About the Mansfield Philharmonic
The Mansfield Philharmonic is an all-volunteer string ensemble consisting of high school and college students, teachers, active musicians, business professionals, and more! MansPhil welcomes string, woodwind, and brass musicians and collaborates with local guest artists.
The Orchestra
Mission Statement
The Mansfield Philharmonic was founded on the principles of providing accessible and quality musical engagement for all ages whilst promoting the cultural arts through communal outreach and education.
Our History
Originally founded as the Next Gen Chamber Players by three college friends and fellow musicians in May 2017, the Mansfield Philharmonic serves as the first performing orchestra in the city of Mansfield. Upon learning about the strings program in the Mansfield Independent School District starting later that fall, the founders decided the new orchestra students would greatly benefit from having a performing ensemble in their neighborhood! The first (of many) hurdles was to first find adequate rehearsal facilities and concert venue.
After reaching out to several organizations within the city, MansPhil had a breakthrough when the gracious members of First United Methodist Church in Mansfield offered their facilities for rehearsals and concerts. In addition, board members of the Mansfield Commission for the Arts offered their full support and invited the Mansfield Philharmonic to headline at the historic Farr Best Theater for the first concert event in June 2017! These incredible partnerships helped MansPhil officially become a part of the Mansfield community and begin our mission to educate and engage.
The 2017-2018 inaugural season was received with tremendous support by the Mansfield community. Our first performance held at First Methodist Mansfield included a collaboration with the Mansfield Commission of the Arts and string educators from Mansfield ISD. In addition, we premiered several works with then-resident composer Kevin Day, whom often guest conducted. Later in the season, members of the ensemble toured the Mansfield ISD intermediate schools and performed for the beginner string students in a mission to build relationships with the young musicians. The season concluded with the electric performance of Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” with special guest Dr. Eldred Marshall soloing on piano. Dr. Marshall would further lend his musical talents by taking over conducting responsibilities with the newly named Mansfield Philharmonic beginning in the 2018-2019 season!
Founder/Concertmaster
Thao Pham
Thao Pham is a violinist/violist with 18 years of musical experience. While obtaining her culinary arts degree at Tarrant County College, she joined the TCC Southeast Orchestra. This led to her involvement in several more ensembles: Northeast Orchestra, Texas Chamber Music Project, and Keene Camerata.
In addition to performing in various summer musicals, Thao has performed as a featured soloist in numerous concerts and teaches privately for piano and strings. She also teaches sectionals for orchestra students in the Mansfield School District. She won the Arlington Arts League scholarship twice with performances on both violin and viola in 2016 and 2017. When she is not teaching or performing, she gigs around the metroplex as a wedding/event violinist. She previously studied with violinists Tzu-Ying Chan, Ivo Ivanov (Fort Worth Symphony), and Emmanuelle Boisvert (Dallas Symphony). Thao obtained a full scholarship to continue her education in music at Southern Methodist University and received her Bachelor of Arts in Music. During her time there, she studied violin with internationally-acclaimed violinist Chad Hoopes and viola with the co-founder and violist of the Escher String Quartet, Pierre Lapointe. Currently, she is the principal violist of the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, viola section player in the Texarkana Symphony, and in May 2017 Thao was a founding member of the Mansfield Philharmonic where she currently serves as concertmaster and president.
In addition to performing in various summer musicals, Thao has performed as a featured soloist in numerous concerts and teaches privately for piano and strings. She also teaches sectionals for orchestra students in the Mansfield School District. She won the Arlington Arts League scholarship twice with performances on both violin and viola in 2016 and 2017. When she is not teaching or performing, she gigs around the metroplex as a wedding/event violinist. She previously studied with violinists Tzu-Ying Chan, Ivo Ivanov (Fort Worth Symphony), and Emmanuelle Boisvert (Dallas Symphony). Thao obtained a full scholarship to continue her education in music at Southern Methodist University and received her Bachelor of Arts in Music. During her time there, she studied violin with internationally-acclaimed violinist Chad Hoopes and viola with the co-founder and violist of the Escher String Quartet, Pierre Lapointe. Currently, she is the principal violist of the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, viola section player in the Texarkana Symphony, and in May 2017 Thao was a founding member of the Mansfield Philharmonic where she currently serves as concertmaster and president.
Artistic Director/Conductor
Eldred Marshall
The Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA) hailed his “dazzling technique” and his “clean, tidy approach.” Music critic Laurence Vittes described him as an “illumination in music,” and said of his all-Beethoven recital: “Marshall presented a recital so full of musical thrills and beauties, and so in identification with the composer’s own persona, that, for a few hours, it was as if he were communing across the centuries to conjure up a rare and magical musical spectrum.” The Telegraf Online Constanta (Romania) reported that Marshall “captivated the audience” in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, which he conducted from the piano.
