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| Resident
Conductors |
 Gabriel
Gordon
Music Director
Tri State Orchestras
Gabriel
Gordon is the Music Director of several youth, community, and
professional orchestras in the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania
tri - state
area, including the Greater Newark Youth Orchestra, The Old
York Road Symphony, and The Independence Sinfonia. Mr. Gordon
is also a cover conductor for the Manhattan School of Music,
and is the Assistant to the Artistic Director of the Strings
International Music Festival featuring members of the Philadelphia
Orchestra.
Reviews have been unanimously positive, as Classical New Jersey
and many others say:
"Watching and listening to the maestro lead the orchestra
is a treat in itself. Every gesture has a clear purpose, is
significantly nuanced and is explicitly observed by the musicians."
As one of the founding members of the DaPonte String Quartet,
Mr. Gordon spent ten years honing his musical craft in the art
of Chamber Music. "I am a much better conductor for having
spent those years in a string quartet. Rather than just beating
time and giving orders, I feel a conductor is much more like
a chamber music partner with the orchestra. This creates an
amazing connection between the conductor and the players."
The New Jersey Star Ledger confirms this by writing, "Mr.
Gordon has a wonderful rapport with his musicians."
In response to the events of September 11th 2001, Mr. Gordon
formed an orchestra within two weeks time to benefit the Red
Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The performance of Beethoven's Ninth
Symphony was rehearsed in one day, and the concert was described
as "Incredibly moving." The concert raised over thirty
thousand dollars. Those associated with this event still speaks
of it as a highlight of their career.
With Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violinist
of The Philadelphia Orchestra (and others) as soloists, together
with additional Philadelphia Orchestra musicians participating
in the ensemble, Mr. Gordon made his Kimmel Center debut in
the summer of 2004. Mr. Gordon has also performed with Danny
Matzukawa, the principal bassoon of the orchestra, as well as
Paul Roby, Assistant Principal Second Violinist of The Philadelphia
Orchestra. Dedicated to commissioning and performing American
music, Gabriel Gordon has premiered works by composers such
as Alan Krantz, Philip Lasser, Joe Trapanese, Joan Tower, and
William Henry Curry.
Originally from New York City, Gabriel Gordon made his professional
conducting debut with the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea
in 1998, and soon formed the Chamber Orchestra at Tower Hill
with players from the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia
Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony.
Mr. Gordon has also conducted the Atlanta Symphony, and led
the New Jersey Symphony in a side-by-side concert with the Greater
Newark Youth Orchestra in a performance on their Family Concert
series . In Europe, he has conducted the New Symphony Orchestra,
and the Vidin Philharmonic to wide acclaim. He has studied with
some of the great luminaries of conducting including Kenneth
Kiesler, Gustav Meier, Harold Farberman, David Gilbert, and
Jonathan Strasser. |
 Diana
Helmetag
Orchestra Director
Upper Merion High School
Diana Helmetag
is the orchestra director at Upper Merion Area High School and
Middle School and a founding director of the Montgomery County
Honors String Orchestra. She has been a regular conductor of
the Schuykill Valley Area Orchestra for the past nine years
and a guest conductor for Bucks County String Day. She also
plays the violin and piano in various community groups. She
has been a Lecturer in Music at Penn State University and an
Instructor of Music at Delaware County Community College. Ms.
Helmetag has been on the faculty of the Strings International
Music Festival since 2001, along with her husband Steve Glanzmann,
a librarian for The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Ms. Helmetag¹s
students have performed in the Pennsylvania Music Educators
Association¹s District, Region and All-State Orchestra
Festivals as well as the MENC All-Eastern Orchestra Festival.
Her school orchestras have consistently received Superior ratings
in orchestra competitions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia.
This year, her student quintet has been selected to perform
at the PMEA All-State Conference in Hershey. The entire Upper
Merion Orchestra received this same honor in 2001.
