Samuel Fraga Escalante, PhD
Senior Coordinator, Program Expansion
Dr. Samuel Fraga Escalante joins the Music Will team as Senior Coordinator, Program Expansion. He brings experience as both a music educator in public schools and universities, as well as a strategic social justice consultant on projects for nonprofit organizations across the country. As a music educator, Samuel specialized in instrumental music, having taught band and guitar ensembles in middle schools and high schools, and went on to teach pre-service and in-service music educators at the University of Texas at San Antonio, including curricula in popular music education pedagogy. As a social justice consultant, Dr. Fraga Escalante specialized in racial equity and strategic planning for a variety of nonprofits, philanthropic institutions, and governments, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, the American Medical Association, and the Departments of Health for both Vermont and Washington State.
During his time teaching in Texas schools, and in his graduate work, Dr. Fraga Escalante was a frequent presenter and published researcher, presenting at conferences and gatherings of the National Association for Music Education, the American Educational Research Association, the American Sociological Association, the Society for Music Teacher Education Symposium, the International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education, and the Texas Music Educators Association. His work is published in The Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Southwestern Musician, and he is a contributing author for the book Sociological Thinking in Music Education: International Intersections from Oxford Press. In 2018, Samuel was awarded the Perry R. Bass Fellowship in Music Education.
Samuel is a lifelong musician, having started out with woodwinds in junior high band and expanding to guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums outside of school. Although he did not find wind band fulfilling at his high school and decided to leave, his passion for music and teaching carried him to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas. Throughout his time as a band and guitar director, Samuel was a staunch proponent of popular and culturally responsive music in schools, such as mariachi. While teaching, he went on to earn both a Master’s degree in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of North Texas where he specialized in the sociological study of race among music students and teachers.
Samuel believes in the liberating power of both music and education to transform lives. As a first-generation Mexican immigrant, he is committed to a better world in which students of all backgrounds, races, genders, and abilities are afforded fulfilling opportunities to explore their identities, their values, their strengths, and their communities through music.
Samuel has performed in a variety of rock, pop, and jazz bands for several years and currently plays guitar, horns, and keyboard for the pop rock band Fishboy. When not working or playing video games, Samuel loves spending quality time with his partner and their fur babies more than anything else.
Music Will build friendships and community across the world .