CONDUCTORS

Elizabeth Chappell, AYO Concertante Conductor
414-4406 - Email

  Elizabeth Chappell is a teacher, parent, and graduate of the Austin Independent School District and a native Austinite. She currently teaches sixth grade orchestra at Mathews, Pease, Allison, and Zavala Elementary Schools. Her prior teaching experience includes eight years at Martin Middle School in Austin ISD, two years with The University of Texas String Project, and four years of private violin and viola lessons. For the past three years, Ms. Chappell has been completing coursework toward her doctoral degree in Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin. 

    Ms. Chappell holds a degree in Music Therapy from the University of Kansas and a Master’s degree in Music Education from The University of Texas at Austin. She has played the violin for over 25 years, the viola for over 15 years, and has performed in various ensembles, including a mariachi band. Ms. Chappell has three children ages ten, five, and two. The oldest child is a violist in the Austin Youth Intermezzo Orchestra.

Rachel Horvitz, AYO Intermezzo Conductor
732-9227, x31807  Email

 

  Rachel Horvitz received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001. While enrolled at UT Austin, she studied cello with Phyllis Young and regularly performed with the UT Cello Choir and the UT Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Horvitz has served as teaching faculty for the UT String Project, Longhorn Music Camp, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. She dedicates much of her free time to performing in local orchestras and chamber groups, including the Temple and Georgetown Symphony Orchestras, Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the recently formed Austin Cello Project. Ms. Horvitz currently serves as the orchestra teacher at Hill Country Middle School, and her professional memberships include the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas Orchestra Directors Association.

Anna Macias,  AYO Sinfonietta Conductor
533-6161 - Email

  Anna Macias was appointed as Director of Orchestras for the Lake Travis Independent School District in 1997, where she teaches at Lake Travis High School, Lake Travis Middle School, and Hudson Bend Middle School. Ms. Macias has served as organizer for the Texas Music Educators Association High School Region 18 Orchestra for many years.

  In addition to her work with public schools, she maintains a private double bass studio. Listed in “Who's Who Among American Teachers,” Ms. Macias believes that with hard work and dedication, any student can become an excellent musician. A graduate of Southwest Texas State University with a degree in Music, she studied double bass with Xuang Yuan Lu, David Neubert, and Howard Hudiburg. Ms. Macias participated in master classes with Gary Karr and attended the Northwestern Bass Camp, hosted by Jeff Bradetich. She has performed with the Balcones Orchestra, the Mid-Texas Symphony Orchestra, and the Abilene Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Macias currently performs with the Temple Symphony Orchestra and the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. She also enjoys playing the double bass in musical productions and has been involved in several popular productions in the Austin area during the past decade.

    Ms. Macias is an active freelance bassist who has been a member of two Salsa bands and a Western Swing band. In 1997, she attended the Texas Music Camp, hosted by Johnny Gimble, and fell in love with Texas old time fiddle music and Western Swing. In 2000, she formed the Lake Travis Fiddlers, a group of talented middle and high school students who perform old time fiddle tunes and Western Swing music at various hill country functions.

Joseph Baird, AYO Philharmonic Conductor
414-7782 - Email

  Joseph Baird is the director of Orchestras at Crockett High School in the Austin Independent School District. In the spring of 2002, Mr. Baird received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education along with a Certificate in Tuba Performance from The University of Texas at Austin. Having completed all coursework towards a Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at Indiana University School of Music, he eagerly returned to Austin in the fall of 2004. In addition to his conducting post with the Austin Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, Mr. Baird is the Music Director/Conductor for the Austin Philharmonic Orchestra. One of his greatest aspirations is to share his love and passion for music with the younger generation in order to ensure its legacy for enriching the human spirit.

Elizabeth Frederick, AYO Philharmonic Conductor
464-8196  - Email

  Elizabeth Frederick, a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, has been teaching orchestra at both Canyon Vista Middle School since 1995 and Grisham Middle School since 2003 in the Round Rock Independent School District (ISD).  Previously, she served as orchestra director at West Ridge Middle School in Round Rock ISD and as assistant orchestra director at Westlake High School in Eanes ISD. 

   Both the Canyon Vista and Grisham orchestra programs have consistently earned Sweepstakes Awards in University Interscholastic League competition.  In 1999, the Canyon Vista Middle School Chamber Orchestra was selected as the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Middle School Honor Orchestra, and, in 2005, the Grisham Middle School Symphony Orchestra was chosen to be the first invited middle school full orchestra to perform at the annual TMEA convention. 

  A former member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Mrs. Frederick is an active freelance musician in the Austin area as well as a private violin/viola instructor.  She is married to Ronald W. Frederick and has one son who attends The University of Texas at Austin.  Mrs. Frederick’s professional affiliations include the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Orchestra Directors Association, Mu Omicron, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association.

James Edwards, AYO Symphony Conductor
732-9280, ext. 33823 - Email

  James Edwards is in his tenth year as the Orchestra Director at Westlake High School in the Eanes Independent School District (ISD) in Austin, Texas. Prior to Westlake High School, he was the Orchestra Director at A.S. Johnston High School in Austin ISD for five years and was the Orchestra and Band Director at Amarillo High School in Amarillo ISD for seven years. Mr. Edwards was a founding co-conductor of the Austin Youth Sinfonietta Orchestra from 1994-1996. He is currently co-conductor of the Austin Youth Symphony Orchestra, a position he previously held from 1998-2003. In addition, he has been a guest conductor for the Austin Civic Orchestra and has taught for the music departments of Texas State University in San Marcos and Amarillo College.

  Mr. Edwards currently serves as Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) State Orchestra Chair and Vice-President and has served as TMEA Region Chairman in both Amarillo and Austin. He has also held the offices of Texas Music Adjudicators Association Orchestra Vice-President and President. In 1991, Mr. Edwards was awarded the Texas Excellence Award for Outstanding High School Teachers. In 2005, he was included in “Who’s Who Among American High School Teachers” and was named the first “Distinguished Music Educator” by Texas Tech University.

  Mr. Edwards holds the Bachelor of Music, the Bachelor of Music Education, and the Master of Music degrees from Texas Tech University and has pursued additional musical studies at Arizona State University. In 2002, the Westlake Orchestra was selected as the TMEA Honor Full Orchestra Runner-up, and in 2003 was selected as the TMEA Honor Full Orchestra.

   Kay Vanlandingham was appointed as Administrative Director for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) in 2007. Prior to the assuming this role, she dedicated thirty-one years of her life to nurture and inspire orchestra, choir, and band students. In each one of her assignments, Ms. Vanlandingham built music programs not only numerically, but in excellence.

  Ms. Vanlandingham served the Round Rock Independent School District as Fine Arts Facilitator, orchestra liaison for the district, department chair, and various district- and campus-wide committees too numerous to mention. She was co-conductor of the Austin Youth Philharmonic Orchestra from 1996-2000 and has been the co-conductor of the Austin Youth Symphony Orchestra since 2004. Ms. Vanlandingham has received national recognition by the WalMart Corporation as Outstanding Teacher of the Year. She holds memberships and affiliations with TMEA, the Texas Orchestra Directors Association (TODA), Mu Omicron, the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, and has served on the Committee on Standards of Adjudication and Performance Practice as well as the University Interscholastic League Prescribed Music List Committee. Ms. Vanlandingham has conducted the Longhorn Music Camp’s Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005. She is a Past President of TODA and frequently serves as a judge and clinician across the state. Ms. Vanlandingham has been listed in “Who’s Who in American Teachers” numerous times, and, in addition to her activities as a violinist and teacher, she also performs as a soprano soloist in her community.

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