Ariadna Perez – Cello

ARIADNA PEREZ – cello – graduated from Vocational School of the Arts in Matanzas, Cuba, received Middle Superior Education at the National School of the Arts in Havana, Cuba. She studied at the Superior School of Music in Santander Spain with Natalia Shakhovskaya. Ariadna continues to study toward a degree in Cello Performance at University of North Florida.

Ms Perez has performed with the Symphony Orchestra of Matanzas (Cuba), National Symphony Orchestra (Dominican Republic) and National Philharmonic Orchestra of Cibao (Dominican Republic) and she was cello instructor in the Orchestra System of the Presidential Council of the Dominican Republic

Brent Bevis - Guitar

Brent is an accomplished classical musician who began his musical life with a nine year study of the piano. His interest in guitar began in high school and continued at the FSU School of Music, where he was fortunate to study with the renowned guitar pedagogue, Bruce Holzman and received his Bachelor’s degree in music.

Brent spent 10 years in Tallahassee teaching and playing guitar professionally. Since being in Jacksonville Brent has served on the staffs of Celebration Episcopal Church and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church as Music Associate for Contemporary Worship. While at St. Mark’s, Brent transcribed for guitar the Taize sourcebook Songs and Prayers from Taize, a collection of 50 chorales used for contemplative worship.

Brent has also transcribed and recorded a collection of 11 songs by the rock group Pink Floyd for finger style guitar, and has recently completed an anthology of 36 pieces arranged for guitar quartet with 4 sections, each representing one of the four pre-modern musical periods. Brent is a founding member of the Riverside Guitar Quartet, and performs regularly as a soloist. He also serves as an adjunct professor for classical guitar at Jacksonville University.

Cliff Newton - Trumpet

Cliff Newton, trumpet, retired from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra after being the Principal Trumpet for 32 years. As Principal trumpet, Mr. Newton has had the opportunity to perform many solos with his symphony colleagues in a variety of classical and jazz styles.

Mr. Newton began his studies of the trumpet at the age of 12 in the public school of his small home town in central Florida. He went on to receive Bachelors degrees in Music Performance and Music Education from the University of South Florida. Mr. Newton later received a Masters in Trumpet Performance with an emphasis on college-level teaching from the University of Northern Colorado.

Other performance experience includes the NORAD Band in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and he currently performs as a soloist with the Belle Fleur String Quartet and the Palm Court Society Orchestra in Jacksonville, Florida.

In addition to an active performance career, Mr. Newton has been an instructor of trumpet at the Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada, as well as Jacksonville University and University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.

In addition to “Classical Music”, his favorite musical styles include early jazz, Argentine tango and American Civil War era brass band music. He is the Co-founder of the Ancient City Brass Band.

Don Reynolds – Trumpet

Don Reynolds taught band in Nassau County for 35 years. As the director of the West Nassau High School band, his Marching and Concert Bands were awarded Superior for 21consecutive years at District Music Performance Assessments and were highly recognized on the State and National Level. Among his many achievements as a band director his band were awarded the Bob Lampi Award, and the Otto Krausharr Award. He was a 2010 recipient of the prestigious Oliver Hobbs Award by the Florida Bandmasters Association for his achievements and contribution to the FBA. He is a current member of FBA, MENC, FMTA, and ASBDA.

As a trumpet player he has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony (1973-1978), Holiday on Ice, Ringling Bros. Circus, and several off Broadway Productions in the North Florida area. Mr. Reynolds is currently employed as an adjunct professor of Brass Studies at Jacksonville University and is the Principal Trumpet of the First Coast Wind Ensemble. Performances of Mr. Reynolds as a soloist with the First Coast Winds can be found on You Tube under Don Reynolds – Trumpet

Under Mr. Reynolds private instruction several of his students have been placed by audition in the Florida All-State Middle School Band, High School Band, and Orchestra.

Glynda Newton - Violin

Glynda Newton grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where she started violin in the school orchestra and later playing in the Jacksonville Youth Orchestra. After Robert E. Lee High School, Glynda studied at the University of South Florida and Univ. of Northern Colo.

While studying in Tampa, she began performing professionally in the Fla. Gulf Coast, which has since changed its name to the Florida Orchestra. Her travels around the world has allowed her to hear many different types of performance styles and afforded her the opportunity to work with many fine musicians.

Raising two beginning musicians and helping them become professionals has giving her a very clear vision of the effort and rewards that musical study can offer. Her approach will be just as when she sits with the young violinists in the JSO’s Major Minor Concert, a warm smile, gentle guidance and encouragement.

