Jacksonville Symphony youth Orchestras Conductors
Grant O'Brien
Music Director, Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras
Winston Family Endowed Chair
Grant O'Brien is a conductor, composer, and producer of music and musical productions. During his studies at the Eastman School of Music, he worked extensively with conductors Dr. Oliver Hagen, Dr. Mark Scatterday, Professor Brad Lubman in addition to the Emmy Award winning Mark Watters. Currently, Grant is studying orchestral conducting with Neil Varon at the Eastman School of Music. Upcoming performances include engagements with JoAnn Falletta and Peter Bay at the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs and work as a playback operator for Cineconcerts. As a classically trained artist with a devotion to popular AND contemporary music, Grant continues to display himself as a versatile musician and an inventive concert producer.
Grant has conducted many ensembles in the Rochester area including the Syracuse Society for New Music, New Horizons String and Full Orchestra, Upstate Brass Band, Eastman Tuba Mirum, MO Ensemble and Empire Film and Media Ensemble. He has also conducted in countless degree recitals at the Eastman School of Music in addition to several recording sessions with ensembles ranging from octet to a 50-piece orchestra. Most notably, Grant has conducted recording sessions for the award winning web-series, “Star Trek Continues” and film, “Aquarium” by Stephanie Maxwell.
Grant has conducted many ensembles in the Rochester area including the Syracuse Society for New Music, New Horizons String and Full Orchestra, Upstate Brass Band, Eastman Tuba Mirum, MO Ensemble and Empire Film and Media Ensemble. He has also conducted in countless degree recitals at the Eastman School of Music in addition to several recording sessions with ensembles ranging from octet to a 50-piece orchestra. Most notably, Grant has conducted recording sessions for the award winning web-series, “Star Trek Continues” and film, “Aquarium” by Stephanie Maxwell.
BIO
Helen Morin
Conductor, Premier Strings & Encore Strings
Helen Morin earned a Master of Music in Violin Performance with Lucia Lin at Boston University and holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin from Trinity College of Music, London, where she studied with John Crawford. Prior to her studies in the United States, Ms. Morin performed in Europe with the Britten Peers Orchestra, the Fine Arts Sinfonia of London, and as Concertmaster of the Trinity Sinfonia. Ms. Morin has been a guest artist at the Dartington International Music Festival, performed at the Brevard Music Festival, and toured Europe with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed at the London Festival Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Queens House Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College Chapel, and St. Johns Square. She is a recipient of the Cavatina Trust Award and the Licentiate Trinity College London Teaching Diploma (qualifying her to teach at university level in the United Kingdom.)
While in Massachusetts, she led the Civic Symphony Orchestra, MetroWest Orchestra, and spent five seasons as a first violinist with the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. She was a featured artist in the Rimscha Concert Series and Director of the Hopkinton String Program.
While in Massachusetts, she led the Civic Symphony Orchestra, MetroWest Orchestra, and spent five seasons as a first violinist with the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. She was a featured artist in the Rimscha Concert Series and Director of the Hopkinton String Program.
BIO
Rose Francis-Wisniewski
Conductor, Foundation Strings
Rose Francis-Wisniewski was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Brevard County, Florida where she began her violin studies from a young age. She holds an undergraduate degree in Music Education from the University of North Florida, where she studied violin under Dr. Simon Shiao, and a Master of Music Performance in Conducting under the direction of Dr. Gordon Brock. Francis-Wisniewski participated in master classes with the Ying String Quartet (violin), in the UNF Conducting Symposium with Eugene Corporon, and was recently a conducting fellow with the Saratoga Orchestra for the Pacific North West Conducting Institute workshop with Diane Wittry and Dr. Anna Edwards.
Francis-Wisniewski has served as string orchestra director at Pine Forest Magnet School of the Arts since 2012, where she developed and cultivated a full time string program for the entire school population with instruction including violin, viola, cello and bass. Francis-Wisniewski has taught upper string techniques and pedagogy as an adjunct professor at University of North Florida since 2016. She has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Jacksonville since its inaugural 2016 season. She develops educational outreach materials for multiple organizations throughout Jacksonville and advocates for string education as an emerging leader in the field.
Francis-Wisniewski has served as string orchestra director at Pine Forest Magnet School of the Arts since 2012, where she developed and cultivated a full time string program for the entire school population with instruction including violin, viola, cello and bass. Francis-Wisniewski has taught upper string techniques and pedagogy as an adjunct professor at University of North Florida since 2016. She has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Jacksonville since its inaugural 2016 season. She develops educational outreach materials for multiple organizations throughout Jacksonville and advocates for string education as an emerging leader in the field.
