Paul DeChancie is the Principal Timpanist of the Orchestra of the Alleghenies (formerly the McKeesport Symphony Orchestra). He is also a free-lance percussionist and timpanist performing frequently with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Westmoreland Symphony, Johnstown Symphony, and the Academy Chamber Orchestra. He is a conducting student of Robert E. Page, Conductor Emeritus of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. Mr. DeChancie earned a B.F.A. in Music Performance at Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Anita.

Benjamin Firer, a native of Long Island, New York, is currently Music Director of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra in State College, PA. He also directs the Penn State Campus Orchestra and serves as Assistant Conductor of the Penn State Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras under the direction of Maestro Gerardo Edelstein. Benjamin holds a master’s degree from the Yale University School of Music where he was Conductor of the Yale Saybrook College Orchestra and served as Teaching Assistant for graduate music theory courses. As a trombonist, Benjamin was the winner of the 2012 Woolsey Concerto Competition, the 2011 Yale Chamber Music Competition and a fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. He was a featured performer in Yale in New York series “De Profundis” at Carnegie Hall. As founder of the Aries Chamber Ensemble, he was awarded the 2010 SUNY Thayer Fellowship in the Arts.

Eric Hawk is currently pursuing and nearing completion of a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting, with a minor in Composition at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he studies with Professor Mark Cedel and Dr. Leonard Ball. Previously, he earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition at the University of Central Florida and a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting Colorado State University. Mr. Hawk was awarded a full graduate teaching assistantship at UGA and is the assistant conductor of the UGA’s Symphony Orchestra and the University Philharmonia. As an active composer, Mr. Hawk has experience with a variety of electronic and acoustic composing mediums. He has served as the conductor and artistic director of the Agnes Scott Community Orchestra in Atlanta. In Colorado, Mr. Hawk was the assistant conductor of the Colorado State University Chamber Orchestra. As a violist, he was awarded the John Stern Scholarship for viola performance and performed in numerous chamber ensembles.

Dr. Jesse Henkensiefken is the Music Director of both the Ars Viva Chamber Orchestra and the Noel Pointer Foundation Youth Orchestra in New York City, and is a current conducting apprentice at the Manhattan School of Music studying under the tutelage of Maestros George Manahan and David Gilbert. Henkensiefken received a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas, and is the 2013 Foncannon Conducting Scholarship winner. He has participated in master classes with Kurt Masur, Gerarg Schwarz, and Leonard Slatkin, and was a conducting fellow at the 2010 South Carolina Conductors Institute. In addition to conducting, Henkensiefken performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral cellist having collaborated with some of today’s top performing artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Mark O’Connor, Rachel Barton, and Joyce Castle. He is a 2011 Mu Phi Epsilon International Competition award winner and is the current principal cellist of New York City’s Ensemble Du Monde.

Alexander Kahn is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. At Gettysburg he conducts the 70-piece Gettysburg College Symphony Orchestra and teaches courses in Music History, Music Theory, and Conducting. In addition to his position at Gettysburg, Alexander has worked with professional orchestras across the United States and throughout Europe. He is the Founder and Music Director of the Metta Ensemble, a professional chamber orchestra based in Gettysburg, PA. He has also served as Cover Conductor for the Baltimore Symphony, as a Staff Conductor for the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, and as Assistant Conductor for the Lincoln Center Festival.

Darin Lewis has conducting at major venues throughout the Eastern United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Columbia University, St. Bartholemew’s Church, Grace Church, and at the Alliance Francais with the Little Orchestra Society of New York. He has toured England, France, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Argentina, Uruguay, and Germany with performances at major venues in Paris, Barcelona, Florence, Rome, Leipzig, Halle, London, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. He has been a guest conductor with numerous ensembles and has been invited several times to conduct at the Music Educator’s Easter Division Regional Conference. He has led workshops in Massachusetts, New York, California and Connecticut. In addition to conducting, Mr. Lewis is a pianist and a commissioned composer. He is currently the Conductor of the Lafayette College Chamber Orchestra, Director of Music at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Stamford, CT., and Artistic Director of the Simpatico Chamber Ensemble.