Guy Yehuda - Clarinet

Guy Yehuda is recognized as an outstanding talent on the international concert stage around the world today. He is the top prizewinner of the 2003 Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition, the 2004 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition, and the 2004 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (as member of Trio di Colore.) Since his North American Concerto debut with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian, Mr. Yehuda has toured extensively in Europe, North America, and Israel. As principal clarinetist, Mr. Yehuda has performed with the Israel Philharmonic, Lucerne Contemporary Festival Orchestra, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, among others as well as guest clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Yehuda performed on tours of Europe and the U.S. under the batons of top conductors including Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Yuri Temirkanov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sir Andrew Davis, and Daniel Barenboim. He performed and collaborated with the world’s top composers and performers such as Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, pianist Menahem Pressler from the Beaux-Arts Trio and George Benjamin. A highly demanded musician he has performed as soloist and chamber musician at the Spoleto Festival (USA), Verbier Festival and Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Parry Sound Festival, Domain Forget Festival, Fountain Arts concert series, and at the Israeli Chamber Music Festival at Kfar Blum.

Mr. Yehuda is a sought after recitalist throughout North America and Europe. He has performed as soloist in prestigious halls and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Domain Forget, (Canada), Chicago Symphony Hall, Palacio Fuz and Casa di Musica in Portugal, Mann auditorium in Tel Aviv, and Dame Myra Hess Chamber Series to name a few. He is a particularly active chamber musician and tours extensively with the award winning chamber music group: Trio di Colore (with Yuval Gotlibovich-Viola and Jimmy Briere-Piano) of which he is the founding member. Mr. Yehuda has appeared numerous times as a guest artist on CBC Canadian Radio, Radio-Canada, WFMT Chicago, DRS Swiss Radio, Portugal National Radio, and Israel’s Classical radio station, as well as TV appearances on Israel’s Channel 2 and Chicago’s Channel 25. Mr. Yehuda has recorded with Hal Leonard productions, IU New Music Ensemble, and number of live recordings for the CBC. A new CD recording by Mr. Yehuda for solo and trio music by French composer Jean Francaix, was released on the XII-21 Canadian Label in 2009 as well as a new CD recording with Albany records in the same year.

Professor Yehuda has given master classes throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Israel and taught clarinet at Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music. He is a Selmer-Paris artist and an active clinician in the U.S. and abroad and has been frequently invited to judge on national and international competitions, and a frequent soloist at the ICA ClarinetFest conferences. Over the summer months he is the Artist–Teacher resident at the acclaimed Orford Festival in Canada. Currently he serves on the faculty of the University of North Florida as Professor of Clarinet and Chamber Music. As an accomplished conductor, Mr. Yehuda served as Conductor-in-Residence of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in Toronto, working with maestros George Cleve, Leon Fleischer, and Gary Kulesha. And during his studies at Indiana University, Mr. Yehuda worked with conductors David Effron and Imre Palo. Mr. Yehuda is also a published composer and winner of the prestigious Israeli Sharet Composition Award, having worked individually with Pierre Boulez, P.Q. Phan, Alexander Rappoport, Yinaam Leef, and Haim Permont.

Mr. Yehuda studied with distinguished clarinetists James Campbell, Eli Eban, Avrahm Galper, Charles Neidich, Larry Combs, Howard Klug, Alfred Prinz, and Yitzhak Katzap. He received his Doctorate and Master’s Degrees from Indiana University Jacob School of Music, as well as a Performer Certificate, the highest honor given to a performer at this venerable institution. Prior to that Mr. Yehuda received his Artist Diploma and Bachelor’s Degree from the Glenn Gould Professional Music School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Jennifer Christensen - Saxophone

Jennifer Christensen recently graduated from Florida State University’s College of Music, cum laude, with a bachelor’s in Music Education. While in college she studied saxophone with Joseph Yorio and Patrick Meighan and was very active in Sigma Alpha Iota, international music fraternity for women, as the Beta Alpha chapter Sergeant at Arms. Jennifer was also Head Student Coordinator of the College of Music Board of Advisors program and in the university’s marching band the Marching Chiefs for two years.

During her internship for her degree Jennifer taught at two different elementary schools in Jacksonville Beach. At one of the schools Jennifer directed a musical with the entire second grade including rehearsals and three performances in addition to regular teaching duties. 

