Staff Directory

Violinist Frank Almond held the Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for 25 years. He has also held the Concertmaster position with the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev and Guest Concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra with Kurt Masur.

Frank regularly performs as a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and as soloist and chamber musician throughout the US and Europe. He is the founder of his own chamber music series in Milwaukee, Frankly Music, consistently recognized for innovative programming and its ability to attract leading performers from around the world, most recently including Lynn Harrel, Orion Weiss, and the Miró Quartet.

At 17, Frank Almond was one of the youngest prizewinners in the history of the Nicolo Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy, and five years later was one of two American prizewinners at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which was documented in an award-winning PBS film.

His extensive recording discography includes a wide range of repertoire on various labels that have garnered multiple Grammy nominations.

His most recent series of recordings, A Violin’s Life, chronicles the extraordinary history and lineage of his current violin, the 1715 Lipiński Stradivarius. This instrument has direct ties to Giuseppe Tartini, Edvard Grieg, Johannes Brahms, and Robert and Clara Schumann.

On January 27, 2014, the “ex-Lipiński” Stradivarius was stolen from Mr. Almond in an armed robbery after a concert. The violin was recovered nine days later, and the story continues to make headlines around the world. The robbery and recovery are the subject of a new documentary film, “Plucked,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April (2019). Frank was also featured at Lincoln Center on “The Moth Radio Hour,”the critically acclaimed story-telling program heard on Public Radio stations nationwide.

Community outreach and giving back to the Milwaukee community are also at the heart of Frank Almond’s artistic priorities. He mentors young musicians of all performing levels and backgrounds, and performs in nontraditional venues where classical music has a rare and unusual presence.

Frank holds two degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy Delay, Michael Tseitlin, Felix Galimir, and Joseph Silverstein.  He currently serves on the Faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago and is the Johnston Family Artist-in-Residence at the Milwaukee Youth Symphony, one of the largest youth arts programs in the United States. Previous teaching positions include positions at Northwestern University and Texas Christian University.

Frank Almond writes an online column, as he admits, “instead of practicing.”  Nondivisi offers his thoughts, hopes and expectations for the present and future of classical music and other topics.

More information about Frankly Music, A Violin’s Life and the Lipiński Stradivarius is available at frankalmond.com.

MYSO alumna Sonora Brusubardis has been a coach for MYSO’s String Orchestra North for the last five years. In addition to her role as a MYSO coach, she is a violin instructor for MYSO’s Progressions Program and the organization’s Community Artists Coordinator. In 2018, Sonora became certified to teach Suzuki violin and viola, and in 2020, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in violin and viola performance. She currently has a studio in the Summit area teaching violin, viola, and beginner piano to students of all ages.

Programs

String Orchestra

Progressions

James Burmeister recently retired as Assistant Dean of the UW-Milwaukee (UWM) Peck School of the Arts and Senior Lecturer in Music Theory. In addition to teaching in the Music Theory area, Jim taught organ and graduate score reading (playing choral and orchestral scores at the piano).

He served as coordinator of the UWM Music Department Tutoring Center providing peer tutoring in all of the required freshman and sophomore music theory and piano courses.

As advisor for the UWM Delta Eta Chapter of the Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity, Jim was instrumental in the chapter’s numerous awards for excellence and scholarship.

In 2010, he was one of five recipients of the UWM-SAC Award for “excellence in teaching students with special needs while maintaining high academic standards.”

Jim’s undergraduate and graduate degrees are from the University of Michigan School of Music.

