Nathaniel Chase is the assistant conductor of the Metro Chamber Orchestra of New York City, and appears as a conductor and bassist throughout the Tri-state area. Mr. Chase is the conductor of the Really Terrible Orchestra of Westchester, a not so terrible White Plains based community orchestra. His performances as a bassist range from the standard orchestral repertoire with the Allentown, PA Symphony and Metro Chamber Orchestra to chamber and contemporary music with Le Train Bleu and Ensemble 212.

Flavio Garber carries out an intense work as conductor, pianist and professor in his hometown, Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He was born in 1980 and started studying piano when he was 8.  He is a professor of piano graduated at the Buenos Aires “General San Martín” Provincial Conservatoire.  He continued his studies obtaining a Master´s degree as Orchestral Conductor at the Argentina´s National University of Arts where he worked with Mario Benzecry.  He has developed his knowledge as a conductor at the Juilliard School of music in New York, at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Mozarteum University in Salzburg, and with renowned maestros in Budapest, Poland and Buenos Aires. As a pianist and conductor he has performed in numerous Argentinian halls.  At present he is conducting the Sistema in Argentina Youth Orchestra “Alberto Ginastera”, the Matanza School-Orchestra and the Caballito Youth Orchestra. He is a professor at the Argentina´s National University of Arts within the chair of Contemporary Music Interpretation.

Shelley Livingston is the Conductor of the Duke University String School Youth Symphony Orchestra and teaches violin and viola full-time at the Duke University String School. Ms. Livingston attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of North Texas, where she received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Violin Performance. Shelley is a frequent guest conductor and clinician at various regional orchestras and events as well as a free- lance musician, performing with groups in North Carolina including, the Chamber Orchestra of  the Triangle, the North Carolina Symphony and the Durham Symphony Orchestra.She is currently enrolled in post-graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying conducting with Prof. Tonu Kalam, and she is a member of the Conductors Guild. Ms. Livingston has spent two summers as an Associate at the Conductors Institute at the University of South Carolina.

Nadezda Potemkina, currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, is nearing the completion of the Doctoral degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Memphis under the direction of Pu-Qi Jiang.  Nadya began to study Instrumental Conducting at University of Northern Iowa with Rebecca Burkhardt in 2003, while working on her Master’s degree in Viola Performance there. To further her education as a conductor, she entered a graduate conducting program at Ball State University, studying with Kirk Trevor. In the United States, Nadya has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles as a violist, been a prizewinner in conducting competitions, and attended several Conductors Guild and College Orchestra Directors Association conducting workshops and masterclasses under mentorship of Marin Alsop, Erin Freeman, Charles Gambeta, David Itkin, Gustav Meier, Joel Smirnoff, Daniel Sommerville, Carl Topilow, and Viktor Yampolsky.

Dr. Veronica Salinas is currently the Assistant Professor of Strings at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Conductor of the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance and a Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Sam Houston State University. She completed Her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Viola Performance at Texas Tech University as an AT&T Chancellor’s Fellow. Veronica is active as a performer as well and plays viola with the Corpus Christi Symphony and Assistant Principal Viola of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. As there are no orchestra programs in the public schools in her area, she spends much of her time working on outreach in the community of Kingsville and directs an after school orchestra program where she provides free orchestra classes to the area middle school and high school students.  In the past two years, Veronica has been awarded over $35,000 to promote music education in the city of Kingsville and surrounding areas.

Emily Schaad  studied viola at the Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music.  After college, she joined the music education field and concurrently began exploring traditional music.  Ms. Schaad conducts youth orchestras with Stringendo, Inc., has taught strings in public schools and maintained a private teaching studio for fifteen years.  She is currently working toward a doctorate in music education from Boston University, writing a dissertation about traditional music in string classrooms.  Ms. Schaad performs with Hudson Valley Philharmonic and with American Band Old Buck.

Douglas Singer, a piano teacher, conductor and vocal coach, Douglas Singer sparks persuasive communication and crystal-clear technique in his students.

A former faculty member and staff accompanist at Taylor University, Douglas also served as a freelance collaborative pianist at Ball State University, becoming one of the region’s most trusted collaborators in the fiercely competitive Indiana music scene. Douglas is Principal Keyboardist for the Hastings Symphony Orchestra, and served three times as Composer-in-Residence and Music Director for Shakespeare Playworks of Muncie, IN. Douglas earned a Masters Degree in Instrumental Performance from the University of Northern Colorado, and won the Theodore Presser Award and David M. Schweppe Memorial while earning his Bachelors Degree from Gardner-Webb University.

Stephen Steward , as a recent graduate of VCU\’s School of Music, pianist and conductor Stephen Steward II is eagerly putting his learned skills to use as a performer and educator. In addition to managing a career as a pianist and pursing his intentions of conducting, he will also be serving as the artistic director and founder of a performing arts camp for middle school aged youth this summer. A firm supporter of high-quality music making and education, Stephen believes that learning of a never-ending process for professionals and students alike.

Philip Tappan, hailing from Saratoga Springs, NY, Philip Tappan currently serves as an officer and conductor in the U.S. Army Bands.  Philip holds a B.A. in Music Composition, a B.M. in Music Education, and a M.M. in Orchestra Conducting Performance. He was the Graduate Assistant for Orchestras and Orchestral Conducting at the State University of NY at Fredonia from 2008-2010.  He has studied conducting with David Rudge, Murray Sidlin, Timothy Dixon, and Colin Metters. He has held engagements with the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, the Rocky Ridge Music Festival, the Hilman Opera, the SUNY Fredonia Chamber and Symphony Orchestras, Capitol Opera Harrisburg, the Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, and the 2d Infantry Division Band.

Deniz Uz is praised as “a remarkable musician” by Michael Barone, host of NPR’s “Pipedreams”, Deniz Uz has distinguished himself as a young artist of versatility through his activities as conductor, pianist, and organist. A Florida native, Mr. Uz currently resides in Orlando where he is a sought-after collaborative keyboardist and chamber musician. As organist, Mr. Uz has made solo appearances at major international venues including, notably, the Great Hall of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, Germany; Adolphus Busch Hall at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA; and the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, PA. In 2009 he performed as orchestral pianist in the American premiere of Kalevi Aho’s Contrabassoon Concerto with the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Uz holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College and has been a conducting associate at the Conductors Institute of South Carolina.