Denissa Rivas

About Dr. Denissa Rivas

Dr. Denissa Rivas serves as Flute and Music Theory lecturer on the faculty of Pittsburg State University. She holds a DMA from Texas Tech University, a MM from Northwestern State University of Louisiana, a BM from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Performance Diploma from London College of Music.

As a flute artist, Dr. Rivas enjoys performing in a variety of musical styles ranging from the poised and sophisticated Baroque, to the eclectic sounds of contemporary music. She has performed in the United States, Latin America, and Europe, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, the National Flute Conference in Las Vegas, the International Flute Festival in Honduras, and the Pittsburg Chamber Music Festival in Kansas. She has appeared as a soloist with the Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra, the San Pedro Sula Symphony Orchestra, the Vivaldi Camerata of Honduras, and the Westwood Ensemble from Kansas City. She also plays as sub with SoNA Symphony Orchestra and Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra.

An avid chamber music performer, Dr. Rivas frequently plays with her husband, violinist Raúl Munguía, in their ensemble “Duo Capriccioso” as well as in a variety of setting of that genre. In 2016, Dr. Rivas and Dr. Munguía received jointly the Musician of the Year Award by the Kansas Federation of Music Clubs.

In her role as Music Theory teacher, Dr. Rivas believes that a firmly established music theory foundation is essential for the development of musicianship and thus, she strives to find fun but effective methods to teach this musical discipline. In 2015, she was appointed a member of the Academic Board of the San Pedro Sula Philharmonic Foundation to make an assessment and recommendations for the Music Theory and Music History Program at the Escuela de Música Victoriano López in her native country, Honduras.

Dr. Rivas’ research interests as independent scholar includes music by women composers and music from Latin America. These two passions merged when she performed the premiere of Barbara York’s “Measuring Time” (July 2017) a piece for flute, violin, and piano that fuses the urban excitement of American culture with the sensuality of Latin-American rhythms; and also led to the commission and premiere of Honduran composer Norma Erazo’s “Elegía al Zorzal” (March 2018). Since 2018 Dr. Rivas has been presenting a lecture recital on women composers in several venues, including the Music by Women Festival in Columbus, MS; the Women in the Arts conference at UNITEC, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; the 2018 Tilford Conference at Fort Hays University, KS; and recently, at the CAPA 30th anniversary at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. For her presentation on this particular field, Dr. Rivas has received certificates of scholarly recognition by The School of Creative and Performing Arts at NSU, Louisiana; Centro Universitario Tecnológico CEUTEC, Music Area, San Pedro Sula; and The National University of Honduras, Department of Women Studies and Social Sciences, San Pedro Sula, Honduras.