Margery Deutsch was Music Director of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Senior Symphony  from 1987 to 2020 and led them on numerous international tours to critical acclaim. Under her leadership and direction, the Senior Symphony has performed in Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, China, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Canada (British Columbia and Quebec) and Scotland, where the orchestra performed as part of the Festival of British Youth Orchestras and the Edinburgh Festival. In the summer of 2015, she led them on a concert tour to Vienna and Budapest where they performed at MuTh Concert Hall, the Musikverein’s Golden Hall, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall and Gödöllő Palace. In 2012, she led the Senior Symphony on a ten-day tour of Vienna and Prague where they were chosen to perform on the Gala Winners’ Concert as part of the 2012 Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival. In 2000, the Senior Symphony was chosen as one of only five U.S. youth orchestras to participate in the National Youth Orchestra Festival in Sarasota, Florida. Deutsch has conducted the orchestra in performances at Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Wisconsin Music Educators Conference (North Central Division) and the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Named Professor Emeritus in 2012, Ms. Deutsch was Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1984-2012. She serves as the Music Director of UWM’s University Community Orchestra, an ensemble of over 120 musicians ranging in age from 12 to 100. The orchestra is comprised of college, high school, and middle school students and community members. Ms. Deutsch is actively involved with high school-age musicians throughout the country and is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator. She has served four terms on the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestra’s Youth Orchestra Division.

Prior to coming to Milwaukee, Ms. Deutsch served as Music Director of the Shreveport (LA) Symphony where she conducted classical, chamber orchestra, pops and children’s concerts, as well as operas. Versed in both orchestral and choral repertoire, she was Music Director of the Long Island Singers Society and, in Milwaukee, has guest conducted The Master Singers, Bel Canto Chorus, Milwaukee Choristers, Lawrence University Choir, Milwaukee Children’s Choir and the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.

Deutsch has been a frequent guest conductor for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Youth, Children’s and Family concert series. In addition, she has worked with the Sewanee Music Festival (TN), Sheboygan Symphony, Aurora University’s Music by the Lake Opera Theater, Women’s Philharmonic (CA), Plymouth (MI) Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Charleston (SC) Symphony, Nebraska Sinfonia, Monroe (LA) Symphony, South Dakota Symphony, and the all-state orchestras of Massachusetts, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, Minnesota, Montana, Delaware, Maine and most recently, New York, as well as numerous district festivals throughout the country.

The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Ms. Deutsch received the 2001 Milwaukee Civic Music Association Award for Excellence in Contributions to Music and the 1990 UWM Undergraduate Teaching Award. She has been awarded conducting fellowships and scholarships from the Aspen Music Festival, the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and the Nebraska-based “Festival of a Thousand Oaks.” She was also invited to participate in the conducting seminar at Tanglewood where she took master classes with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa and Colin Davis. Her other teachers include Thomas Briccetti, Franco Ferrarra, Bruno Bartoletti, Piero Bellugi, Sergiu Commisiona and Dennis Russell Davies; she has also studied flute with Samuel Baron and voice with Jan DeGaetani. A native New Yorker and Regents Scholar, she holds a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting, a Master of Arts degree in Musicology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Flute and Vocal Performance.

Daniel Duffy has enjoyed serving as Music Director of MYSO’s Philharmonia since 2014 and joined the MYSO administrative team as Artistic Administrator in 2020.

Mr. Duffy retired as director of instrumental music at Waukesha West High School in 2020. His public school teaching career spanned 35 years and included successful music programs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Prior to his appointment at Waukesha West, he served as Associate Director of Bands at Kansas State University.

His educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from The Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he served as a Graduate Conducting Associate.

Passionate about the achievement of excellence through musical performance, Mr. Duffy served on the board of directors of the National Band Association Wisconsin Chapter, was the NBA Wisconsin All-State Band Coordinator, and served as percussion section coach of the Wisconsin School Music Association State Honors Band and Orchestra.

Mr. Duffy’s performance groups have received critical acclaim at regional and national events since 1985. Ensembles under his direction have performed at three WMEA State Music Conferences, eight National Band Association Wisconsin State Conventions, and four NFL half-time shows for the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. He also coordinated performance tours in Boston, Dallas, New Orleans, St. Louis, Orlando, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Programs

Philharmonia

Thomas Dvorak is Professor Emeritus/Director of Bands at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he served as Professor and Director of Bands from 1979 until his retirement in 2007. He served as Music Director of Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Wind Ensemble from the ensemble’s inception in 1988 until 2018. He currently serves as the organization’s Conductor Laureate.

