Conductors

Staff

Board

Charles West, Youth Orchestra Conductor
Charles West, Youth Orchestra Conductor, is Professor of Music at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he is Coordinator of Winds & Percussion and Professor of Clarinet. He is among the most widely recorded clarinetists in American academia, and is past President of the International Clarinet Association, a former Fulbright Scholar, and has been a soloist or guest Professor of Clarinet on four continents. With degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Iowa, West has spent twenty-two years as Principal Clarinetist in professional orchestras in the United States and in South American, and has trained many students who are now professional musicians and teachers. He has recorded for the Klavier, Wilson Audiophile, CRI, Centaur, and Crystal labels and he is heard on a Grammy Award-winning 1993 Telarc release. Working also as a conductor throughout his career, West has been Director of Orchestral Activities and Conductor of Opera VCU and he served as conductor of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1993 to 2001. His services as guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, soloist and author are sought nationwide.

Don Brubaker, Rita M. Evans Orchestra Conductor
A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Mr. Brubaker began musical studies on the violin at the age of six and on the piano and trumpet at the age of twelve. He holds a bachelor's degree in music education from West Virginia University and a master's degree in music education from the University of Illinois. In addition to his music education studies, Mr. Brubaker holds a Master of Divinity degree from Regent University. Mr. Brubaker has taught orchestra in the public schools of Northern Virginia at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In addition, he has taught band at the elementary level and directed a private music-teaching studio. He was conductor of the Northern Virginia Junior Youth Symphony for eight seasons and has served as a guest conductor and adjudicator throughout the state of Virginia. He is a published composer of school orchestra music. Mr. Brubaker now resides in Charlottesville and directs the orchestra at Buford Middle School.

Robert Dunnenberger, Evans Wind Coach
Robert Dunnenberger received his undergraduate degree in music education from Penn State University and his master's degree in music education from Florida International University in Miami. He teaches at Walker Upper Elementary School and is the winner of the Piedmont Council of the Arts Outstanding Educator Award for 2002.

Alicia Tobin, Junior Strings Conductor
Alicia Cool, director of Junior Strings, has a bachelor's degree in music education from Northern Illinois University. She studied cello with Linc Smelser of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and with Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, and has taught cello privately for 9 years. Ms. Cool taught elementary and middle school orchestra in the public schools in the Chicago, Illinois area for two years before moving to Charlottesville. She is a member of the American String Teachers Association and the Music Educators National Conference.

Angela Kelly, Flute Choir Director
Angela Kelly is a graduate of Indiana University where she studied with Peter Lloyd and James Pellerite. She won second prize in the 1996 Louise D. McMahan International Instrumental Competition and was invited to perform in the Samuel Baron Bach Area Masterclass at the 1996 National Flute Convention in New York. Her orchestral credits include performances with the Hartford Symphony, Greenwich Symphony and Greenwich Choral Society, and she has performed as a concert soloist with the Lawton (OK) Philharmonic, Bach Aria Festival Orchestra, Musica Antiqua and others. Her Greenwich, Connecticut-based studio produced several regional and national award-winning players. She created and directed four acclaimed youth flute choirs in Connecticut before coming to Charlottesville.

David Wilson, Saxophone Orchestra Director
David is the saxophone instructor at Piedmont Virginia Community College, and has taught saxophone, electronic music, and improvisation since 1974. He has taught at Carnegie Mellon University and has performed with the Roanoke Symphony, the Rowan University-Community Orchestra, the Orchestra of Our Time, and Joel Tome's World Sound. He is a founding member of the groups RASA, LUMP, Garden State Composers Forum, and World Sound. David has performed contemporary classical music in many venues throughout the United States, and has been recorded by LUMP, World Sound labels, and filmed by French television.

James Tobin, Clarinet Ensemble Director
James Tobin is a freelance clarinetist who has performed with the Quad-Cities Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Southwest Virginia, the New River Chamber Winds and the Waynesboro Community Symphony. A Charlottesville native, Mr. Tobin performed with the Evans and Youth Orchestras from 1990-1994. Mr. Tobin received a Bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech and a Master's from Northern Illinois University, both in clarinet performance. Currently James teaches throughout the Charlottesville area, including Albemarle High and Burley Middle School, where he learned to play. He also teaches and directs clarinet choirs at St. Anne's-Belfield, Western Albemarle, and Monticello High School. In the summer of 2006 Mr. Tobin performed at the Ash Lawn Opera Festival and is presently a member of the Charlottesville-University Symphony Orchestra.

STAFF

Mary Scot Jonté, General Manager
Teka Phan, Music Librarian

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2007-2008

Carolyn Bancroft, President
John Mason, Vice President
Johanna Beaver, Secretary
Hartwell Gary, Treasurer
Shu-Jen Chen, Scholarships
Susan Allen
Michael Allen
Betsy Bloom
Cynthia Gasman
Patrick Keady
Sarah LaPrade
Jeanette Rosenberg
Judith Simpson

The Board of Directors welcomes all inquiries regarding YOCA.
If you are interested in getting involved and serving on our Board,
please contact Carolyn Bancroft or Scot Jonté at
yoca_evans@yahoo.com or call 974-7776.