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Jason Seber
Music Director and
Conductor, Symphony Orchestra
(Staff member since 2005) |
Jason Seber
is
currently in his third season as Music Director of the Louisville
Youth Orchestra, a position he was appointed to in 2005. He is also
the Director of Orchestras at the Youth Performing Arts School and
duPont Manual High School in Louisville. Prior to coming to
Louisville, Mr. Seber served as Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland
Pops Orchestra, where he conducted regularly on subscription and
run-out concerts. He was also Carl Topilow’s Assistant Conductor
for the National Repertory Orchestra in 2005, where he led
subscription, pops, and children’s concerts, and for the Cleveland
Institute of Music orchestras, leading many classical, opera, and
educational programs. He served as Music Director of the Euclid
Orchestra in Cleveland from 1996-2003 and as Director of Orchestras
at Strongsville High School (OH) for five years. Mr. Seber has
recently guest conducted the Louisville Orchestra, the Charleston
Symphony Orchestra (SC), and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. This
season, he will be guest conducting the Louisville Orchestra in
several of their Making Music and OrKIDStra! series
concerts.
Under Mr. Seber’s direction, the Louisville Youth Orchestra has
reached many great artistic achievements. His innovative and
challenging programming has engaged many of Louisville’s talented
youth musicians. In the fall of 2006, the LYO Symphony Orchestra
was one of four youth orchestras in the U.S. to perform Joan Tower’s
Made in America, giving the Kentucky premiere of the ASOL-Ford
Foundation commissioned work. Later in December the youth orchestra
joined forces with 13-year old pianist Kit Armstrong, performing a
Mozart piano concerto as part of the Gheens Great Expectations
series. During his tenure, LYO musicians have also had the
opportunity to collaborate with the Louisville Orchestra, Walden
Theatre, Music Theatre Louisville, and with Jordanian composer Zade
in his “Roads to You” tour.
Mr. Seber earned his BME and BM in violin from the Baldwin-Wallace
College Conservatory of Music, studying violin with Dr. Julian Ross
and conducting with Dwight Oltman. He went on to earn his MM in
orchestral conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music,
studying with Carl Topilow. He has had the privilege of working in
conducting masterclasses and workshops with such eminent conductors
as Kenneth Kiesler, Louis Lane, Gustav Meier, Larry Rachleff, David
Roberston, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Thomas Wilkins. He has
attended the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Maine (with
Michael Jinbo), the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Brevard
Music Festival.
Mr. Seber has been a guest conductor and clinician for many high
school and middle school orchestra festivals and clinics throughout
Ohio, New York, Indiana, and Kentucky. He enjoys sharing his love
of music with kids of all ages, and is a strong advocate of great
music education programs in schools and communities. In his spare
time, he enjoys golfing, traveling, cooking, and he is an avid fan
of the Cleveland Browns, Cavaliers, and Indians. |
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Craig M. Swatt
Conductor, Repertory Orchestra
(Staff member since 2007)
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Craig M. Swatt is thrilled to join
the Louisville Youth Orchestra staff as Repertory Orchestra
Conductor. He returns to the organization after playing the trombone
in both Repertory and Symphony orchestras in the late 80’s.
Mr. Swatt graduated from the Youth Performing Arts School, and
received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Morehead State
University. He taught music in both Jefferson County Public Schools
and private schools for eleven years.
Mr. Swatt is very active in the Louisville Arts community. Currently
he serves as Musical Director and Conductor of Music Theatre
Louisville, Musical Director of Stage One Children’s Theatre, and a
regular musician and conductor for Actor’s Theatre, Derby Dinner
Playhouse, Broadway Series and many local high school theatre
programs. He has conducted two
national Broadway tours. |
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Christopher
Lerner
Conductor, Concert Orchestra
(Staff member since 2000)
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Chris Lerner
received his bachelor
of music degree in violin performance from the University of
Louisville. He has been a registered Suzuki teacher since 2001, and
is proud to have studied under Peter McHugh from University of
Louisville.
Mr. Lerner has been Director of the Presto! Strings Program for the
Louisville Youth Orchestra, Director of Sonatina Strings Program for
the Louisville Youth Orchestra, Conductor of the Serenade Orchestra
for the Louisville Youth Orchestra, and the Conductor of Concert
Orchestra for the Louisville Youth Orchestra. Mr. Lerner served two
years on the faculty for Kentucky Country Day School strings program
and is currently teaching strings at Louisville Collegiate School.
Last but not least Mr. Lerner has organized “ The Lerner School of
Music” in which he teaches 42 string students. |
Paola Manrique
Instructor, Sonatina Strings Conductor,
Serenade Orchestra
(Staff Member since 2006) |
Paola Manrique was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
She started her musical studies at the age of six with her father,
who introduced her to the violin. At the age of eight and eleven she
won the Youth Concerto Competition, playing as a soloist with the
Guayaquil Orchestra, playing the Vivaldi violin concerto in A minor
and the Mozart violin concerto Adelaida. At the age of fourteen she
won the National Youth Soloist Competition. By the age of sixteen
she had graduated from the National Conservatory of Music of
Guayaquil (Ecuador). In 1992 she was awarded a scholarship by the
French government to go study violin in Toulouse, France for two
months.
In 1994 she came to the United States to perform at
the United Nations and at the Organization of the Americas with the
Filanbanco Orchestra, in which she has been concertmaster for five
years. In 1997 she arrived in Louisville, Kentucky to work on her
Undergraduate studies, where she has been very active performing as
an orchestra member, soloist and chamber musician. She graduated in
2001 from the University of Louisville as the outstanding student of
her class. In 2003 she earned her Master degree from the same
institution. In the summer she teaches and participates at the
Concordia’s Summer Music camp in Nebraska. Currently she works as a
violin teacher for the Preparatory Department of the University of
Louisville (Oldham County Art Center location), also she is a member
of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Elise Kotheimer
Instructor, Presto!/Allegro
Strings
Co-Production Manager,
Concert Orchestra/Percussion Ens.
