Symphony Conductor and Music Director - Leslie Stewart 

Ms. Stewart is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and holds Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Music from the University of Southern California. She has served as Conductor for California's Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has also been a member of the music faculties of the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts, Old Dominion University, and Chowan College. Ms. Stewart served on the Board of the Conductor's Guild, chairing two national conferences and coordinating their New Music Project. As a professional violinist, she has performed with the Puerto Rico and Alabama Symphonies as well as the Virignia Symphony. Each summer she performs with the Cabrilla Music Festival in Santa Cruz, California. Ms. Stewart was appointed Music Director of the BYOV and Conductor of the BYSO in June of 1998. Currently she is Director of Orchestral Studies and Lecturer in Violin/Viola at Old Dominion University.  Ms. Stewart is a popular guest conductor for All-City Orchestra programs throughout Hampton Roads.

Concert Orchestra Conductor - Helen Martell 

The Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia is pleased to announce the appointment of Helen Martell as Conductor of the Concert Orchestra beginning July 1, 2001.

Ms. Martell is a graduate of the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Music double degree in Music Education and Saxophone Performance. She has also participated in string workshops at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan in addition to studying violin privately for five years.

Ms. Martell conducted high school bands and orchestras in Indiana before moving to Hampton Roads in 1990. She taught in the Chesapeake Public Schools for eight years, conducting the Hickory High School Orchestra and the Great Bridge Middle School Orchestra. A popular guest conductor, she has worked with honors orchestras in Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach and has adjudicated for public school orchestra festivals.

Ms. Martell continues to perform professionally with the Virginia Wind Symphony. She has also performed with the Virginia Symphony and for the Virginia International Arts Festival. She is
a member of the Music Educators National Conference and the American String Teachers Association.

String Orchestra and Junior String Orchestra Conductor - Christina Morton 

Mrs. Morton is a prominent Suzuki violin teacher in Hampton Roads and a violinist with the Virginia Symphony. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Science in Education fro mOld Dominion University. mrs. Morton has taught for Norfolk Public Schools (directing string orchestra and the harp program), conducted local All-City programs, and served at Suzuki workshops as a Clinician. She presently teaches a large private violin studio, conducts the Norfolk Collegiate String Ensemble, and is the violin instructor for the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and HomeSchool Plus at Ingleside Baptist Church. She joined the Bay Youth organization in 1994. Her volunteer work includes leading the children's choir at Ingleside Baptist Church, serving as secretary of Norfolk Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota (a professional music sorority), serving on the Education Committed of the Virginia Symphony, and working as editor for STAHR (Suzuki Teachers Association of Hampton Roads).

String Specialist - Linda Althoff 

Mrs. Althoff received a music degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, New York. Recently retired after thirty-two years of school teaching, she began as Supervisor of Strings for Norfolk City Schools. She then taught at Norfolk Academy and served as their Director of the School of the Arts. She was one of the founders and conductors of the original Tidewater Youth Orchestras. Mrs. Althoff is currently a violist in the Virginia Symphony, organist/choir director of Christ Methodist Church in Norfolk, and maintains a private studio teaching violin, viola, and piano. 
 

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Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia P.O. Box 2396 Chesapeake, VA 23327-2396 Phone & Fax (757) 618-1800 Email: bayyouth@excite.com Web: http://www.bayyouth.org

Revised: August 28, 2002