Founded in 1972, The Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra has had over 10,000 students come through our program. Follow us as we pick a new alumni to highlight each month, and read about what they've been up to since gdyo!
Find what you love about music, and hold on to that thing. Music has given me almost everything in my life: a career, a family, fulfillment, you name it! So stick with it.
Troy attended Southern Methodist University for both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in double bass performance. While there, he studied with Thomas Lederer and Brian Perry of the Dallas Symphony, and performed in the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and Meadows Wind Ensemble. In addition to large orchestral ensemble work, Troy has performed on double bass and bass guitar in everything from string duets and new composer concerts to jazz bands, rock bands, worship bands, and choirs. Troy has been teaching privately in the North Texas area since 2013, and his students have received top marks in auditions and competitions, regularly qualifying for all-region, all-state, and rigorous youth orchestra programs. Since his start in music at the age of 10, he has gone on to coach chamber ensembles, perform with symphonies, and direct music clinics for middle and high school orchestras. -Music Review “One always holds one’s breath for the third movement’s double bass solo, a minor-mode version of ‘Frère Jacques.’ Unaccustomed to such spotlit exposure, above their normal playing range, bassists don’t always manage perfect tone and tuning. Hats off, then, to Troy Tippawang, who played it flawlessly.” – Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE GDYO EXPERIENCE OR MEMORY? DO YOU FEEL THAT GDYO IMPACTED YOUR LIFE?
GDYO definitely had an impact on my life. Coming from a pretty small school, I didn’t know that there were groups playing music of that caliber, so it was very exciting for me to have challenging music to practice and great young musicians to challenge (and humble) me.
I was very fortunate to get to go on the Europe tour, which was amazing. I loved getting to play a side-by-side concert with students in Germany. We could barely understand each other speaking, but playing music together was its own language.
TELL US WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO SINCE GRADUATING FROM GDYO.
Since leaving GDYO, I earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in bass performance at SMU. I met my wife, we moved to Allen, TX, and we now have two wonderful kids, a 4-year-old boy and a 1-year-old daughter. My wife and I started an LLC for music teaching (she is a wonderful pianist), and we both feel grateful to be able to play and teach music for a living.
WHAT LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF SO FAR AND WHY?
The life achievement I am most proud of is my family. I’m sure it sounds like a cliche answer, but it’s really true. When I was in youth orchestra and early college, I thought that being in a symphony was the most important thing in the world. When I figured out that the symphony audition circuit wasn’t for me though, I realized that I would need to find my own path in music. Doing this has led to more fulfillment than I could’ve imagined, especially with my family by my side.
TELL US ABOUT SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL AND/OR PROFESSIONAL GOALS FOR THE FUTURE.
Professionally, I have been getting into making instructional music courses. I released my first one in early June for the 2024-2025 Texas All-State Orchestra bass etudes, so if you are a bass player reading this and trying out, check them out before your audition in the fall! It has been a really fun and challenging process to learn about audio production and video editing for these courses. In school I mostly learned how to play and teach music, but I didn’t learn much about the production (or business!) side of things.
WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
My kids inspire me to be better. I feel like a lot of bad things have happened throughout history because of people who grew up without the skills to deal with the difficult feelings that come up in life, so I try to set a good example for my kids. When I see my son help his sister or say thank you to someone without me reminding him, it makes me proud and inspires me to keep setting that example.
ANY HOBBIES, FUN FACTS, OR LIFE HIGHLIGHTS OUTSIDE YOUR CAREER YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
My hobbies are playing music and basketball! I own my upright double bass, 2 bass guitars, a guitar, and a MIDI keyboard. I love learning about all kinds of music. Lately I have been studying jazz charts on the bass guitar and I’ve been listening to Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny. I’m also interested in transcribing some of my favorite melodies from classical music to other instruments like the bass guitar.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO CURRENT GDYO STUDENTS?
My advice for GDYO students is to find what you love about music, and hold on to that thing. Music has given me almost everything in my life: a career, a family, fulfillment, you name it! So stick with it.
THANK YOU TROY FOR STEPPING INTO GDYO’S ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT!
IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SHARING THE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT OR WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE GDYO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, CONTACT CHARILYNE ROJAS AT CHARILYNE@GDYO.ORG.
