Mr. Saldaña came to Ridge Point in 2017 from Wylie East High School located in Wylie, Texas. Prior to his arrival, Mr. Saldana served as the Director of Bands at Wylie East High School and The Colony High School. Previous to those assignments, Mr. Saldana served eight years as the Assistant Director of Bands for the Hebron High School Band in Carrollton, Texas.
During his tenure at Wylie East and The Colony, the band programs made several strides towards excellence and high achievement. In addition to several 1st division and sweepstakes ratings at UIL Marching and UIL Concert Band Contests, The Colony High School Wind Symphony was selected in 2015 as a 5A National Winner for the “Mark of Excellence” National Wind Band Honors Contest for the first time in school history.
While at Hebron, he was privileged to have been part of an award winning band program which included the following achievements: three-time consecutive finalist in the Texas UIL State Marching Band Contest, taking second place in the 2012-2013 school year; performing as the TMEA 5A State Honor Band in 2011; finishing six times as a Super Regional Finalist in the Bands of America San Antonio; participating as a featured performing ensemble at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2009 and 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to these achievements, the band was also awarded the Sudler Shield and Sudler Flag from the John Sousa Foundation.
Mr. Saldaña graduated from the University of North Texas with a BM in Music Education and was a member of the euphonium studio under Dr. Brian L. Bowman. During his academic career at UNT, he had the privilege to perform in masterclasses with euphonium artists such as Mr. Steven Mead, Dr. Mitsuru Saito, Dr. Neal Corwell, Dr. Brian Meixner and Dr. Matt Tropman. He was a member of the UNT Symphonic and Concert Bands under the direction of Mr. Dennis Fisher and Dr. Nick Williams. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he served on the visual staff for the UNT Green Brigade Marching Band. In addition to the Green Brigade, he was also a member of the visual staff from 2002-2004 for the Marcus High School Band in Flower Mound, Texas. Luis has also taught private lessons for the Central Junior High School, Marcus High School and Richland High School Bands in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In 2004, He was a semi-finalist in the Artist Division of the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival held at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan.
An alumnus of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps (Santa Clara, CA), Luis was a member of the euphonium section in 1999, 2000 and 2002 and served as Drum Major for the 2003 season. Mr. Saldana served on the brass staff of the Santa Clara Vanguard for 2018 and 2019 seasons. In 2018, the vanguard was crowned 1st place in the DCI Championships and was the recipient of the 2018 Jim Ott Brass Award for recieving 1st place in Brass.
He has taught at the University of Texas at Arlington Drum Major Camp and served on the instructional staff for the Texas A&M; Commerce Drum Major Camp. Luis continues to be an active marching band and leadership clinician.
