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Noel Martin

Adjunct Instructor in Violin
School of Music
One Bear Place #97408
Baylor University
Waco TX 76798-7408
Phone: (254)710-3571
Fax: (254) 710-3574

Noel Martin lives in Houston, Texas where he performs with the Houston Ballet Orchestra, which he joined in 2000, the Houston Grand Opera, with whom he has performed frequently since 2001, and Mercury Baroque. In addition, he appears on many concerts throughout the season in collaboration with a variety of ensembles and arts organizations in the performance of chamber concerts and baroque music.

Originally from Waco, Texas, Noel Martin began taking lessons at the age of five with Dr. Julia Hardie and grew up in a musical family, playing chamber music with his brothers and sisters. During his high-school years he studied with Stephen Heyde and Fredell Lack spending summers at Meadowmount, Killington, and Bloomington Indiana, where he studied with Margaret Pardee and Josef Gingold. He attended Baylor University and earned a bachelor's degree studying under Bruce Berg, and later attended graduate school at Rice University earning a master's in music under Kenneth Goldsmith. He also holds master's degree from the University of St Thomas, where he studied theology and is currently on faculty in the music department.

In addition to working with the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet, he has performed with many other orchestras including the Houston Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra X, Maggini, the American Pops orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. He has served as assistant concertmaster with the Missouri Symphony, the Amadeus Chamber Ensemble, and the English School of Opera Festival Orchestra, in Kingston England. An active baroque violinist, Mr Martin performs many concerts each season with early music groups in Houston and elsewhere, including Mercury Baroque, with whom he has served as principal second violin, performed as soloist, toured, recorded, and done live radio and TV broadcasts. He also plays as a guest with Ars Lyrica, the Bach Society of Houston, the Aquinas Ensemble and has appeared with the St Cecelia Orchestra of Austin, Americantiga, and the Bach Collegium of San Antonio. In collaboration with dance companies such as the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, he has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician in a number of works. Mr Martin has performed with several chamber groups including the Baylor Trio, with whom he was on faculty at the Alfredo St Malo Festival in Panama. He has also toured in Japan with his sextet, getting an enthusiastic reception in cities such as Tokyo, Sendai, and Osaka.