Jennifer is certified in Orff-Schulwerk Level 1 and an active member of several music organizations including the Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity Alumnae Association, Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Florida Bandmaster’s Association (FBA) and the Florida Elementary Music Educator’s Association (FEMEA).

Kamila Shahtakhtinski - Piano

Kamila Shahtakhtinski, holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in teaching, accompaniment, solo and chamber ensemble performance from Azerbaijan State Conservatory (now Baku Music Academy). She served as Associate Professor of Piano department since 1987 and toured as soloist, member of chamber group and accompanist to major cities of former Soviet Union, as well as Italy and US. She also performed concerti with Azerbaijan State Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and recorded for Azerbaijan State Radio. Several of her students successfully graduated from BMA with Bachelor’s in Piano and participated in local and regional competitions.

Kamila moved to US in 1997. She was faculty member at the Amelia Arts Academy /Fernandina Beach, FL/ in 1998-2010. Kamila teaches privately in Jacksonville (FL) and continues to perform in US as soloist and accompanist; she serves as a Music Director at St. George Episcopal Church (Jacksonville, FL) since 2006. She recorded album of piano selections “Dedication” in 2007 with Twenty-First Century Studios, Jacksonville

Kamila Shahtakhtinski is member of NFMC and MTNA. Many of her students participate in local festivals and competitions , she has several Florida State winners and one participant on international level with great reviews from jurors.

Kayo Ishimaru - Harp

Kayo Ishimaru is enjoying her 22nd season as principal harpist with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. A native of Osaka, Japan, Ms. Ishimaru began her musical studies on piano at age three, and transferred to harp at age ten. She continued her formal study at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. With a scholarship from the French government, she studied at the renowned Paris Conservatory, where she was awarded the coveted Premier Prix.

Ms. Ishimaru serves as principal harpist with Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since 1991. She has performed with many orchestras in the United States, Japan, France and Mexico, including the St. Louis Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo) and the Tokyo Philharmonic.

In 2005 she participated in The Peace Concert, performing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2006 she performed with the Escher String Quartet at the Aspen Music Festival and she has appeared in concertos and solo recitals in France, Italy and Japan and the United States. She can also be heard on a recording of the music of J.S. Bach with JSO hornist Aaron Brask, available at www.lasthorn.com.

Ms. Ishimaru has written extensive duo harp arrangements with her husband, harpist Dickie Fleisher and together they give recitals in the U.S. and Japan. They also enjoy collecting harps, one of which is a prized harp that belonged to Harpo Marx and was featured in his movies.

Lou Henningsen - Bagpipes

About the Piper – Lou Henningsen

A 12-year-old paperboy hears the eerie skirl of bagpipes in the distance and follows the sound to a park, finding a dozen pipers and drummers practicing. Two years later, thanks to his tutor's great patience, Lou became the youngest member of the Phoenix Scottish Pipe Band.

In the decade that followed, Lou became the Pipe Sergeant, then Pipe Major. He played with two other Arizona-based pipe bands, taught piping in his home, and offered bagpipe classes at the local college. He played for weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, funerals, parades, for those in hospitals, in prison, and at private parties. He even played for the opening of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. He was once pictured in Playboy magazine, bunny ears on, when he played at the elite Phoenix club one St. Patrick's Day. He has played with other bands as his Military career saw transfers around the states. Recently, Lou served as Pipe Major and Instructor for Jacksonville (FL) Pipes and Drums, playing for Prince Edward, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rod Stewart, and countless others.

Lou has earned piping awards at Highland Games in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, California, Idaho and Washington. He attended two summers at Glasgow's College of Piping, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, extension campus and one summer at the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming in North Carolina. Lou completed a summer exchange program in Ireland, England, and Scotland. While there, he competed in the world famous Cowal Gathering in Dunoon, Scotland. Memberships: Southern U.S. Pipe Band Association, Eastern U.S. Pipe Band Association, International Fellowship of Christian Pipers and Drummers, Jacksonville Pipes & Drums, US Coast Guard Pipe Band

Matt Daniel - Piano

Matt Daniel is majoring in Piano Performance at University of North Florida and currently serves as Organist and Choirmaster for St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Fleming Island. Matt also served as pianist and Choir Director for Emmanuel Christian Fellowship and St. Mark Baptist Churches in Middleburg Florida.

He is member and President of UNF Chapter of Music Teacher’s National Association and a member of Mu Phi Epsilon, the professional music honor society.

