Jeffrey Grogan is an internationally-acclaimed conductor and teacher, currently serving as  Director of Orchestral Activities at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University.  During the summers, he is invited by the LA Philharmonic to conduct alongside Gustavo  Dudamel at Disney Hall, a part of the Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles National Festival.  Grogan was scheduled to appear at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and the  Beethoven2020 Festival in Vienna this summer prior to the virus outbreak. Recent work includes conducting at the Sydney Opera House, Harpa Concert Hall in Iceland, and in  Bangkok and Singapore. Grogan serves as a Master Educator for the Yamaha Corporation  of America and also on the Advisory Committees of the Midwest Clinic and Music for All.  Following his passion for performing and helping to create new music for orchestras, he  has collaborated with many composers such as Lowell Liebermann, Michael Colgrass, Eric  Whitacre, Steven Stucky, and Scott McAllister – as well as soloists Richard Stolzman,  Stefan Hoskuldsson, Julian Schwarz, and the Canadian Brass. Grogan worked in studio  and on several projects with violinist and composer Mark O’Connor. Grogan recorded  O’Connor’s March of the Gypsy Fiddler with the Ahn Trio and New Jersey Youth  Symphony on OMAC Records, which is played on classical music radio throughout the  country. He previously served eleven seasons as Education and Community Engagement  Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and as Conductor and Artistic Director  of the NJSO Youth Orchestras, the InterSchool Orchestras of New York and the New  Jersey Youth Symphony. He was founding Artistic Director of two El Sistema inspired  program in New Jersey, CHAMPS and the Paterson Music Project. Grogan taught for over  a decade at the University of Michigan, Ithaca College, and Baylor University. He is also  the former Associate Director of Bands and Marching Band Director at the University of  Michigan and Baylor University.

Scott Laird
Recognized string pedagogue and conductor, Scott Laird, serves on the faculty of The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics where he is Fine Arts Chair and Instructor of Music. Noted for his innovative approach to ensemble development and musicianship, Laird is a frequent conductor of honor orchestras and is a sought-after conference presenter. He regularly performs on acoustic and electric violin and is known for his abilities in both the classical and improvisatory arena. Laird was the recipient of the 2019 UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award, 2017 ASTA Elizabeth A. H. Green Award, and North Carolina Symphony’s 2016 Maxine Swalin Award. He is currently on the National Boards of the American String Teachers Association, El Sistema USA and Creative Strings, Inc. He has served as President of the NC Chapter of ASTA, Chair of the NCMEA Orchestra Section and maintains a presence as a national leader in string education. He earned his B.S. in Music Education and his M.A. in Violin Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied violin with Prof. Delight Malitsky. He earned his National Board Certification in 2004 and recertified in 2013. His blog, “Thoughts of a String Educator,” enjoys broad readership in the music education community. In addition, Laird serves as a sponsored artist and educational specialist for D’Addario Bowed Strings, Coda Bows, Conn Selmer, and NS Design Electric Violins and as String Editor for C Alan Publications.

James Palmer
Recipient of the American String Teachers Association Elizabeth A. H. Green Award for a distinguished career in string teaching, James Palmer is an editor, arranger, and featured clinician for Alfred Music. He is also the Orchestra Director at  Allatoona High School in Acworth, Georgia; the Music Director for the Youth Orchestras of Greater Columbus in Columbus, Georgia; and the Senior Conductor at the Florida State University Summer Music Camps, a post he has held since 1996. Mr. Palmer has served as the Orchestra Director at Manatee High School in Bradenton, Florida; Music Department Chairman and Orchestra Director at Cypress Lake Center for the Arts in Fort Myers, Florida; and Fine Arts Department Chairman and Orchestra Director at Chattahoochee High School in John’s Creek, Georgia. In addition to his teaching career, Mr. Palmer has also served as conductor with the Florida West Coast Symphony Youth Orchestra, Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra, and former Music Director for the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra and the Southwest Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. Mr. Palmer’s orchestras have performed at the Florida Music Educator’s Conference in Tampa, the MENC Southern Division Conference in Savannah, the ASTA National Orchestra Festival in Dallas, the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and the 2005 ASTA National Conference in Reno, Nevada.