Professor Dvorak has had a very distinguished career, appearing as a conductor/guest lecturer in 29 states as well as Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. In November 2007, he served as the headliner/lecturer for the Manitoba Canada Province Music Educators Conference. He became the first American conductor to serve at the University of Lauceston’s Summer Music School in Tasmania, Australia, where he also performed as Principal Trumpet in the faculty brass quintet in 1994.

He has received numerous awards, including an “Outstanding Secondary Educator of America” award in 1974 for his distinguished work with the McFarland, WI, band program, and he has received the “Citation of Excellence” by the National Band Association six times for his achievements and contributions to bands. He has twice been honored by the prestigious American School Band Directors Association for lectures he has presented at two of their national conventions, in Duluth, MN, and in Brookfield, WI. His former conducting students now hold prominent positions in our nation’s middle and high schools, college and professional conducting positions, with youth orchestras and with the United States Service Bands.

Professor Dvorak is the author of many articles concerning repertoire, composers and conducting. He is the senior author of a repertoire series for school bands entitled “Best Music for Beginning, for Middle School, and for High School Band.”

He has held offices as President and Vice-President in both the College Band Directors National Association and the National Band Association. His leadership and commitment to the profession have involved him in changing, promoting and elevating music education and performances for students and bands/wind ensembles of all ages, and at all levels of performance.

In September 2004, Professor Dvorak was honored by the Instrumentalist Magazine, with a cover photo and interview discussing his music making and philosophy of teaching. This past year, Professor Dvorak was honored by having a doctoral dissertation written on his life as a conductor and educator.

Researched and written by Dr. Scott Corley of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, the dissertation is housed in the library collection at the University of Iowa.

In July 2014, he was honored with the Austin Harding outstanding achievement award for his contributions in the development of American school bands at the 60th annual convention of the American School Band Directors Association (ASBDA).

At UW-Milwaukee, a scholarship for music students bears his name, and each year a deserving freshman is awarded with this prestigious scholarship.

Programs

Wind Ensemble

Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Music Director John Emanuelson was honored as “Music Teacher of the Year” by the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. He also received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Mequon-Thiensville School District, the MT Education Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award, and is a Herb Kohl Foundation Excellence in Teaching Kohl Fellowship recipient. He is presently serving in his 21st year as Director of Orchestras at Homestead High School in Mequon, where he has also taught AP Music Theory.

Active as an orchestral violinist and violist, Mr. Emanuelson has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony and is a frequent member of the Kenosha and Festival City Symphony Orchestras. He has served as the First Violin Section Coach for the WSMA All-State Honors Orchestra. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Lawrence University. He studied violin with Oswald Lehnert, Pasquale Laurino, and Patricia Anders. At CU, Mr. Emanuelson was a Suzuki Pedagogy student of William Starr and studied Baroque performance practices with Elizabeth Farr, performing in the CU Early Music Ensemble. He has studied conducting with Richard Hynson.

Growing up in the Milwaukee area in the 1980s, Mr. Emanuelson participated in the MYSO program (then MFY), starting in sixth grade as a violinist and string bassist. He also studied music theory with Dr. John Downey.

He is thrilled and honored to be a part of the conducting faculty of MYSO and is excited to share his knowledge of and passion for orchestra music with the talented student musicians of the Metropolitan Symphony.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is a registered Suzuki cello teacher and has worked internationally with students, schools, and ensembles as a clinician. As an active member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, he has completed training with Pam Devenport, Carey Beth Hockett, Barbara Wampner, Dr. Tanya Carey, Dr. Beth Cantrell, Dr. Shu-Yi Scott, Laura Shaw, and Avi Friedlander. He currently maintains an active Suzuki cello studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Prior to living in Milwaukee, Mr. Fitzpatrick was an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he taught cello and Music Education courses preparing students for careers in Music Education. He also taught at the Fairbanks Suzuki School of Talent Education, the Anchorage Suzuki Institute, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, the Alaska Cello Intensive, and founded the Fairbanks Cello Festival. He has served as President of the Alaska chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and was a conductor for Fairbanks Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has been an active member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), served on the board for the Alaska Music Educators Association (AMEA), and been a regular presenter at various state Music Education conferences.

