Festival Staff

A cowboy from Texas, Martín Quiroga Jr. (1987) earned his Bachelors of Music at the University of Houston and has most recently completed his Masters of Music in Composition at the University of Oregon. Most recently, Quiroga has had performances by  groups such as the Riverside Chamber Orchestra, the University of Oregon Campus Orchestra, GRIT Collaborative, Rosetta Contemporary Ensemble, Space City Performing Arts, Sospiro, and the Space City New Music Festival. An avid educator, Martín has recently joined Lone Star College - Montgomery to teach percussion and music composition.
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Martín is a founding member and Festival Director of the Space City New Music Festival (Houston, TX), a program that focuses on premiering contemporary works over the course of four to five concerts in one week during the month of July.
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Martín Quiroga currently resides in Houston, TX, where he continues to perform regularly and maintains a private studio in the greater Houston area.

Zach Gutierrez is a percussionist and educator from Houston, Texas. 

As a percussionist, Zach has participated in events with Sō Percussion, Alarm Will Sound, 3G Percussion, MUSIQA, The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps, the Transitory Sound and Movement Collective, Yale Percussion Group, Peabody Percussion Group, and more. He has had appearances at The Kennedy Center, Rothko Chapel, Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, Western University, Lone Star College Contemporary Music Festival, and the Space City New Music Festival.

In 2014, Zach co-founded 3G Percussion with his two brothers. The group's performances have featured music by composers such as Alejandro Viñao, Toru Takemitsu, John Cage, Robert Honstein, James Romig, and more. 3G Percussion has performed primarily in Texas and internationally in Canadian cities such as Montreal, Toronto and London. In 2017, 3G Percussion collaborated with Transitory Sound and Movement Collective to present an immersive improvisational experience through the blending of sound, movement, and visual arts titled Freaks, Geeks, Beats, and Feet’s or Feats which featured Lynn Lane, sound and multimedia artist; Danielle Georgiou, Dallas dance artist; Ron Kiley, New York City film artist; and 3G Percussion.

Zach’s diverse career has led him into various musical activities including being a co-founder of the Space City New Music Festival (SCNMF), a vibrant international music festival designed to realize modern compositions and promote the music of our time. SCNMF has brought in participants from around the United States, Mexico, Germany, Canada, and China to the city of Houston, Texas.

Zach Gutierrez completed his undergraduate studies in 2016 at the University of Houston graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and is a licensed K-12 music teacher. In 2019, he completed his Master of Music degree from The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He is currently pursuing a Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University studying with percussion pedagogue Robert van Sice.

  Percussionist, educator, and administrative leader Jacob Gutierrez is crafting a career model of a true 21st century musician. With experience ranging from his touring percussion trio to performances at the Kennedy Center, Gutierrez is charting a career path of entrepreneurialism in tandem with award-winning musicianship.

Gutierrez is most known for his work in cultivating the percussion repertoire, creating evocative concert experiences that both entertain and educate. To this end, he and his two brothers co-founded 3G Percussion, a percussion trio that has toured in Texas and across Canada, and has been featured on multiple Texas radio and press outlets. 3G was also the anointed Guest Ensemble at the 2018 Space City New Music Festival, where he gave the world premiere of Marcus Maroney’s “Escape,” in addition to sixteen other works by composers from around the United States, Mexico, and Germany.

Outside 3G, Gutierrez remains active in soliciting new music—he is a member of several consortiums to commission new works. His career includes performances of percussion’s most celebrated works, including Kaija Saariaho’s “Six Japanese Gardens”, Joseph Schwantner’s “Velocities”, and Alejandro Vinao’s “Book of Grooves”. 

Looking to make as deep an impact as possible for the artistic community, Mr. Gutierrez also serves as Artistic Director of Space City Performing Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves as an educational resource for emerging artists. 

Now based in New Haven, Gutierrez is pursuing a Master of Musical Arts diploma from the Yale School of Music under renowned percussionist Robert Van Sice. Gutierrez holds a Bachelor of Music diploma in Education and Performance from the University of Houston, and a Master of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Jeff Penalber (Pen-all-bur); a graduate of The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, an Audio Engineer/ Production Manager born and raised in Houston, Texas. Throughout his career, Jeff has toured the nation and worked with hundreds of world-class artists from all across the musical spectrum. He is an experienced live sound engineer, broadcast engineer, recording engineer, and sound system technician. Jeff is happily married to the beautiful, Nicole Burgess, and together they raise their little music lover, Tennyson. This will be Jeff’s third year on staff with the Space City New Music Festival.

 “Thanks to the professional team at Space City Performing Arts, for their incredible work, to all the extremely talented artists and composers, who devote countless hours to accomplish such a groundbreaking festival.”

Joshua J. Gutierrez is a multimedia artist and musician from Houston, Texas. Joshua graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and a B.B.A in Economics. His pursuits focus on: the arts, culture and business. 

Joshua expanded his career to include photography after studying Ethnographic Film at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The concepts of holism, physical contextualization, and reflexivity inspire his work and give a unique point of view and style. 

Joshua has a wide spectrum of talents and experience including: cinematography, photography, audio engineering, producing, performing contemporary electronic works as well as experimental rock n’ roll. Notable works include RAGA (2013), MAMMALS (2016), and MIXTAPE 01 (2017). 

Joshua has composed various types of electronic works since 2002. The most recent work was a collaborative composition titled “Box Trap”, that was performed with 3G percussion for Space City Performing Arts in December of 2017.  

Joshua currently resides in San Antonio, Texas where he continues to work with local musicians, artists, and organizations from the surrounding Houston and Austin areas.