Return: Get Involved / Conference & Summit / 2026 National Conference

Wednesday, February 25

12:00-5:00 PM: Pre-Conference Workshops ($)

View the information on the SCHEDULES page for more information about Pre-Conference Workshop offerings from both ASTA and SAA!

3:00-5:30 PM: Educational Sessions

Arriving in San Francisco too late to join a Pre-Conference Workshop, but ready to dive into the conference? We will have two blocks of sessions to get you jump-started!

6:00-8:00 PM: Meet the Intersectional Affinity Group Facilitators - East Lounge

The Representation, Inclusion, and Accessibility (RIA) Committee invites ASTA attendees of historically excluded and underrepresented identities to participate in the affinity social gatherings. These meet-and-greet events are designed to provide a platform for attendees to have a dedicated space to connect within affinity groups among the diverse coalition of ASTA membership. The RIA Committee requests these events be reserved for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled members of the ASTA community. We invite all allies to join us for the facilitated roundtable session in the conference.

6:00-7:00 PM: Newcomer's Welcome - East Lounge

Are you new to ASTA or is this your first ASTA National Conference? Join us to connect with others who are new to the community, grow your network, and meet the ASTA Board of Directors.

7:00-8:00 PM: Welcome Experience - East Lounge

Take this opportunity to meet your colleagues, reconnect with friends, and enjoy a performance by the ASTA National Teachers Orchestra.

8:00-9:00 PM: University & College Student Mixer - Plaza Room A

Hosted by the Student Advisory Committee

Attending the 2026 ASTA National Conference? Join us on Wednesday night for a time to socialize, network, and support each other! Enter to win a FREE registration for the 2026 Virtual String Teachers Summit or 2027 ASTA National Conference in Chicago – and MORE!

Thursday, February 26

8:00 - 9:30 AM: Thursday Keynote - Continental Ballroom

Alex Laing became the President and Artistic Director of Gateways Music Festival in January, 2024. A leading figure in American classical music, he has been invited to address the annual conferences of both the Association of British Orchestras and the League of American Orchestras, the latter as a keynote speaker. He has been a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and made contributions to significant projects such as the League of American Orchestras 'Essentials of Orchestra Management Seminar', the Juilliard School’s Evening Division, the LA Phil's YOLA program (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), and Sound Systems: Reimagining the Future of the Orchestra, a book project he conceived, organized and co-edited with the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. His work has been recognized with a Sphinx Medal of Excellence and in being named one of Musical America's Professionals of the Year. An accomplished performer, Alex spent 22 years as principal clarinetist of the Phoenix Symphony. Alex is a graduate of Northwestern University, received his master's degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, an artist's diploma from the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam and a certificate in nonprofit management from Arizona State University's Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation.

9:00 AM-8:00 PM: National Orchestra Festival Performances and Clinics - Continental Ballroom, Yosemite Rooms, Imperial Ballroom, Franciscan Rooms

12:00-1:30 PM: Exhibit Hall Grand Opening - Grand Ballroom

Come visit our incredible vendors in the Exhibit Hall! Be sure to walk through and see the latest products to help you in your daily teaching. Also, visit college booths throughout the conference!

12:30-4:30 PM: Eclectic Styles Mini-Jams - Union Square 9

5:00-6:00 PM: Jam Session with Martha Mooke - Plaza Room A

Come participate in and learn more!

6:30-7:30 PM: Intersectional Affinity Space - Union Square 3-4

The Representation, Inclusion, and Accessibility (RIA) Committee invites ASTA attendees of historically excluded and underrepresented identities to participate in the affinity social gatherings. These meet-and-greet events are designed to provide a platform for attendees to have a dedicated space to connect within affinity groups among the diverse coalition of ASTA membership. The RIA Committee requests these events be reserved for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled members of the ASTA community. We invite all allies to join us for the facilitated roundtable session in the conference.

7:00-8:00 PM AND 8:30-9:30 PM: Evening Concert - Continental Ballroom

The Bay Area’s premiere crossover string ensemble, Quartet San Francisco, was founded in 2001 by classical and jazz violinist Jeremy Cohen. “QSF was born out of the desire to create a genre of string chamber literature that gathers its material from popular music elements of recent decades,” Cohen explains, “still maintaining the integrity and spirit of traditional chamber music.”  Joining him in the group are Cullen Luper (violin), Chad Kaltinger (viola), and Tyler DeVigal (cello). “I like to tailor textures and lines that maximize the strengths of the players in the group. I really do think about the distinct musical personalities around me in the quartet, and I write very specifically with my three colleagues in mind,” says Cohen.

Quartet San Francisco has been recognized for their excellence in the classical- crossover genre with three Grammy nominations. QSF’s recordings have accumulated a total of seven Grammy nominations combined over the years. On stage QSF is stimulating, energetic, and provocative. The group performs material by Cohen and others in multiple genres—Latin, pop, jazz, bluegrass, R&B, and international music. QSF takes on all styles with authenticity and thoughtfulness, delivering them all with enthusiasm and formidable technique.

Cohen’s dedication to expanding the literature for the string quartet medium is at the heart of the group. Cohen explains, “We want it to be diverse, exciting, and eclectic. We’re always working toward an emotionally charged experience with a lot of craft and skill, not just for our listeners but for ourselves, too. We leave our concerts with an all-around better feeling about life, and I think our audiences do, too.” He adds, “Music can do so many things: heal, amuse, challenge, educate, comfort, organize. We work hard to infuse our concerts with that wide array of what music can do for the human spirit.”