In addition to his teaching, Mr. Fitzpatrick has an active musical career across the United States as a soloist and chamber musician. He has given several regular solo recitals and performed in numerous orchestras, including serving as the assistant principal in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and participating in the Aspen Music Festival. Most recently, he was the principal cellist of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Alaska Trio, which performed with pianists at the 2017 Yamaha International E-Piano Competition.

Mr. Fitzpatrick earned his degrees from Indiana University Bloomington and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His primary cello teachers have included Dr. Carol Semmes, Dr. Emilio Colón, and Daniel McDonough of the Jupiter String Quartet, with additional long-term studies with Richard Aaron, Dr. Helga Winold, and Marc Coppey.

Mr. Fitzpatrick currently performs on a 2017 William Whedbee cello.

Programs

• Prelude Orchestra
• String Orchestra

Andrew Hacker is Director of Instrumental Music and Music Department Manager at Menomonee Falls High School. As a community music advocate, he is the music director and conductor of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra Wind Ensemble. His previous teaching assignments were with Hartford Union High School, the Waukesha School District, and Waukesha Catholic School System.

Mr. Hacker is an active musician in the state of Wisconsin and frequently performs on tuba, bass trombone, and euphonium with a wide range of ensembles. He Is assistant conductor and principal tubist with the Milwaukee Philharmonic. In 2009, he was invited to lecture on the topic of “Improvisation Through Folk Wind Music” for the international convention of Gauverband Nordamerika and repeated this clinic at the 2011 and 2013 conferences. Mr. Hacker plays an active role in folk wind music in the Midwest and is the founder and music director of Blaskapelle Milwaukee, an 18-piece European-style wind ensemble. In 2007 and 2017, the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame inducted him into the organization for the Youth Achievement Award and Youth Mentor Award, respectively. In 2015, the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee named Mr. Hacker as Music Teacher of the Year and the University of Chicago recognized Mr. Hacker in 2020 through a student nomination for an “Outstanding Educator Award.”

Having studied at Carroll University and Cardinal Stritch University, Mr. Hacker holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership respectively. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in Music Education from Boston University. Mr. Hacker is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Phi Beta Mu – Wisconsin, and the Association of American Educators.

Programs

Wind Ensemble

Senior Symphony String Advisor Paul Hauer joined the violin section of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2016. Solo concerts have brought Mr. Hauer to the countries of Germany, Greece, France, the Czech Republic, and the Philippines. Chamber music and orchestral concerts have brought him to Italy, San Marino, Singapore, Mexico, and China. Before moving to Milwaukee, Mr. Hauer was Principal Second Violin of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and performed regularly with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Louisville Orchestra.

Mr. Hauer traveled to Athens in May of 2015 to participate in the 4th Leonidas Kavakos International Masterclass. One month earlier, he performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Other honors include winning the Indianapolis Matinée Musicale Collegiate Competition in 2013, which resulted in a performance at the Indiana Landmarks Center with pianist David Keep. In the summer of 2011, he toured Europe with the Denver Young Artists Orchestra as the soloist for the Barber Violin Concerto. While serving as teaching assistant to Addison Teng, he performed and taught lessons with the Teng Studio on their international tours.

His early violin training came from Gloria Schroeder and Ferenc Fenyő. Hauer also studied with Stéphane Tran Ngoc, Carol Leybourn, and Catherine Walby through the Lawrence Academy of Music. He has attended the Montecito International Music Festival, Oberlin in Italy, and International Academie de Courchevel. Hauer received his degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. His principal teachers include David Bowlin, Alex Kerr, and Addison Teng. As a teacher, Mr. Hauer is on faculty at the Fulton Summer Music Academy and coaches strings at MYSO and Maranatha Baptist University. As a founding member of the 414 Quartet, he performs with his MSO colleagues in venues across southeast Wisconsin. Mr. Hauer is a native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and performs with the Peninsula Music Festival each summer.