Michael Dell - Piano/Organ

Born in Jacksonville in 1959, Michael Dell received his Bachelor in Church Music degree from Stetson University (DeLand, FL) and a Master of Church Music degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX). Additional studies were with Dr. Gerre Hancock at St. Thomas (Episcopal) Church in New York City, as well as numerous workshops and conferences. He has served churches in Texas, Alabama, and Florida, and has the good fortune of currently being Organist/Director of Music at South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, which also serves as the rehearsal home of his recently established mixed community choral group, The Heritage Singers of Jacksonville. Michael is also returning this Fall to his previous appointment as the Director of The Friday Musicale Chorus. The Friday Musicale is the oldest musical organization in Florida, and the second oldest in the nation.

As a professional accompanist, Michael greatly enjoys his work with Producer Jim Goodell’s Bella Voce Cabaret. In addition to playing piano, organ, and other keyboards, and conducting church (traditional and contemporary) and community groups, Michael enjoys teaching piano and organ, and writing both music and texts as needs and opportunities arise. He is a published hymn writer and composer of organ music, and has also composed choral compositions. He has presented recitals and appeared as organ soloist with both the Huntsville (AL) Symphony Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He also enjoys collaborating with his colleague and friend, Andrew Clarke, in performing duo-jazz piano improvisations.

Michael is the proud father of Christopher (now in his second year at Michael’s Alma Mater, Stetson), and is also richly blessed with four wonderful stepchildren: Brad, Katie, Justin, and Jessica, through his recent marriage to his collaborative partner, Debbie. Debbie’s gregarious personality and considerable marketing and organizational skills have contributed profoundly to The Heritage Singers of Jacksonville.

Nadia Zarembo - Guitar/Domra/Piano

Nadia Zarembo (guitar, mandolin, and organ) of Russia has a Master degree from Russia in string folk instruments and instrumental conducting. She also has Master of Music degree from SUNY (Binghamton) in choral conducting with minor in organ. 15 years of experience teaching in Children’s music schools and at a music college in Russia. In USA she has been a private instructor, taught beginning piano at SUNY (Binghamton), and as a student conductor worked with University and Community Choir. She moved to Florida in summer 2007 from New York state.

Nick Curry - Cello

Dr. Nick Curry - cello - was recently appointed as the cello professor at the University of North Florida. At UNF, he plays in Trio Florida with violinist Simon Shiao and pianist Gary Smart. Before this appointment, he was the professor of cello and the cellist in the Rawlins Piano Trio at the University of South Dakota. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied cello with David Starkweather from the University of Georgia. Nick received his bachelors of music from Vanderbilt, where he studied with Grace Mihi Bahng. While at Vanderbilt, he served as Professor Bahng's teaching assistant, and was the recipient of the Jean Keller Heard Award for Excellence in string playing.

Nick then served as Hans Jorgen Jensen’s teaching assistant for five years at Northwestern University, where he earned his masters degree and doctoral degree. He also was the teaching assistant to Professor Jensen at the Meadowmount School of Music for four summers. While at Northwestern, Nick soloed with the Northwestern Philharmonic Orchestra and won the Northwestern Chamber Music Competition. Nick has played in master classes for Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirschbaum, Paul Katz, David Geber, the Emerson String Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, and the Blair String Quartet. Private studies have also included Harvey Shapiro, David Finckel, and John Kochanowski.

Nick has played concerts in Taiwan and all over the US. He has judged many contests including South Dakota and Florida All State and parts of the MTNA and ASTA string competitions. He has presented at the CMS National Conference as well as MTNA. He is currently in charge of special projects for Florida ASTA. In April of 2006, he performed as a soloist on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion where he played the King Amati cello. The performance was heard by over 4,000 people live and by approximately 4 million on radio. The performance can be found on the Prairie Home Companion website.

Philip Pan - Violin

Philip Pan, violinist, has been Concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra since 1984. He regularly solos with the JSO and has also made concerto appearances with the Albany Symphony, Schenectady Symphony, Gainesville Chamber, Boston Pops and Bach Aria Festival orchestras.

He has performed in recital at Alice Tully Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Chamber Music festival, the Homestake Opera House (Lead, SD) and in many other venues throughout the U.S. He and his wife, JSO flutist Rhonda Cassano, are founders of the Bach and Beyond! series, Synergy and Sound Effects at MOCA Jacksonville.

Mr. Pan has also served as Visiting Lecturer at the University of Florida. He was one of the last protégés of William Kroll and received his BM and MM from the Juilliard School where he studied with Dorothy DeLay and Felix Galimir.