(Staff Member since 2007) |
Elise Kotheimer started her musical training
on the violin when she was three years old and began training on the
piano at the age of seven. She participated as a member of the
Louisville Youth Orchestra for five years, where she served as
concert mistress of the Repertory Orchestra and assistant concert
mistress of the Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kotheimer won the McDowell
Music Teacher’s Competition in 2001, and the McCauley Chamber Music
Competition in 1999. She has studied under the guidance of
accomplished teachers including Peter McHugh, Patrick Rafferty,
Cheri Kelley and Hiroko Driver.
Ms. Kotheimer received her Bachelor of Music degree in violin and
her Masters of Arts in Teaching Music from the University of
Louisville. She taught at the Boaz Performance Studio from 2002 –
2006, where she taught students between the ages of five and
sixteen. In the spring of 2007, she completed her student teaching
with Eva Rouse at Ballard High School. Ms. Kotheimer became a
certified Suzuki teacher in 2001 and has taught privately for six
years. |
Mark Tate
Coach, Percussion Ensemble
(Staff Member since 2004) |
Mark L. Tate received a Bachelor of Music
degree in percussion performance from the University of Kentucky as
a student of David Davenport. He was the first percussionist to
receive a performance degree from this university.
Mark received a Master of Music in Performance and Pedagogy from
Washington University in St. Louis, MO. His major teacher was
Richard O’Donnell, Principal Percussionist of the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra. While in St. Louis, he also studied with John Kasica and
Tom Stubbs of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He performed
frequently with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, joining them in 2
east coast tours that included performances in Carnegie Hall. He was
also a percussionist with the Might Mississippi Concert Band,
Gateway Festival Orchestra, Springfield (IL) Symphony, and staff
percussionist at the Westport Playhouse. While in St. Louis he
taught drums and percussion at Clayton Academy of Music, Drum
Headquarters and was a teaching assistant at Washington University.
Mark began performing as a percussionist with the Louisville
Orchestra in 1983. He has also performed as percussionist with the
Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a percussionist with
Louisville Chorus, the Louisville Choral Arts Society and the Derby
City Brass Band. Mark also serves as percussionist with Musical
Theatre of Louisville and the Broadway Series at the Kentucky Center
for the Arts. Mark is a frequent free-lancer with various churches
and chamber groups in the Louisville area and is also the drummer
for the Dixie Jazz Cats and the Memphis Red Hots, a western swing
band.
Mark is the percussion instructor at Indiana University Southeast in
New Albany, IN, and Georgetown College in Georgetown. He serves as
percussion coordinator for the marching bands at both New Washington
High School in New Washington, IN and du Pont Manual in Louisville.
Mark also teaches concert percussion at Eastern High School in
Louisville and both marching and concert percussion at Oldham County
High School, in Buckner, KY, Henry County High School in New Castle,
KY and Atherton High School in Louisville. In addition he coaches
percussion ensemble at Crosby Middle School and the “Junkyard Hawks”
at Hite Elementary, both in Louisville. He maintains a full service
studio in his home, specializing in concert percussion instruction
for students in the area band programs. He services, as the
percussion coach/percussion ensemble director for the Louisville
Youth Orchestra. And is also the founder of the Louisville Institute
of Drumming and creator of the percussion group Stick-Click. |
Melody Welsh-Buchholz
Executive Director
(Staff member since 1985) |
Melody Welsh-Buchholz
brings a rare combination of talents to the position of Executive Director
of the Louisville Youth Orchestra. She is both a professional musician and an accomplished
arts administrator. Ms. Welsh-Buchholz holds a Bachelor of Music Education (1977) and a Master of
Music (1981 - emphasis in multiple woodwinds). She has had a successful teaching career at
St. Francis School and Anchorage School in Louisville and at Clarksville Middle and High
School in Clarksville, IN. From 1978 to 1980 Ms. Welsh-Buchholz served as the local KMEA (Kentucky
Music Educator's Association) chairperson for the annual Solo/Ensemble and Band/Orchestra
Festival. Ms. Welsh-Buchholz currently teaches privately and performs professionally with the
Broadway Series, Derby Dinner Playhouse and the Louisville Orchestra along with her duties
at the Louisville Youth Orchestra. Ms. Welsh-Buchholz has been on the
staff of the LYO since 1985. From 1985-1987 she served as the Wind/Brass Coach and
Librarian. From 1987-1990 she served as the Operations Manager. From 1990 to the present
she has held the position of Executive Director. During her tenure as Executive Director
the Louisville Youth Orchestra's budget has doubled, patron donations have risen by 80%
and the orchestra's membership has increased by 40%. |
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picture
not yet available |
Kara Hubbard
Music Librarian and
Co-Production Manager
Symphony and Repertory Orchestras
(Staff Member since 2007) |
Kara Hubbard
has been an enthusiastic volunteer with the Louisville Youth
Orchestra since 2000 and is thrilled to now be a member of the LYO
staff. As a lifelong musician and avid musical enthusiast, Ms.
Hubbard has developed a deep appreciation for the positive impact
music has had on so many children’s lives.
Ms. Hubbard received her Bachelor of Education degree from the
University of Louisville in 1994. Since then, she has devoted her
time to her family and to volunteer work with various nonprofit
educational organizations. In the spring of 2007, Ms. Hubbard also
accepted a technology position with the library staff at North
Oldham High School.
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