Dr. Cheyenne Cruz’s playing has been described as “above and beyond the mastery of [her] instrument" and her compositions as “playful, full of humor and whimsy, almost filling the air with laughter” by Audiophile Audition. Dr. Cruz joined the University of Texas-Arlington faculty in 2016, where she teaches a thriving clarinet studio, leads clarinet choir, and coaches chamber music. She was selected as a Buffet Performing Artist in 2017, and recently joined D’Addario Woodwinds as an Artist Endorsee. Cruz holds positions on clarinet and bass clarinet with the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, the Longview Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Cruz has also appeared with the Dallas Winds, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, and the San Angelo Symphony. Currently, she is a member of the Madera Wind Quintet alongside her husband, bassoonist Jorge Cruz, and previously she composed and performed for the electro-acoustic duo WoodWired. Described as “Fabulous. Adventurous. Spellbinding.” by KZSU Stanford, WoodWired’s album “In the Loop” was released in 2018 under the University of Texas-Arlington Record label.

A firm believer in the intersection of performance and pedagogy, Cruz recently performed Scott McAllister’s Black Dog concerto with the UT-Arlington Wind Ensemble at the Texas Music Educators Association Conference in 2017, and frequently performs for the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest conferences. Dr. Cruz holds a Bachelor of Music from McMurry University, a Master of Music from Florida State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas. Her primary clarinet teachers were Dr. Kimberly Cole Luevano and Dr. Frank Kowalsky.