In addition to classical, Philip enjoys playing various styles of fiddle music, jazz and rock, especially on his 7-string, electric Viper violin.

Ralph Coleman - Band & Camp Director

Ralph Coleman is a Jacksonville native and a 1977 graduate of Jacksonville University. After graduating, He establishing a band program at the newly opened J.L. Wilkinson School in Middleburg, and quickly grew the program to more than 250 students. After 19 years, Mr. Coleman took a position as the Baker County Middle School Band Director and served as the Music Director at Arlington Middle School before moving to his current position as Director of String Education at Pine Forest Elementary School of the Arts.
Mr. Coleman is a founding director of both the Clay County Honor Band and the Northeast Florida Honor Band. He has been selected as a clinician and adjudicator in the Northeast section of the state and has been awarded Teacher of The Year twice in his career.
Though Music Education is a personal preference to performance, Mr. Coleman performed with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for 11 years and continues to play in a variety of community organizations, from small ensembles to orchestras. He has served in many capacities with the Florida Baptist Convention All-State Choir and Orchestra for over 20 years. Mr. Coleman continues to serve his local church as Worship leader.

Regina Torres - Voice

A Jacksonville native, mezzo-soprano Regina Torres began her vocal studies at the University of Florida and finished her graduate work at the prestigious Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Currently, she teaches private voice through the St. Johns County School of the Arts, incorporating breathing technique with performance practice in both classical and musical theatre styles.

Described as a “tour de force of vocal virtuosity married to a fabulous stage presence” (Captain Classics – WFCF, St. Augustine), Ms. Torres wields her voice with equal acclaim in opera and musical theatre. Her powerful and beautiful sound has thrilled audiences in her portrayals of such vastly different roles as the gypsy Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore and Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music. As a comedienne, Ms. Torres has brought down the house as the “rapping” Witch in Into the Woods and gingerbread-gobbling Witch in Hansel and Gretel. She is also a Gilbert and Sullivan favorite and appeared in recital in 2011 at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. With Central Florida Lyric Opera (Orlando), Ms. Torres was best known for her reinterpretations of familiar roles - transforming Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) into a glamorous desperate housewife and the rosy Little Buttercup (H.M.S. Pinafore) into a true gypsy. In her debut with the St. Petersburg Opera as Madame Armfeldt (A Little Night Music), the St. Petersburg Times hailed her performance, noting her “delicious inflection to her commentary about on the fools around her.” She was most recently seen as Pitti-Sing in The Mikado with Greenville (S.C.) Light Opera Works and will be returning to the Space Coast Symphony to reprise the Duchess of Plaza-Toro (The Gondoliers) in April 2012.

She has also appeared as a soloist in performances of Dvořák’s Requiem (Space Coast Symphony), Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and St. John Passion, and a debut in the Bob Carr Auditorium in Handel’s The Messiah. In March 2012, she will be appearing with Deborah Voigt and the Space Coast Symphony in Verdi’s Requiem.

She is a frequent recitalist and enjoys creating unusual programs for her audiences. In 2011, she created an informance highlighting performance practice for the EMMA Lecture Series (St. Augustine). For the last three seasons, First Coast Opera (St. Augustine) asked her to design programs for their cabaret series including the upcoming Viva Espana. She is a member of the Jacksonville based Bella Voce Cabaret and a founding member of Mezzolicious.

Ruth Greene - Percussion & Set

Ruth Greene – Snare drum & Drum set - Over 25 years experience as a drum set and snare drum instructor teaching rudiments, technique, reading and drum set independence studies.

Performance experience includes playing with community concert bands in New Jersey and professionally with many small combos. Upon moving to Florida, Ruth has performed with the St. Augustine Community Orchestra and accompanied the North Florida Women’s Chorale.

In her teaching Ruth has been successful in using a unique warm up exercise that she learned while a drum student of the legendary Sonny Igoe (Woody Herman, Benny Goodman & the CBS and NBC orchestra fame).

Several of Ruth’s students have gone on to study at Berklee School of Music and continued on to play professionally. More recently several of Ruth’s students have been accepted into high school drum lines.

Susan Mcgee - Horn

Susan McGee - French horn – has over 28 years of professional experience. She is currently a member of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra and the Brevard Symphony Brass Quintet in Melbourne, FL. Susan has been with the Brevard Symphony since 1996 and prior to that, she was a member of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, in Ft. Myers, (1987 – 1996) and, while there, was a director of the Southwest Florida Youth Symphony Brass and Woodwind Quintets.