Eldred Marshall began studying the piano at age six and played in public by age seven. His prodigious and inquisitive mind allowed him to master large swaths of the piano repertoire quickly as well as consistently win top prizes at the competitions he entered as a child. By 16, he debuted with orchestra, playing Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with the Victor Valley Symphony Orchestra. Before entering into Yale University, where he graduated with honors with a B.A. in Political Science, he had already performed all over the United States.
The critically-acclaimed pianist has performed internationally: Spain, Italy, the Republic of San Marino, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, the Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China. He has performed the entire cycle of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in public, from memory, as a concentrated series, twice: once in Portland in 2007 and in San Francisco in 2008. He followed that project with a full West Coast (US) tour of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 2008 and 2009. In 2016-2017, Marshall toured the US and made his Chinese debut with the Goldberg Variations. In 2018, repeated the tour, of both the US S and China, with Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 – performed from memory. Upcoming recitals include debut appearances in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Birthday in 2020, he will perform the cycle of 5 Beethoven piano concertos, the Choral Fantasy, and the cycle of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include K. C. Manji, Carlo Ponti, Beau Benson, Greg Grabowski, Kevin Torrefiel, Felix Torres, Michelle Merrill, Jonathan Moore, Jessica Morel and Daniel Wiley.
As an orchestral conductor, Marshall has led several international ensembles: The Ukrainian State Academic Orchestra (Kiev, Ukraine), the Kharkov Youth Symphony (Kharkov, Ukraine), the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra (Pleven, Bulgaria), the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra (Vidin, Bulgaria), the Filharmonica Oltenia di Craiova (Craiova, Romania), and the Constanta “Black Sea” Philharmonic Orchestra (Constanta, Romania). In the United States, he has worked as the conductor for the Riverside (CA) Opera Institute’s Children’s Opera Division, and has served as assistant conductor of the Meadows Symphony Orchestra at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the Opera dell’arte Ensemble (NYC). He has collaborated with the University of North Texas (UNT) Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is the Artistic Director/Conductor of the Mansfield Philharmonic, in Mansfield, TX.
In addition to his activities as a concert pianist and orchestra conductor, Marshall is the Artist-in-Residence and Associate Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Garland, TX, where he is the founder and curator of the West Avenue B Community Concert Series. Further, Marshall is the Music Director/Conductor of the Music Ministry Conservatory Choir.
Marshall earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree from UNT in 2018. Additionally, he earned three Master of Music degrees from SMU: piano (2011), organ (2012) and orchestral conducting (2013). Institutions at which he has taught include UNT, SMU, and North Texas Central College. His doctoral dissertation topic was on the art of conducting piano concerti from the piano – performance practice, discipline, and whether or not it is “real conducting.”
Eldred Marshall began studying the piano at age six and played in public by age seven. His prodigious and inquisitive mind allowed him to master large swaths of the piano repertoire quickly as well as consistently win top prizes at the competitions he entered as a child. By 16, he debuted with orchestra, playing Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with the Victor Valley Symphony Orchestra. Before entering into Yale University, where he graduated with honors with a B.A. in Political Science, he had already performed all over the United States.
The critically-acclaimed pianist has performed internationally: Spain, Italy, the Republic of San Marino, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, the Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China. He has performed the entire cycle of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in public, from memory, as a concentrated series, twice: once in Portland in 2007 and in San Francisco in 2008. He followed that project with a full West Coast (US) tour of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 2008 and 2009. In 2016-2017, Marshall toured the US and made his Chinese debut with the Goldberg Variations. In 2018, repeated the tour, of both the US S and China, with Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 – performed from memory. Upcoming recitals include debut appearances in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Birthday in 2020, he will perform the cycle of 5 Beethoven piano concertos, the Choral Fantasy, and the cycle of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include K. C. Manji, Carlo Ponti, Beau Benson, Greg Grabowski, Kevin Torrefiel, Felix Torres, Michelle Merrill, Jonathan Moore, Jessica Morel and Daniel Wiley.
As an orchestral conductor, Marshall has led several international ensembles: The Ukrainian State Academic Orchestra (Kiev, Ukraine), the Kharkov Youth Symphony (Kharkov, Ukraine), the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra (Pleven, Bulgaria), the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra (Vidin, Bulgaria), the Filharmonica Oltenia di Craiova (Craiova, Romania), and the Constanta “Black Sea” Philharmonic Orchestra (Constanta, Romania). In the United States, he has worked as the conductor for the Riverside (CA) Opera Institute’s Children’s Opera Division, and has served as assistant conductor of the Meadows Symphony Orchestra at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the Opera dell’arte Ensemble (NYC). He has collaborated with the University of North Texas (UNT) Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is the Artistic Director/Conductor of the Mansfield Philharmonic, in Mansfield, TX.
