dr. Ruth E. Morrow, NCTM, is the current Dolores P. Bolin and D. Phil and Aurora S. Bolin
Chair of Piano and Chair of the Department of Music at Midwestern State University in
Wichita Falls, Texas. She holds degrees from Indiana University (DM, Piano Performance
and Pedagogy), the Eastman School of Music (MM, Piano; MA, Musicology), and Whitman
College (BA, Music, Philosophy). With a background spans all musical styles and includes
performances throughout the United States and Europe, Dr. Morrow remains in demand
as recitalist, collaborative pianist, and lecturer on topics from ragtime to movement. She
teaches at the Indiana University Piano Academy each summer, and is a Certified
Instructor of the Feldenkrais® Method. In addition to her numerous musical endeavors,
Dr. Morrow is an avid marathon runner.
Dr. James Schuppener, Professor of Music
Director of Choral Activities, Choral Conducting. Office phone (940) 397-4268. Email Dr. Schuppener.
Dr. James Sch
uppener is the Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at MSU.
Dr. Schuppener conducts the University Singers, Midwestern Singers, and the Oratorio
Chorus. He also teaches Choral Conducting, Choral Literature, Vocal Diction, and applied
voice lessons. Before coming to MSU, Schuppener was Professor of Music at
Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas for twenty years. Schuppener has also taught
on the faculties of Lincoln College, Ripon College, and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Choirs under his direction have performed in Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas,
Oklahoma, Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, and Washington, DC.
He has also conducted choirs that have toured Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.
Dr. Schuppener has earned a D.M.A. in Conducting from the University of Arizona, M.M. in
Vocal Performance from Illinois Wesleyan University, and B.M.E. from Milton College. He
has also done graduate work at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
MSU Home
Department of Music, 3410 Taft, Wichita Falls
TX 76308, (940) 397-4267