She was the horn player in residence for the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater, in Ft. Myers, from its inception in 1994 until she relocated to Port St. Lucie, FL. in 1996. Susan was also a member of the Florida Westcoast Symphony, in Sarasota (1983 – 1986) and has performed with the Florida Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic, and recorded for artists, Valerie Gillespie, Ella Chadwell and Rose Bilal.

She has taught privately for the past 25 years. Susan studied horn at the University of South Florida with Professor Ralph Froelich, a former member of the New York Woodwind Quintet, and also with Justine LeBaron, former principal horn with the Florida Orchestra.

Taylor Irelan - Flute

From covers of Christina Aguilera and the Rolling Stones to the music of Gade and Gordeli, Taylor Irelan is taking an exploration of music for the flute to new terrain as an artist.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Irelan has performed across the United States. He has been a soloist with the UNF Orchestra, Valencia Symphonic Band, and Valencia String Ensemble. In 2011, Mr. Irelan was co-principal flute and piccolo with Chamber Orchestra Trinity in St. Augustine, FL. Mr. Irelan is an artist with the Riverside Fine Arts Association’s Project Listen and has been featured in their annual Taste of Talent series. Mr. Irelan has also been featured with a live solo performance heard on NPR station 89.9 WJCT First Coast Connect. After a 2011 performance in Alice Tully Hall in New York City with the UNF Wind Symphony, Mr. Irelan was invited to appear as a soloist with the Distinguished Concerts International New York Artist Series. Among his many awards garnered are top prizes in the Florida Flute Association Advanced Masterclass Competition, UNF Concerto Competition, the Florida Community College Activities Association's Student Artist Competition, and the Flute Fusion Young Artist Competition, and he has been a finalist in both the Ars Flores Young Artists Concerto Competition and the Coeur d'Alene Symphony Young Artist Competition.

Mr. Irelan is involved in the music community of Jacksonville both as a teacher and as an arts advocate. He is President and founder of Students for the Advancement of the Arts, a founding board member of Jax Flutes, and an Advisory Board Member for Riverside Fine Arts. In 2011, he founded Flute Insanity, a ten-week summer flute camp in Jacksonville. In addition to teaching private lessons, Mr. Irelan is respected as a masterclass clinician, teaching at the UNF Solo and Ensemble Flute Workshop, UNF High School Invitational, UNF Flute Day, as well as high schools and middle schools in Florida, Texas, and New Mexico.

Taylor Irelan currently serves as principal flute of the UNF Wind Symphony, UNF Orchestra, UNF Opera, and is a member of the UNF Flute Ensemble, Jax Flutes, Florida Flute Association, and the National Flute Association. Mr. Irelan has performed in masterclasses with Jim Walker, Eva Amsler, Amy Porter, Alberto Almarza, Göran Marcusson, Stephen Preston, Bradley Garner, Ellen Dooley, Marianne Gedigian, Jill Felber, Claudia Anderson, and Carol Wincenc. He has studied with Rhonda Cassano, Les Roettges, Katie Tomicek, David DeWitt, Lisa Garner-Santa, and Lisa Van-Winkle, including lessons with Göran Marcusson, Jennifer Parker-Harley, Claire Chase, Trudy Kane, Linda Chesis, Jeffrey Khaner, and Robert Langevin.

Mr. Irelan has been accepted into the Guildhall Artist Masters Programme in Advanced Instrumental Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he will be under the study of Ian Clarke and Sarah Newbold.

Yolanda Olmstead - Youth Theatre

Yolanda Olmstead comes to the Northeast Florida Conservatory with her educational background in performing arts and early childhood education.

She has taught multiple years of summer theater camps for kids, performed in numerous children’s theater productions, acted in productions with local and out of state community theatres, and continues to work in childcare for preschool age children as a music resource teacher as well as manage a locally owned mobile dance company teaching beginning ballet and tap to young children.

Yolanda has experience in directing, stage managing, and tour managing in the world of theater for both adults and children. Her favorite roles include, Sister Mary Regina in “Nunsense”, Portia in “Cinderella”, Templeton in “Charlotte’s Web”, Rumpelstiltskin in “Rumpelstiltskin”, Sister Sophia in “The Sound of Music”, Nettie Fowler in “Carousel”, Maude Dunlop in “The Music Man”, Mammy in “Wiley and the Hairy Man”, and Mama Mae Peterson in “Bye, Bye Birdie