MYSO String Coach Ravenna Helson is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and Yale University where she received an MM degree and the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Award for Excellence in Chamber Music.

She has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Michigan Opera Theater, New Jersey Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Chicago Baroque Ensemble, Her Majesty’s Clerks, and Comic Intermezzo.

In Milwaukee she has played with the Milwaukee Symphony, Skylight Opera Orchestra, Ensemble Musical Offering, Bel Canto Chorus and Orchestra and is currently principal cello of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. Theater work includes the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Twelfth Night and Anna Karenina.

As a faculty member of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Alverno College and Carroll University, she has taught cello and chamber music and performed concerts and educational workshops with the Carroll String Trio. She was a MYSO Progressions faculty member for two decades.

As a student she was invited to participate in the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico with Alexander Schneider’s NY String Orchestra and additionally has been a fellow at the Oberlin Baroque Institute, the International Baroque Institute at Longy and the Bach Aria Festival in New York.

Studies in Baroque cello/viola da gamba have been with Anner Bylsma, Phoebe Carrai, Catharina Meints and Enid Sutherland.

Programs

Progressions

String Orchestra West Coach Riana Henderson…bio coming soon.

Programs

String Orchestra

Sinfonia Coach and violist Amanda Grettie Koch received her education at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, with a Bachelor of Music degree, and The Juilliard School with a Master of Music degree. She has been a member of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra since 2001 and performs as a substitute musician with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. Ms. Koch teaches all levels of viola and beginner to intermediate violin at her private teaching studio in her Cedarburg home. She is also on the faculty at Concordia University-Wisconsin where she is the viola instructor and teaches a string pedagogy class. A student of Karen Tuttle, Lynne Ramsey, and Jeff Irvine, Ms. Koch’s teaching philosophy and curriculum focuses on a relaxed and confident approach to playing string instruments. Ms. Koch is regularly brought into Milwaukee area public schools and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and a string instructor and coach.

Ms. Koch has recently earned a degree in music therapy at Alverno College and is a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) on the Wisconsin registry of Music Therapists. She has experience working with individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities, mental health, and dementia.

Prior to relocating to the Milwaukee area, Ms. Koch performed as full-time member of the Virginia Symphony and taught on the faculties of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC, and The Academy of Music in Norfolk, VA.

Mary Pat Michels is MYSO’s String Orchestra West Music Director.

Since 1997, she has taught in the School District of West Allis-West Milwaukee (WAWM) and is currently the Orchestra Director at Frank Lloyd Wright and Lane Intermediate Schools, Director of the WAWM Shining Strings and is the Music Coordinator for the district where she oversees the music programs of 24 teachers in 17 schools. She maintains a private violin and viola studio and was previously an instructor in the Waukesha Symphony’s “Success Through Music” Program.

Mrs. Michels is also an active free-lance musician and teacher in Southeastern Wisconsin. She earned degrees in Violin and Viola Performance and her Music Education Certification at UW-Milwaukee (UWM). While at UWM, Mrs. Michels was the Orchestra Music Librarian/Project Assistant, the Assistant to the Director of Bands, managed the UWM Brass Choir, and was the UWM Youth Wind Ensemble Program Coordinator. She recently completed the Masters of Educational Leadership Program at Cardinal Stritch University.

Mrs. Michels was Principal Violist (2010-2018), music librarian and personnel manager of the Wisconsin Philharmonic, of which she has been a member since 2000. She also served as Principal Viola of the Racine Symphony Orchestra (RSO) from 2000-2007, and has soloed twice with the RSO. An active free-lancer, she plays viola and violin for the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Bel Canto, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra, the Festival City Symphony, Gabriel’s Horns, and Les Artistes. Mrs. Michels is also the manager and founder of the Lakeside Strings, which performs chamber music at special events throughout Wisconsin and Illinois.

