Vivian Gonzalez is an active music educator, violinist, and mom. Dr. Gonzalez has presented at numerous state and national conferences on the topic of including students with disabilities in music classes and ensembles for NAfME, ASTA, Modern Band Summit, Magnet Schools of America, and El Sistema USA. She has served on boards including NAfME IN-Ovations Council, FL-ASTA (President), FEMEA, FOA, FSMA, and the editorial committee for IJME: Practice. Dr. Gonzalez was recognized as a Grammy Music Educator Award Top-Ten Finalist, a featured teacher for the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Magnet Schools of America Region 3 Teacher of the Year, 2022 Country Music Association Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence, FMEA Secondary Music Teacher of the Year and the National Federation of High Schools Section 3 Teacher of the Year. Dr. Gonzalez holds degrees in Violin Performance, Music Education, Curriculum and Instruction, School Leadership, and Teaching and Learning.

Ryan Ross is the Music Director of the Allen Philharmonic, a professional symphony in Texas, as well as Director of Orchestras at Plano West Senior High School. He’s been privileged to lead five TMEA Honor Orchestras, to have performed at The Midwest Clinic, and to have earn National Winner status in the Mark of Excellence contests and The American Prize.

Mr. Ross earned his BM from the University of Illinois and a MM in orchestral conducting from Texas Tech. His principal teachers were Gary Lewis and Donald Schleicher, supplemented by additional study with Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, and Larry Rachleff.

Mr. Ross guest conducts and clinics across America. Prior events include dozens of all-state, all-region, and district honor orchestras throughout Texas and 11 other states. He’s presented clinics at TMEA, TODA, and The Midwest Clinic and is a contributing writer in Vol. 4 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra.

Sophie Till is Associate Professor of Violin at Marywood University, Director of the Marywood String Project and Co-founder of The Till Project. Her teaching spans the gamut from teaching large groups of children, to students of all levels and high-level professional players, in particular solving playing-related injuries. She is also an active performer playing recitals, chamber music and concerti as well as giving television and radio broadcasts.

Tanatchaya “Tanya” Chanphanitpornkit, a double bassist from Thailand, is a conductor focused on inspiring and educating young musicians. Chanphanitpornkit currently teaches at Nyack Public Schools. She is the Music Director of New York Youth Symphony’s Crescendo Orchestra, and conductor of Manhattan School of Music Precollege Symphony and Concert Orchestras. Her higher education positions include Teachers College, Columbia University, William Paterson University, and The College of New Jersey. She is a co-founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Conduct.

Chanphanitpornkit earned her undergraduate degree from the Eastman School of Music (’15). She earned her Master of Arts (’17) and Master of Education (’19) degrees from Columbia University. Currently, she is doctoral candidate at Columbia University, where her research interests include first-generation college students in music conservatories. As she continues on her journey in music education, she will always base her decisions and teachings on the belief that the symphony is for everyone.

Susan Day holds music degrees from Ithaca College and Columbia University. She has taught strings at all grade levels in Colorado for over 30 years. Her award-winning orchestras were chosen to perform seven times at state and national conventions. She was Colorado ASTA “Outstanding Teacher of the Year” 2000. She is also a composer and violinist with the Lone Tree Symphony. Miss Day has written over 100 published educational string works, and was the winner of the 1997 ASTA Composition Contest, the 2008 Merle J Isaac Composition Contest, and the 2006 and 2011 Texas Orchestra Directors Association (TODA) Composition Contest. Three of her original works were featured in Volume 4 of the “Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra” series. Ms. Day has presented sessions at state and national conventions. In 2008 she was inducted into the Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA) Hall of Fame.

Jeffrey Grogan is a conductor and educator, recognized for his contributions to music education. He currently serves as the Director of Orchestral Activities at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University and as the Artistic Director of the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras. He is a Yamaha Master Educator and serves on advisory committees for the Midwest Clinic and Music for All.

Grogan has conducted alongside Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall for the LA Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles National Festival and collaborated with renowned composers & artists such as Omar Thomas, Amanda Harberg, Eric Whitacre, Lowell Liebermann, and the Canadian Brass.

Previously, Grogan served as the Education and Community Engagement Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and as Artistic Director of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York, and the New Jersey Youth Symphony. He was the founding Artistic Director of an El Sistema-inspired Paterson Music Project. He has taught at the University of Michigan, Ithaca College, and Baylor University.