Ms. Helmetag
has a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education cum laude
from Duquesne University and a Master of Music degree in Piano
Performance from Penn State University where she studied with
Marylene Dosse. She performed in the Duquesne University Orchestra,
Carnegie-Mellon University Orchestra, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony
Orchestra and Altoona Symphony and attended the Luzerne Music
Center and the Mann Orchestral Institute. Recent honors include
Who¹s Who Among America¹s Teachers and Marquis Who¹s
Who in America.
|
 Thomas
Hong
Co-Conductor
Campanile
Orchestra, Rice University
THOMAS HONG was born in In chun, Korea. In 1978, his family immigrated
to the United States and made their residence in Philadelphia.
He began his musical training at the age of 15 on the piano and
continued his studies with Dr. Samuel Hsu at Philadelphia Biblical
University. Later, he went on to earn a master degree in choral
conducting at Temple University and an artist diploma in orchestral
conducting from The Curtis Institute of Music where he was the
recipient of the Leopold Stokowski Fellowship as well as the Whitaker
Fund for Opera.
Presently,
Mr. Hong is the assistant conductor of Orchestre National de
France, where he recently concluded a European tour with Maestro
Kurt Masur and violinist Joshua Bell. He is also co-conductor
of the Campanile Orchestra at Rice University. Professional
orchestras that Mr. Hong has conducted in the past include Orchestre
National de France, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Winnepeg
Symphony Orchestra, Lutoslawski Philharmonic (European debut)
and Spokane Symphony (U.S. debut). In September of this year,
he will begin a new position with Fort Worth Symphony as their
assistant conductor, where he will conduct all the educational
performances as well as acting as cover conductor for the subscription
performances. He returns to his native country for the first
time in December to conduct the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
with a program of various operatic arias as well as symphonic
works. He is represented by William Reinert Associates.
|
 Yoon
Jae Lee
Principal Conductor
Manhattan Opera Theatre
Yoon Jae Lee enjoys a multi-faceted career as conductor, arranger,
and pianist. He is the Founder & Artistic Director of Ensemble
212, an exciting new orchestra comprised of young freelance musicians
from the New York area. Under his baton, Ensemble 212 has performed
works ranging from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony to Schwantner's
Sparrows. Mr. Lee currently conducts the Seminar Orchestra at
the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival at Long Island University
and is a Resident Conductor at the Strings International Music
Festival. Recently, Mr. Lee was appointed Music Director and Conductor
of the Old York Symphony Orchestra. In addition to conducting,
Mr. Lee maintains an active accompanying and teaching schedule.
In January 2008, he joined the faculty of City College of New
York (CUNY). Mr. Lee has made highly acclaimed chamber versions
of Debussy's Prélude
à l'après-midi d'un faune and Mahler's Fourth Symphony.
Following the September 11 tragedy, his orchestration of the theme
from "New York, New York" was performed at Salzburg's
Cathedral (Dom) during a special benefit concert for St. Paul's
Chapel in lower Manhattan.
A native of New York City, Mr. Lee began studying the violin at
age 5 and piano at age 6. At age 17, he started conducting professionally
and just 2 years later, participated in a masterclass by Kurt
Masur at Alice Tully Hall. He received degrees in piano and conducting
from the Mannes College of Music studying conducting with Samuel
Wong, David Hayes, and Michael Charry. Upon graduation, he received
the N.T. Milani Memorial Conducting Fellowship and the Peter M.
Gross Fund. Mr. Lee also studied at the Universität Mozarteum
Salzburg in Austria under the tutelage of Dennis Russell Davies.
During that time, he appeared as guest conductor with the Mozarteum
Orchester Salzburg, Bruckner Orchester Linz, and was appointed
Assistant Conductor to the Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie.
Among the music festivals he has attended include the American
Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied
with David Zinman, Murry Sidlin, and conducted a staged performance
of Benjamin Britten's, "The Turn of the Screw", Bowdoin
International Music Festival, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer
Institute, where he studied Baroque performance practice with
Jeanne Lamon and Ivars Taurins. |
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