Eric Esparza

Eric Esparza is currently associate professor and Director of Choral Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University in Boston, MA where he studied with Dr. Ann Howard Jones, David Hoose, Scott Metcalf, and Joshua Rifkin. His areas of research include: Choral Conducting, Manuscript Editing, and 17th-century Italian vocal music, especially the music of the maestri di cappella at St. Mark’s Basilica.

Dr. Esparza has taught undergraduate and graduate students in DePaul’s choral ensembles, choral literature classes, and independent studies. He also oversees the administrative needs of the Voice Area. He earned his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at Rice University in Houston, TX. Dr. Esparza holds a master of arts degree in arts administration from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL, and a master of music degree in choral conducting from Rice University in Houston, TX.

Dr. Esparza is an experienced conductor, singer, music editor, and administrator. He has worked in liturgical music most of his adult life, and worked at Houston Grand Opera before his first university appointment at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. Dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in choral music and the conducting field, Dr. Esparza founded International Voices Houston and was previously the primary conductor of the United Nations Association International Chorus in Houston, and artistic director of Windy City Performing Arts, the umbrella name for the Windy City Gay Chorus and the Windy City Treble Quire in Chicago.