Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras - Music Center at Strathmore
Serving Maryland, Washington D.C., and Northern Virginia 

David Levin
Mr. Levin has been teaching 28 years in Montgomery County Public Schools, where his programs have been  highly regarded for their excellence.  Mr. Levin is continuing as a member of the music faculty at Winston Churchill High School, a 2005 Grammys Signature School. Churchill has also been recognized by the "Cappies" for having the best Pit Orchestra in the Washington D.C. metro region for the past three school years.  Before his tenure at Churchill High School, Mr. Levin opened and established the Instrumental Music Program at James Hubert Blake High School, the Arts and Humanities Signature School in Silver Spring, Md.  In addition, Mr. Levin has frequently conducted and coached the Montgomery County Senior Honors Band and Orchestra.  Mr. Levin has also been asked to guest conduct the Honors Ensembles of other jurisdictions and adjudicate district band and orchestra festivals in the Washington Metropolitan area. In November 2007, he conducted the Prince George County Senior High Honors Band in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  He also teaches trumpet privately, and has been performing professionally with the M Street Brass Quintet for twenty five years.  Mr. Levin will be joining MCYO for his fifteenth season!  This is his 1st season serving as MCYO's Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor and Director of Music Education

Scott Herman
Mr. Herman has had a distinguished career educating young musicians in our region.  He  has been the Instrumental Music Director at Cabin John Middle School for 18 years, which has been widely regarded  as being one of the finest band and orchestra programs in Maryland.  Mr. Herman frequently guest conducts honors ensembles throughout Maryland. In 2008, Mr. Herman will direct the Southern Maryland Tri-County Honors Orchestra. In 2002 Mr. Herman conducted the 2002 Maryland Junior All-State Orchestra.  Mr. Herman's program is the most represented middle school program from Montgomery County in All-County, All-State, and MCYO ensembles.  Mr. Herman was also very instrumental in developing the  Montgomery County Junior and Senior Honors Orchestra program, which he directed for 16 years.  In 2001, Mr. Herman was presented with the American String Teachers Association "Outstanding Service to Strings" award. Mr. Herman's private trumpet and bass studio are represented in MCYO, All-County, and the Maryland All-State ensembles. Mr. Herman will be joining MCYO for his 10th season!

Chris Allen, 
Director of Bands and Orchestra at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland.  He is an active music educator, conductor, adjudicator, clinician, and performer. Each year that Mr. Allen has been at Walt Whitman, the orchestra, symphonic band, and jazz ensemble have received superior ratings at both the county, regional, and state level.  In 1995, Mr. Allen was presented the “Orchestra Director of the Year” award for Maryland and Washington, D.C., by the National String Teachers Association.  In 1998, Mr. Allen conducted the Maryland All State Junior Orchestra.  Mr. Allen was conductor of the Allegheny County Honors Senior Orchestra and the Prince George’s County Senior Orchestra.  He also served as the conductor of the Anne Arundel County and Montgomery County Honors Junior Orchestras.  Mr. Allen will be joining MCYO for his third season.
 

Pablo Saelzer,
Pablo Saelzer has recently been appointed conductor of the MCYO Sinfonia. In addition, he is Music Director and conductor of the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra in Washington DC. Saelzer made his conducting debut with the Symphony Orchestra of Concepción in Chile and since moving to the U. S. he has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra of Jackson, Mississippi and guest conductor with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Opera and Music Theatre, and the Southeastern Music Center Orchestra. Active in music education, Saelzer taught violin and viola at the Music Conservatory in Valdivia, Chile and served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Mississippi Youth Symphony Orchestras. Currently he teaches at the Levine School of Music, and as a performer he appears with diverse professional orchestras in the DC/Baltimore area. During the 07-08 season Saelzer will conduct at the Music in the Mountains Festival in Brazil, and the All State Honors Orchestra in Mississippi.

Jennifer Van Petten
Jennifer Van Petten, a 2000 graduate of the University of Maryland, has quickly risen in her short career as one of the leading music educators in Maryland. Her energy and attention to detail has brought Rosa Parks Middle School  recognition at both the district and state level where both her orchestras and bands have consistently received superior ratings.  Mrs. Van Petten is not new to MCYO.  She served  last season as the second violin coach for the Young Artists and Symphony orchestras and previously served as a substitute woodwind coach and conductor for Young Artists.  In 2005, Mrs. Van Petten was the recipient of the Nancy Dworkin Award for Outstanding Service to Youth.  Ms. Van Petten is an active member of the Maryland Music Educators Association where she serves as Member-at-Large in the Maryland Orchestra Directors Association, as well as an  adjudicator for the District and State honors ensembles.  Mrs. Van Petten resides in Olney, Maryland where she teaches the flute privately.

The conductors' portraits were taken courtesy of Bruce Vartan Boyajian  Photography.