Matthew Makeever was born in the small town of Bozeman, Montana, to a very musical family. He attended Montana State University and graduated with honors in 2010 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. While at MSU, he studied trumpet with his lifelong teacher and mentor, Jerry Makeever, his father. During his junior and senior years at MSU, Matthew was invited to be an assistant conductor of the Montana State University Symphony Orchestra. As a conductor, Matthew acts as an assistant conductor for the MSU Symphony Orchestra, and was recently a guest conductor for the MSU Wind Ensemble. He also leads performances with the Summer Community Band, and is the Adult Choir Director at Pilgrim Congregational Church. Currently, Matthew studies conducting privately with Matthew Savery, the Music Director and Conductor for the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. As a musician, Matthew is a member of the Bozeman and Billings Symphony Orchestras’ trumpet sections, and is Co-Acting Principal Trumpet of the Helena Symphony Orchestra.

Evan Meccarello is founder and conductor of the Hochstein Alumni Orchestra. In this capacity he has given world-premiere performances of Rochester composers and showcased talented musicians from around western New York. He has worked with youth orchestras in Buffalo and Rochester. Recent conducting studies include training in Germany under Ulrich Metzger with the Berlin-Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra as well as opera conducting study with Gerard Floriano in Verona, Italy.

Andrea Profili began her musical studies in guitar and violin at the age of six at the Escuela Juvenil de Música de Panamá. In Panama she studied violin with Horacio Bustamante, and continued with Sarah Johnson at Converse College, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Performance and a Masters in Music Education. As a member of Delta Omicron she was awarded the Rob Fund Memorial Grant, which enabled her to study orchestral conducting with Sarah Ionnides and Siegwart Reichwald. Andrea also completed the El Sistema Fellowship, a highly competitive program in collaboration with New England Conservatory and FESNOJIV, which trains young musicians to launch and manage El Sistema-inspired programs in the US. Profili is currently a conductor with the WHIN Youth Orchestra, a program of WHIN Music Project; an El Sistema initiative in Washington Heights and Inwood in New York City of which she is Co-Director.

Dr. David Ramael enjoys a very active career as conductor, clinician, and educator. For the past nine years he served as Director of Orchestral Activities at Hofstra University, and this upcoming Fall he will start in the same capacity at Western Washington University. As guest conductor he recently conducted performances with the University of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Reflection Chamber Choir in Belgium, and Helicon Ensemble, and he will be conducting and teaching at the Gramercy Brass Summer Camp and the Peconic Summer Music program. Dr. Ramael is also an internationally recognized authority in the fields of youth and amateur music making. In March 2012 he was appointed as Artistic Director with Gemini Youth Orchestras, and in September 2012, Dr. Ramael was elected as Chairman of the World Federation of Amateur Orchestras.

Maxim Samarov was born in Moscow, Russia in a family of musicians. He studied cello at Junior College of the Moscow Conservatory, Jerusalem Music Academy and SMU, and received his degrees in conducting from UMKC and Michigan State, in addition to studying extensively with Kenneth Kiesler in summer workshops and privately. Dr. Samarov is currently orchestra director at Tulane University, where he also teaches chamber music, cello and conducting. He has held faculty positions with St. Cloud State University and Luther College in Iowa. Among his recent activities are appearances as a guest conductor in Bulgaria and Romania, cello and chamber recitals, high school/youth clinics and original compositions.

William Tackett began his musical studies as a violist and earned his BM in Viola Performance at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory. While there he acted as the Conducting Apprentice for the Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble under Dwight Oltman. In 2012, Mr. Tackett received his MM in Orchestral Conducting from Florida State University studying with Alexander Jiménez. At FSU, Mr. Tackett served as the inaugural music director for the Campus Orchestra, an ensemble for non-music majors, and as the music director for performance of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with text by Kurt Vonnegut in collaboration with the School of Dance and the School of Theater. As a recipient of the Ansbacher Fellowship in 2011, Mr. Tackett has also had the opportunity to work with musicians from the Vienna Philharmonic on a Children’s Concert during the Salzburg Festpiel.

Alex Wise is a young and upcoming talent that has showcased his love and passion for music around the world. Mr. Wise holds a Bachelor of Music in piano from Washburn University in Kansas, and a Master of Music in Conducting from Louisiana State University. He has been invited to conduct both at home and abroad leading orchestras in Honduras, England, and around the United States. His past appointments include Assistant Conductor for the Rapides Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana, Assistant Conductor of the Louisiana State University Orchestra and Assistant Conductor for the Washburn Symphony. His guest conducting includes appearances with the Topeka Opera, Louisiana Symphonietta, and recently was the chief conductor for the New Music Festival in Louisiana where he premiered 9 works for chamber orchestras by modern composers, including himself.