In addition to his activities as a concert pianist and orchestra conductor, Marshall is the Artist-in-Residence and Associate Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Garland, TX, where he is the founder and curator of the West Avenue B Community Concert Series. Further, Marshall is the Music Director/Conductor of the Music Ministry Conservatory Choir.
Marshall earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree from UNT in 2018. Additionally, he earned three Master of Music degrees from SMU: piano (2011), organ (2012) and orchestral conducting (2013). Institutions at which he has taught include UNT, SMU, and North Texas Central College. His doctoral dissertation topic was on the art of conducting piano concerti from the piano – performance practice, discipline, and whether or not it is “real conducting.”
Founder/Education Director
Fletcher Rudd
Fletcher Rudd began his musical journey in the Arlington Independent School District after joining the string and band programs at Bryant Elementary. By the time he graduated from James Bowie HS in 2014, Mr. Rudd had performed with the “Spirit of the Volunteers” marching, concert and jazz bands – as well as the chamber, string, and full orchestras. Mr. Rudd also served as Senior Orchestra President as a student conductor under the tutelage of Dianne Campbell and Jennifer Cliborn. In addition to school, Mr. Rudd was a consistent attendee of the UT Arlington Summer Strings Camp coordinated by Royce, Sylvia, and Brian Coatney. From 2012-2014, he was also a member of the Arlington Youth Symphony directed by Dr. Clifton Evans.
Since entering college, Mr. Rudd has remained musically active in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area as a cellist and conductor. In 2017, Mr. Rudd co-founded the Next Gen Chamber Players, now known as the Mansfield Philharmonic, serving as its first conductor and executive director. In the span of five years, the orchestra has grown from a dozen string players to a fully staffed symphonic ensemble. His talents have also led to conducting opportunities with Mid-Cities Strings in 2016 and the B Sharp Youth Orchestras in Fort Worth ISD from 2016-2020. Additionally, he has served as a guest clinician for middle and high school orchestras and as a judge for Texas Solo & Ensemble competitions. Mr. Rudd is a faculty member at Mansfield Summer Strings where he currently directs the camp’s Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Rudd is continuing his undergraduate studies in music education at the University of Texas at Arlington and performs with the UTA Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, the UTASO were invited to perform at the TMEA convention/clinic in San Antonio, TX. Mr. Rudd currently studies cello with Craig Leffer (Dallas Opera) and Laura Ospina (Las Colinas Symphony). He has also studied conducting at workshops directed by Dr. Clifton Evans at UT Arlington and Miguel Harth-Bedoya of the Fort Worth Symphony. Mr. Rudd is a cello/double bass instructor in Arlington and Mansfield ISD and an avid concert-goer of local amateur and professional orchestras. Since 2023, Mr. Rudd has served as the Education Director for the Mansfield Philharmonic where he oversees educational programs and engagement with local school districts in the community. Mr. Rudd is a member of Texas Music Educators Association and Texas Orchestra Director Association.
Since entering college, Mr. Rudd has remained musically active in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area as a cellist and conductor. In 2017, Mr. Rudd co-founded the Next Gen Chamber Players, now known as the Mansfield Philharmonic, serving as its first conductor and executive director. In the span of five years, the orchestra has grown from a dozen string players to a fully staffed symphonic ensemble. His talents have also led to conducting opportunities with Mid-Cities Strings in 2016 and the B Sharp Youth Orchestras in Fort Worth ISD from 2016-2020. Additionally, he has served as a guest clinician for middle and high school orchestras and as a judge for Texas Solo & Ensemble competitions. Mr. Rudd is a faculty member at Mansfield Summer Strings where he currently directs the camp’s Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Rudd is continuing his undergraduate studies in music education at the University of Texas at Arlington and performs with the UTA Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, the UTASO were invited to perform at the TMEA convention/clinic in San Antonio, TX. Mr. Rudd currently studies cello with Craig Leffer (Dallas Opera) and Laura Ospina (Las Colinas Symphony). He has also studied conducting at workshops directed by Dr. Clifton Evans at UT Arlington and Miguel Harth-Bedoya of the Fort Worth Symphony. Mr. Rudd is a cello/double bass instructor in Arlington and Mansfield ISD and an avid concert-goer of local amateur and professional orchestras. Since 2023, Mr. Rudd has served as the Education Director for the Mansfield Philharmonic where he oversees educational programs and engagement with local school districts in the community. Mr. Rudd is a member of Texas Music Educators Association and Texas Orchestra Director Association.