Meet our Team
Susan Fain
Executive Director & Founder
Susan Fain performs locally as a free-lance musician in the DallasFort Worth area. She completed a Master of Musical Arts in Flute Performance and Musicology at Eastern Washington University followed by a Doctor of Musical Arts in Flute Performance at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Fain also earned a clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy and has several years experience working in orthopedic physical therapy out-patient clinics. Her DMA dissertation, An Application of Anatomy, Physiology, and Neurology to the Balancing and Playing of the Flute, brought together her interest in music and medicine, and won the National Flute Association’s 2010 Dissertation Competition. Dr. Fain has performed with the Great Falls Symphony, the Chinook Winds (its resident woodwind quintet), and the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as school affiliated orchestras as part of her higher education degrees. She is an active member of the E. Clyde Whitlock Music Club which is part of the Fort Worth Woman’s Club. Dr. Fain has performed for a variety of civic organizations including the Friends of Jane Austen, the Jane Austen Society of North Texas, the Women of Rotary-Arlington, and various clubs within the Fort Worth Woman’s Club. As an “evangelist” for classical music, she enjoys reaching audiences not only through performances, but also in lectures and workshops. Dr. Fain thoroughly enjoyed teaching Senior Seminars at the University of Oklahoma and TCU on subjects related to music history. She has presented at several national flute clubs on the importance of health awareness among musicians. A lifelong learner, Dr. Fain still studies flute with Patricia George, one of the flute community’s most respected pedagogues. Her current project is developing the newly created Fort Worth Medical Orchestra and the Fort Worth Medical Flute Choir. Dr. Fain is married to yet another Dr. Fain (MD). They have five adult children, nine grandchildren, and thankfully no pets.
Matthew Lovelace currently serves as Director of Orchestras at The Colony High School in Lewisville ISD. He is a student of Dr. Germán Gutiérrez at Texas Christian University and will graduate with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting in May. He also serves as the inaugural conductor of the Fort Worth Medical Orchestra, the first ensemble of its type in the DFW area, dedicated to connecting those in the medical profession through music. He was named a finalist for the 2021 American Prize in Conducting – College/University Orchestra Division. He previously served as Music Director for Texas Hill Country Opera and Arts where he conducted annual performances of the company’s New Year’s Eve production of Die Fledermaus. Additionally, he conducted the world premiere of the chamber version of the one act opera Lady Bird: First Lady of the Land by composer Henry Mollicone and librettist Sheldon Harnick. Before attending TCU, he was a public-school orchestra director for five years. Previous conducting posts include Orchestra Director of the Trinity University Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the University of Texas at San Antonio Symphony. Lovelace earned a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Texas at San Antonio where he studied conducting with Eugene Dowdy and violin with Stephanie Westney. His undergraduate degree is from Tarleton State University where he studied percussion with Rich Bahner and piano with Leslie Spotz. Before beginning graduate studies at TCU, he was active as an actor and music director at Circle Arts Theatre in New Braunfels, TX. He is an inaugural member of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Leadership Council of Tarleton State University and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda.
Matthew Lovelace
Music Director
Mitchell Manlapig
Operational Director
Dr. Mitchell Manlapig is an American conductor and pianist based in Fort Worth, Texas, with a career spanning professional orchestras, opera productions, and academic institutions. He currently serves as the conductor for the Texas Christian University (TCU) Opera Department and holds an adjunct faculty position at TCU. He was recently awarded a conducting fellowship with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and served as Assistant Conductor for Fort Worth Opera’s 2024 production of La bohème, under the direction of Miguel Harth-Bedoya. In the same year, he was named a National Finalist (Honorable Mention) by The American Prize in Conducting and conducted the TCU Symphony in a featured performance at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) convention. Dr. Manlapig earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Christian University in 2025, where he was honored with the Outstanding Graduate Service Award. At TCU he played a key role in the opera department, serving as principal conductor for multiple productions. He holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM), where he served as acting director and manager of the UWM Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the University/Community Orchestra. During his time at UWM, he worked closely with renowned conductors, including Ken-David Masur, and was selected for the 2021 Chicago Conducting Masterclass and Workshop Series with Donald Schleicher. His undergraduate studies were completed at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he was assistant conductor of the OBU/Shawnee Community Orchestra and conducted wind ensembles, chamber ensembles, choirs, and a fully staged production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in 2020. He is a two-time winner of OBU’s annual Concerto-Aria Competition and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society. He was also awarded OBU’s Outstanding Senior in the Division of Music and the W.P. Blake Award, the university’s highest undergraduate honor.