BIO
David Song
Conductor, Jump Start Strings
A native of Jeon-Ju, South Korea, violinist David Hwan-Min Song began studying the violin at the age of 10. He received his training at the Jeonju Fine Arts Middle School under Seung-Gu Baek before immigrating to the United States in 2002. Since then, he has performed extensively as an orchestral, chamber, and solo violinist. He served as Concertmaster of the Stetson University Symphony Orchestra, Baylor University Symphony Orchestra and the Florida All-State Orchestra for several years, as well as Concertmaster for the All-County Orchestra and the Southwest Florida Youth Orchestra.
In 2003, Mr. Song made his solo debut with the Southwest Florida Youth Orchestra under the baton of Dr. David Eccles, and has also appeared as soloist with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra under Paul Naddler, Ocala Symphony and Edison State College Orchestra under Dr. Daniel Hill. Additionally, Song was featured as soloist on NPR’s program From The Top performing a movement from Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with Christopher O’Reilly. In 2005, he was selected to perform with the London Symphony during the Florida International Festival in Daytona Beach, Florida.
In 2003, Mr. Song made his solo debut with the Southwest Florida Youth Orchestra under the baton of Dr. David Eccles, and has also appeared as soloist with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra under Paul Naddler, Ocala Symphony and Edison State College Orchestra under Dr. Daniel Hill. Additionally, Song was featured as soloist on NPR’s program From The Top performing a movement from Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with Christopher O’Reilly. In 2005, he was selected to perform with the London Symphony during the Florida International Festival in Daytona Beach, Florida.
BIO
Patrice Evans
Instructor, Communities In Schools Jump Start Strings
Jacksonville Symphony violinist Patrice Evans is originaly from Cleveland Ohio. She began her violin studies in the fourth grade as part of a public-school music program. Upon entering high school, she became a scholarship student of Cleveland Orchestra members Richard Roberts and Steven Majeske. She won a full tuition scholarship to Florida State University where she studied with Eliot Chapo, and she joined the Jacksonville Symphony in 1989.
Always eager to give back in honor of the people that taught her, Evans is very dedicated to music education and teaching in the JSYO Jump Start Strings program in partnership with Communities In Schools
Always eager to give back in honor of the people that taught her, Evans is very dedicated to music education and teaching in the JSYO Jump Start Strings program in partnership with Communities In Schools
BIO
Brian Magnus
Instructor, Communities In Schools Jump Start Strings
A Texas native, Brian Magnus earned both his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Cello Performance at Southern Methodist University
under the tutelage of Christopher Adkins. Before joining the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in 2016, Magnus performed with the symphony orchestras of Austin, Waco, Shreveport and Dallas. An avid chamber musician, he performs regularly with the San Marco Chamber Music Society and the Saint Augustine Music Festival.
He is a passionate music teacher who has taught cello privately since 2005; he also coaches chamber music at Jacksonville University and recently began teaching Jump Start Strings in partnership with Communities In Schools.
He is a passionate music teacher who has taught cello privately since 2005; he also coaches chamber music at Jacksonville University and recently began teaching Jump Start Strings in partnership with Communities In Schools.
BIO
Benjamin Fryxell
Instructor, Communities In Schools Jump Start Strings
Ben Fryxell is establishing himself as a consummate cellist, at home in the worlds of solo performance, chamber music, and orchestra. Since his teenage years, he has been a regular presence on the concert stage and a frequent winner of awards and competitions. He has performed as a soloist with the Kentucky Symphony, Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and more. Ben is especially interested in the potent social commentary and novel ideas of contemporary music. In April 2022, he performed Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s “Canto di Speranza” with Matthias Pintscher and the New World Symphony. Recognizing his commitment to new music, the Tanglewood Music Center invited Ben to be one of their New Fromm Players during the summer of 2022, focusing on works composed in the past few decades. Ben studied with Natasha Brofsky at the Juilliard School, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree, and with Yeesun Kim at the New England Conservatory of Music for his Master of Music. Most recently, he was a Fellow with the New World Symphony.
BIO
Romona Merritt
Instructor, Communities In Schools Jump Start Strings
Romona began her viola training at Pine Forest Elementary School (currently known as Pine Forest School of the Arts) in Jacksonville, Florida. Her first private teacher was Ruth Paugh, a long-time violinist with the Jacksonville Symphony. As a High School Senior, she was a Jacksonville Symphony concerto competition winner and performed as a guest soloist for area high school educational concerts. She received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts and University of Minnesota respectively. Her primary teachers were Sally Peck and Roland Vamos. She was a full-time member of the Alabama Symphony viola section for 17 seasons. Romona enjoys sharing her desire to provide a solid musical foundation for young violin and viola students. Since 2011, Romona has been a substitute violist with the Detroit Symphony. In 2018 and 2021, Romona was honored to be awarded a Sphinx MPower Grant that has allowed her to receive additional teacher training.
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