Mary Pat Michels (née Subjak) is an MYSO/MFY alumna—and played violin and viola in all of the orchestras from 1982-1991. A highlight was the MYSO tour to Scotland and the Aberdeen, Scotland Festival orchestra, as principal viola of MYSO’s Senior Symphony.

From 1991-2000, Mrs. Michels coached various MYSO orchestras and chamber ensembles and served as an administrative assistant. In 2008, she returned to the MYSO staff as the Orchestra Director for the Progressions Program. After twelve years with Progressions, she is thrilled to be the music director for String Orchestra West, which is the first orchestra she played in at MYSO/MFY!

Programs

String Orchestra

String Orchestra North Music Director Lyda Osinga received National Board Certification as a Teacher in Early Adolescent/Young Adults with an orchestra emphasis in 2010. She currently teaches orchestra to grades 3-8 for the Oshkosh School District and maintains a private studio as a registered Suzuki teacher. Previously, Lyda was the director of the community music schools for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the University of Memphis (TN) where she provided teacher training, lessons for students of all ages, and other music classes in theory, appreciation, and history. She has also taught in several public and private schools districts in the Greater Milwaukee area.

Lyda began playing the violin at the age of four, learning the Suzuki method which had just arrived in the United States. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from West Virginia University and received a Master of Music with honors from the University of Colorado in performance and pedagogy. Lyda had the privilege of studying in Japan with Shinichi Suzuki, founder of the international Suzuki method of music education. As a performer, she has been a member of the Kettle Moraine Symphony, Wisconsin Philharmonic, Concord Chamber Orchestra, Madison Symphony, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. She plays violin and viola and enjoys experimenting on her electric violin and string bass in various impromptu groups.

Programs

• String Orchestra

Ijoister Pyle-Harris is MYSO’s String Orchestra Central Music Director and a Prelude Orchestra Coach. He is a multi-disciplined artist with an emphasis in string orchestra. He has been active with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (Band Buddies), the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Arts in Community Education (ACE) Program, Summerfest Band Camps, Wisconsin School Music Association as a Solo & Ensemble Festival adjudicator, and with the Rochester Symphony and Cardinal Stritch Orchestra as a violinist. He is an alumnus of MYSO/MFY (Music For Youth) and Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Ijoister serves as an orchestra clinician and private violin instructor, most recently he directed UW-Madison’s Summer Music Clinic.

Ijoister spent 35 years in MPS as an orchestra director leading students in grades 3-12 to excellence in string performance and in the department of Curriculum and Instruction. Ijoister received a Bachelor of Music Education degree with a string emphasis from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, is IB MYP music certified, and has a bronze level ballroom dance certification. Ijoister was a co-pilot teacher that helped develop the World Drumming Curriculum being used around the world in conjunction with Dr. Will Schmidt, Remo, and UW-Milwaukee.

He received teacher of the year in 2013 from Milwaukee Public Schools, MMABSE, Civic Music Association, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.  In 2022, Golda Meir School began an annual Harris Music Legacy Award in his honor. Ijoister is on the MSO Education Board, PianoArts Board, and is the Middle School State Honors second violin coach. He currently performs with the Ricky Price Ensemble. When he’s not directing an orchestra, he enjoys ballroom dancing and learning to play the accordion.

Programs

• String Orchestra
• Prelude Orchestra

Chamber Flute Ensemble and Flute Chorale Music Director Sabrina Raber is a performer, educator, composer, and entrepreneur based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to her conducting role at MYSO, she is a faculty member at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and instructs a small private flute studio.

In 2019, Sabrina was a fellow for the Global Leaders Program, where she earned an Executive Graduate Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship, Teaching Artistry, and Organizational Management. Sabrina was the first to receive the Master of Music and Community Partnership degree at the University of South Carolina. She did her undergraduate work at The Ohio State University. Sabrina has performed with ensembles including the Racine Symphony, Kenosha Symphony, Festival City Symphony, Aiken Symphony, the Spark Collective Chamber Ensemble, and the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra where she performed as soloist. She has led masterclasses in both the United States and in Chile, where she was a guest artist for the international Peñalolén Flute Festival.

