Pedro Funes-Whittington, bass viola da gamba

Pedro Funes-Whittington is the Orchestra Director at Bonnette Junior High in Deer Park ISD. He also is the director of Viols of Deer Park, which is open to orchestra students at Bonnette JH and Deer Park HS. He graduated from the University of Houston where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Double Bass Performance under Dennis Whittaker. In addition, he received his Master's Degree in Early Music Performance at Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied viola gamba and vielle with Wendy Gillespie and performed baroque bass in the IU Baroque Orchestra under Stanley Ritchie.

He was previously the Orchestra Director at Park View Intermediate School in Pasadena ISD, Assistant Orchestra Director at Oak Ridge HS in Conroe ISD, and Assistant Orchestra Director at Woodcreek MS in Humble ISD, where numerous Sweepstakes awards were received by the orchestras under his direction. While he was at Woodcreek MS, the Chamber Orchestra won Commended in Mark of Excellence in 2019 and 2020, and Sinfonia Orchestra (non-varsity) won Citation of Excellence in 2020.

Pedro co-founded Les Touches in 2011, and they were one of the 10 finalists in the York Young Artist International Competition in 2015. He also founded Aquila Di Guerra (2015-2019) and Viols of the Creek (2019-2023). These were viol ensembles that featured students from the public school (Oak Ridge HS and Woodcreek MS) and were featured at Boston Early Music Festival in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

He has performed across Texas with Austin Baroque Orchestra (Principal Bass), Ars Lyrica, La Folia Austin Baroque, Austin Troubadours, Bach Society of Houston, and Texas Early Music Project. In addition to performing, he is also the President of Viols of Houston. He has been a faculty member at the Texas Toot and Viola da Gamba Society of America’s Conclave. He has two cats named Marais and Elsa, and is married to Kallop Whittington.