Meet Our Directors

Kathryn Evans, Executive Director

A singer, conductor, director, producer, and academic researcher of many diverse talents, Dr. Kathryn Evans has performed and directed music composed from 1200 to contemporary times using a variety of settings and styles. Dr. Evans was the Associate Dean for the Arts in the School of Arts and Humanities from 1999 to 2010 (now the Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology). An accomplished recitalist and chamber musician, Dr. Evans has completed tours of music for voice and guitar with fellow faculty member Dr. Enric Madriguera in Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Spain and Latin America. She co-produced and performed in a series of “composer concerts” with Robert X. Rodriguez, featuring the music of Mozart, Monteverdi, Brahms and Satie. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival. The festival recently celebrated their 22nd anniversary with a series of concerts and competitions for both youth and adults in 2024. Dr. Evans released her 2003 CD, Voz y Guitarra, with guitarist Enric Madriguera, featuring previously unrecorded works of composers John Duarte and Ernesto Cordero. She completed a concert tour to Ecuador in 2007, including appearances on national radio and television program. Dr. Evans is currently the head of the Vocal division of the School of Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas, where she teaches vocal instruction, and a variety of music history courses, as well as interdisciplinary arts education courses. She currently leads three research projects: Self-Care Management Patients with Head and Neck Cancer, An Online course (in conjunction with UT Southwestern); Arts-Based Learning for Business (ABLB) and Curriculum Development in the Arts, Sciences and Humanities (CDASH). Dr Evans was the Co-Director of the Art Science Lab in AHT from 2022 to 2024.

James Wilder, Artistic Director

James continued his work with Enric Madriguera at the University of Texas at Dallas and completed his doctoral degree in 2023. His classical guitar performances have allowed him to tour the US, Central America, and Europe over the past two decades. While working as a soloist and chamber musician, he directed, co-directed, and performed in concerts sponsored by: the Dallas Classic Guitar Society, the Texas Guitar Festival, Eastfield College, Collin College, Southern Methodist University, Chamber Art (Madrid), Guitar Festival of Morelia, Hidalgo national TV and radio, UT Brownsville competition, and the UT Regents award ceremony for UT presidents, past and present. While working at UTD, James performed in chamber groups, such as Robert Rodriguez’s Musica Nova, Jonathan Palant’s Spanish Carols (Susa), and Shingo Fujii’s Concerto de Los Angeles with Grammy-award-winning guitarist William Kanengiser. While teaching at UTD, James had the pleasure of directing the Radiant alumni ensemble, judging the Texas guitar competition, and co-directing the youth competition for the Texas Guitar Festival. James collaborated with recording engineers at UTD to produce guitar ensemble recordings that implement his guitar arrangements. Many of his current arrangements were performed at European summer festivals under the direction of Dr. Enric Madriguera. James currently serves as artistic director of the UTD Texas Guitar Competition and Festival and teaches both guitar and music appreciation courses. James lives in Garland with his spouse and two daughters.

Eddie Healy, Co-director, Youth Competition

Eddie Healy has a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of North Texas and a Master of Music from Southern Methodist University; both in classical guitar performance. He is a member of the music faculty at Dallas College and specializes in guitar, music theory, and ear training instruction. He performs actively in Dallas and Fort Worth as a soloist and with his mezzo-soprano duet partner, Dr. Brandi Estwick. The duo regularly performs and serves as faculty for the annual Chamber Art Festival in Madrid, Spain. They also recently started the online music tutoring service, Motivata Music. Mr. Healy has worked with the annual Texas Guitar Festival and Competition in various capacities since 2010 and has been its youth competition director since 2012. He also serves as the education director for the Annual Houston Classical Guitar Festival and Competition. Among his many original compositions he has composed the theme to a series of podcasts produced by UTD titled, “A Conversation With…”, the alma mater for Rogers Middle School in Prosper, Texas, and the themes to video games such as The Digital Calculus Coach and Marching Ever Onward. He has published the sheet music for his original compositions with Joachim-Trekel Musikverlag of Hamburg, Germany, has fifteen publications to date with Les Productions d’OZ of Quebec, and in 2012 he released a CD titled Direction which consists entirely of his own compositions. He is a member of ASCAP, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the Texas Guitar Directors Association.

Vanessa Corder, Co-director, Youth Competition

Vanessa Corder has been teaching guitar in North Dallas for over 20 years, including privately, giving school lessons, adjunct faculty at Collin College, and adjunct faculty at UTD. She began playing the guitar at a very young age with the Childbloom Guitar Program. Vanessa studied with Sabine Madriguera at Collin College before transferring to SMU, where she completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees studying with Robert Guthrie. Vanessa’s passion is to share her love of music with her students and has enjoyed giving various performances in North Dallas and England.

Dan Hodan, Co-director, Youth Competition

Daniel Hodan began his first two years of classical guitar studies with Dr. John Knowles at Eastfield College. After Eastfield he was awarded an academic/music scholarship to Southern Methodist University where he studied with Robert Guthrie and is an honors graduate (BM). He completed his (MAS) at the University of Texas at Dallas where he also graduated with honors and where he worked and studied with Dr. Enric Madriguera. A member of the University of Texas at Dallas guitar faculty since 2010, Professor Hodan has contributed to the Dallas Classical Guitar Festival and competition as an advisor and judge since 2008. Professor Hodan also teaches for Dallas College, Cedar Valley campus, where he was recognized in 2017 for 40 years of service. He has also held teaching positions with Eastfield, Mountain View and SMU where he has worked with many students who are excelling in the local guitar community including Dr. Bryan Burns, who was recently awarded the guitar chair at SMU. Daniel has performed extensively throughout Texas and the southwest since 1973 including many schools, festivals and community events for the Dallas Classical Guitar Society’s “Guitar in the Community” program and numerous events for the Allegro Guitar Society. A performer in master classes for many well-respected teachers and artists including Jose Tomas, Moreno Torroba, Pepe Romero and Elliot Fisk, and holds diplomas from the Chamber Arts Madrid Music Festival 2009 and 2010, Madrid Spain.