Sabrina is passionate about youth education and currently works as Director of Auxiliary Programs at University School of Milwaukee. From 2020 – 2024, Sabrina served as MYSO’s Community Program Manager. Outside of the music world, Sabrina is a self-identified foodie, sports fan, avid weightlifter, and dog mom.

Programs

• Chamber Flute Ensemble
• Flute Chorale

Lauren Roznowski Hayden was named MYSO’s Music Director of Sinfonia in July 2021. She is currently the Director of Orchestras at Longfellow Middle School in Wauwatosa, WI. Prior to this, she served as Director of Orchestras at Kettle Moraine High School and Lake Geneva Middle School. She has been directing orchestras and teaching music in the greater Milwaukee area since 2007. She sums up her educational philosophy as “passionately pursuing teaching music as a vehicle to teaching the whole child,” an approach embraced wholeheartedly at MYSO. Ms. Roznowski is a proud MYSO alum.

Ms. Roznowski received her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and is a graduate of Lawrence University where she received her Bachelor of Music degree, graduating summa cum laude, majoring in music education and viola performance. She studied viola and orchestral conducting with Matthew Michelic, Dr. David Becker, and Dr. Robert Hasty. She is a National Board-Certified Teacher in Instrumental Music. Ms. Roznowski resides in Wauwatosa with her husband and two daughters.

Programs

Sinfonia

Artistic and Music Director Carter Simmons has provided leadership for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) for more than 30 years. He conducts the organization’s Senior Symphony and Chamber Orchestra and leads MYSO’s impressive artist management team and faculty who serve thousands of students each season.

As a conductor he has collaborated on projects leading the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Philharmonic among others.  In 2017, Simmons was appointed Music Director of Milwaukee’s Festival City Symphony, a professional orchestra which provides free concerts for its audiences. Simmons has led performances throughout the United States, in China, and across Europe most recently in the legendary Royal Concertgebouw. A former President of Milwaukee’s Civic Music Association, Simmons currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Youth Orchestra Division of the League of American Orchestras.

Born outside Washington, D.C., his training included participation at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Eastern Music Festival, and lessons at the Tanglewood Music Center. Simmons is grateful to his teachers Dr. John R. Locke, Robert Gutter, Larry Rachleff, and Professor Thomas L. Dvorak, and he feels honored to have the opportunity to lead these wonderful MYSO musicians.

Programs

• Senior Symphony
• Chamber Orchestra

MYSO’s Director of Brass Studies Don Sipe is the principal trumpet of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, a member of the new music group Present Music and the large brass ensemble Isthmus Brass.

He performs across many genres, including classical, jazz, rock and Broadway. Sipe has performed with the Milwaukee, Syracuse, Omaha, Green Bay, and Elgin Symphony Orchestras, Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicagoland Pops, and the Brass Band of Battle Creek.

Chamber music credits include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Ensemble, the Chicago Brass Quintet, Fulcrum Point New Music Ensemble, the UW-Milwaukee Faculty Brass Quintet, and the Summit Brass. His arrangements for brass quintet have been played by many brass quintets including Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet.

He performed on Peter Gabriel’s New Blood Orchestra Tour and has been heard in the pit with several Broadway national touring companies, including West Side Story, HAIR, Book of Mormon, The Sound of Music and Wicked.

Other performances include working with a wide range of luminaries including Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, Doc Severisen, Ray Charles, Marvin Hamlisch, Bill Conti, Jerry Goldsmith, Jewel, Il Divo, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, the Moody Blues, Manheim Steamroller, Jerry Lewis, and Bob Newhart.

Recordings include several CDs with Present Music, but also projects with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Sones de Mexico and new age artist Peter Buffett. Recent highlights include performing The Music of Prince with Symphony in concert and recording the Isthmus Brass’ latest CD We Need a Little Christmas, Summit Records (December 2018).

He has taught trumpet at Carroll University and Carthage College, and led masterclasses at the University of DePaul, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and the Eastman School of Music. Founder and president of Omicron Artist Management, Inc. he advises and manages the careers of other professional musicians, including the internationally-known conductor William Eddins.