For over more than twenty years QSF has concertized extensively throughout the United States. The group’s international tours have included Argentina, China, Italy, Germany, Japan, New Caledonia, South Korea, and Turkey. Their concerts in performing arts centers range from recital programs to symphony orchestra subscription concerts performing Jeremy Cohen’s “Concerto Carnevale for String Quartet and Orchestra.”

The group’s most recent recording project, Raymond Scott Reimagined (Violinjazz Recordings, 2023), focused on the legacy of the American composer Raymond Scott, whose character-filled works were frequently used in the Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoons. The quartet collaborated on this project with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and the celebrated vocal group Take Six. A Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition was awarded to Raymond Scott (posthumously) and Gordon Goodwin for the track “Cutey and the Dragon.”

The quartet also presents small and large-scale programs with tango dancers Sandor and Parissa, who have appeared on Dancing with the Stars.

Evening Concert Opening Performances

• 7:00 PM - SAA Brass Ensemble
• 8:30 PM - SAA Flute Ensemble

Friday, February 27

8:00-9:30 AM: Friday Keynote - Continental Ballroom

Winner of the 2021–2022 Frederic A. Juilliard/Walter Damrosch Rome Prize in Music Composition, Tina Tallon is a temporal media artist, engineer, historian and educator whose work grapples with questions of identity, agency and power as constructed and performed in our increasingly technologically-mediated world. Dr. Tallon received her PhD in music composition from the University of California–San Diego (2020), where she explored the potential of electronic music as a reparative medium for engaging trauma. She currently serves as assistant professor of AI and Music Composition in The Ohio State University’s School of Music and as area coordinator for the composition program.

Dr. Tallon’s current research focuses on the myriad ways in which artificial intelligence influences how artists engage with society, with a specific emphasis on equity and algorithmic justice. Her interests include human-computer interaction, virtual tactility, embodied sonic cognition, algorithmic composition and procedural music generation, data sonification, computational musicology, labor, automation, intellectual property, and accessibility. Her work has been featured by The New Yorker, NPR, Politico, Science Friday, The New York Times and NBC; recent international public speaking appearances include a keynote at the 54th Congrès de L’Association Française D’Études Américaines (Dijon, France), two keynotes at the Iceland Airwaves PRO conference (Reykjavík), and the MIT-Grafenegg Forum (Austria). She has also served as an arts and technology entrepreneurship coach for MIT Bootcamps, as well as a research affiliate in the MIT Department of Biological Engineering, where she developed engineering ethics curricula based on her work with technological bias in voice technology and digital signal processing.

Friday morning musical performances include the SAA Early Music and Viola Ensembles.

9:00 AM-7:00 PM: National Orchestra Festival Performances and Clinics - Continental Ballroom, Yosemite Rooms, Imperial Ballroom, Franciscan Rooms

12:30-4:30 PM: Wellness Lounge - Union Square 9

11:00-12:30 PM: Exhibit Hall Mix & Mingle - Grand Ballroom

Come join your friends and colleagues for appetizers and conversation in the Exhibit Hall – and get more time with our conference exhibitors!

4:30-6:00 PM: String Research Poster Presentations - Grand Ballroom

5:00-6:00 PM: Intersectional Affinity Space - Union Square 3-4

The Representation, Inclusion, and Accessibility (RIA) Committee invites ASTA attendees of historically excluded and underrepresented identities to participate in the affinity social gatherings. These meet-and-greet events are designed to provide a platform for attendees to have a dedicated space to connect within affinity groups among the diverse coalition of ASTA membership. The RIA Committee requests these events be reserved for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled members of the ASTA community. We invite all allies to join us for the facilitated roundtable session in the conference.

5:30 - 6:45 PM: SAA & ASTA Celebration - East Lounge

Let's come together as a music community!

7:00-8:00 PM AND 8:30-9:30 PM: Evening Concert - Continental Ballroom

Gateways Music Festival connects and supports professional classical musicians of African descent and enlightens and inspires communities through the power of performance. Founded in 1993 by concert pianist Armenta Hummings Dumisani in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the festival relocated to Rochester, New York, in 1995 when Hummings Dumisani joined the Eastman School of Music faculty. Approximately 125 musicians — drawn from major orchestras, top conservatories and the nation’s freelance artist community — participate in each festival. In 2016, Gateways formalized its longstanding relationship with the Eastman School and the University of Rochester, gaining critical infrastructure and support while remaining an independent nonprofit. This deepened partnership enabled the festival to expand programming and build its first professional staff.

Today, Gateways presents a full-orchestra festival each year alongside a growing constellation of programs: an annual chamber music festival; the Gateways Brass Collective, the nation’s only all-Black professional brass quintet; the Gateways Chamber Players, an all-star touring ensemble; and ongoing residencies and special projects. In 2023, Gateways launched Gateways Radio, a one-hour syndicated radio program heard nationwide, featuring music and stories from Black classical artists. Through all its work, Gateways builds an abundant, joyful home for Black classical artistry — amplifying its legacy, celebrating its present and shaping its future.

Evening Concert Opening Performances

• 7:00 PM - SAA Violin Ensemble
• 8:30 PM - SAA Cello Ensemble

9:30 - 10:30 PM: Jam Session with Duane Padilla - Plaza Room A

Come participate in and learn more!

Saturday, February 28