凯瑟琳Birke

凯瑟琳Birke, an energetic and passionate conductor, 小提琴家, 和教育家, is the music director of both the 音乐 Advancement Program (MAP) and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra (MYO), and Nassau Symphony Orchestra. She's also director of orchestras at Herricks High School, 在新海德公园, 纽约, where her four thriving orchestras have consistently won numerous awards at local and national levels. 整整六年, Birke served as the director of strings at the 纽约 State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Orchestral Studies, an intensive residential summer program for advanced high school musicians co-sponsored by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Birke is also an adjunct faculty member at Hofstra University in the music education department, teaching undergraduate- and graduate-level string methods.

Birke is a sought-after guest conductor for collegiate orchestras and 纽约 all-state festivals. She maintains active membership in numerous professional organizations and has served as an orchestra chairperson and a vice president on the executive board of the Nassau County 音乐 Educators’ Association. 不教学的时候, she can be found playing violin with numerous orchestras and opera companies, most notably as concertmaster of both the South Shore Symphony and Long Island Lyric Opera.

Birke holds a bachelor of music degree from Temple University (where she studied with co-concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra William DePasquale), a master of music degree from the University of the Arts, and an advanced certificate in music Theory from Berklee College of 音乐. She is a trained vocalist and opera lover, an enthusiastic advocate for new music, and is deeply committed to diversity in all of her programming. She strives to make every performance exciting for orchestra and audience alike, and her favorite thing in the world is being on the podium in front of a group of young musicians.