Sipe earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he studied trumpet with Barbara Butler.

Programs

Brass Choirs

Lynn Trinkl is a cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BM degree in Applied Viola. She also holds an MM in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music.

She received her music education certification from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and has also studied at the Aspen Music Festival. She has been a string sectional coach for the Wisconsin State High School Honors Music Project and has taught for the Waukesha, West Allis, and South Milwaukee School Districts, as well as maintaining a private studio.

During summers, Lynn served as Assistant Director and Counselor Coordinator for the Wisconsin String Teachers Elementary Orchestra Camp. Lynn has also performed with several local groups, including the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, the Wisconsin Philharmonic and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

A Madison resident, Lynn enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.

Programs

String Orchestra

Tobie L. Wilkinson has been Senior Lecturer of Music/Percussion at UW-Whitewater since 2002.  Mr. Wilkinson teaches applied percussion lessons, is assistant director of the UW-Whitewater Warhawk Marching Band, directs the UW-Whitewater Percussion Ensemble, and teaches percussion methods courses for future music educators.

He is a frequent adjudicator/clinician and performs as a free-lance percussionist. Currently, he holds the position of Principal Timpanist with the Racine Symphony Orchestra and serves as the President for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.

He received his Bachelor of Music Performance and Bachelor of Music Education degree at Central Michigan University, and his Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance at Rice University in Houston, TX.

Programs

Percussion Ensemble

Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jonathan Winkle is an accomplished educator, performer, and arts administrator. Mr. Winkle is currently Director of the Jazz Ensemble at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was formerly Music Director and Conductor for the Carthage College Orchestra and has taught conducting, music education courses, and applied brass at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside, Carroll University, and Carthage College. He was the Music Director and Conductor of the Brass and Percussion Ensemble at the University of North Texas during his doctoral studies. He has proudly served as a coach, adjudicator, and guest conductor for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra ensembles for more than 30 years.

In addition to having performed regularly as a substitute/extra musician with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, he performed with Present Music for 20 years, and has held tenor trombone and bass trombone positions with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Breckenridge Chamber Orchestra, Waco Symphony Orchestra, Los Colinas-Garland Symphony Orchestra, East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Waukesha Symphony Orchestra, Music Under the Stars, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Racine Symphony Orchestra, and Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the East Side Jazz Orchestra in Dallas-Fort Worth, Director of the Starliner Big Band, and performed regularly with the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra. In addition, he has performed for many of the touring Broadway productions as part of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ Broadway Across America series.

As an arts administrator, Mr. Winkle served as Executive & Artistic Director of Performance Santa Fe, President & CEO of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, and Executive Director for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has served as Vice President of Community Engagement for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Winkle currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras and the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. Previously, he has served on the Boards of the International Trombone Association, Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation, Arts Wisconsin, and Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Winkle is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts and Carthage College.

Programs

Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra

String Orchestra South Coach Alexa Zakutansky-Clark is an orchestra director in the Mukwonago Area School District, teaching at three elementary schools and Mukwonago High School. In addition to her teaching in the Mukwonago schools, she teaches cello lessons to a variety of students ranging in age and ability and currently serves as treasurer for the Wisconsin chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA).

Ms. Zakutansky-Clark has served as a clinician for several string festivals including the Wisconsin Young Artists Honors Orchestra and the UW-Whitewater Symphony Orchestra High School Honors concert and taught lessons for the Lake Geneva Symphony and the UW-Whitewater String Academy.

She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2018 with a Bachelor of Music Education degree with an instrumental emphasis. While at UW-Whitewater, she served as the president of the collegiate chapter of ASTA for three years. In 2018, Ms. Zakutansky-Clark was awarded the Student Exemplary Service Award, the highest award given to a student, at the National ASTA convention.

In her teaching, she focuses on building strong relationships with her students. She believes that by being empathetic and compassionate, she can not only build strong, well-rounded musicians, but kind humans too.

Programs

String Orchestra