Jim Palmer has received the Teacher of the Year Award in three separate high schools and has been inducted into the Florida Collegiate Music Educators Hall of Fame. He is a frequent clinician having conducted All State and honors orchestras in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Vermont. Mr. Palmer has also maintained a career as a professional violist serving as Principal Violist for the Sarasota Pops Orchestra, section violist, and substitute principal for the Southwest Florida Symphony and Chamber Orchestra as well as a freelance violist in the Atlanta area. Mr. Palmer is a member of GMEA, Past President of the Georgia American String Teachers Association, Past Chairman of the ASTA National Orchestra Festival, and is a graduate of Florida State University. He lives in Kennesaw with his wife Lydia, son Curtis, and daughter Ericka.

Anna Radspinner is an alumnus of the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and a Master’s Degree in Administration from Wilkes University. She has been a music educator for 19 years with teaching experiences ranging from Kindergarten through 12th grade in the choral/classroom and in string education. Her areas of study include African-American music in which she has lead a gospel choir at her home church, Vocal Jazz, the Orff-Schulwerk Approach and string pedagogy, where she arranges music and incorporates what is "relevant" into her style of teaching.

Mrs. Radspinner has been a presenter at the Pennsylvania Music Educator Association State Conference and at the National Conference for the American String Teacher Association. She has also been a guest conductor and clinician for several festivals and in-services sessions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia. In 2020, Mrs. Radspinner was the Beginning Strings panelist for the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music String Teacher Town Hall 2020 session whose focus was on string teaching during the pandemic as well as a clinician for the Annual Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference.

Mrs. Radspinner’s intermediate school chamber orchestra has been selected to perform for the Pennsylvania Music Educator Association State Conference three times in the past 5 years. Mrs. Radspinner has received the Pennsylvania Music Educator Association Citation of Excellence in Teaching Award, the Pennsylvania Delaware String Teacher Association 2018 String Teacher of the Year Award and was named the Pennsylvania State University Music Educator’s Alumni of the Year for 2019.

Margaret Selby is the orchestra director and 2020 Teacher of the Year at Laing Middle School in Charleston County (SC) where her program grew from 42 to 215 students in five years.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and her Master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of South Carolina. Mrs. Selby’s orchestras have participated in the SCMEA Orchestra Festival and other festivals in the southeast, earning superior ratings.  She has been a guest conductor for the West Virginia Junior All-State Orchestra, multiple region orchestras across South Carolina and North Carolina, and was the conductor of the Charleston County Honors Orchestra from 2012-16.  She has adjudicated orchestras in Las Vegas and South Carolina, and has been a clinician for Dorchester County teachers, the USC String Teacher Workshop, and SC Region and All-State Orchestra cello sectionals. Mrs. Selby is the 2017-18 String Educator of the Year awarded by Southern String Supply.  She has served as the President for the South Carolina Music Educators Association Orchestra Division, a former Secretary/Treasurer for the ASTA of South Carolina, and is currently the SCMEA Orchestra Division Region 4 Representative.  She is a contributing author of Rehearsing the Middle School Orchestra, published by Meredith Music and distributed by Hal Leonard.  She presented at the 2019 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago and the 2020 and 2012 ASTA National Conference.  She is an alumnus of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts, Brevard Music Center, and Southeastern Music Festival.  She has performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony, and regularly as a freelance cellist.  She is also a registered Suzuki cello teacher.  Mrs. Selby lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC with her husband and their two children.  She enjoys running and sampling Charleston’s many amazing restaurants.

Michael Stringer is the Assistant Director of Fine Arts for the Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas. Mr. Stringer holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master of Education degree from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Mr. Stringer began his career in 2000, launching the orchestra program for Midway ISD in Waco. In 2006, Stringer moved to Martin HS, where the Symphony Orchestra was a finalist of the TMEA Honor Orchestra Competition eleven times, was named the 2015 TMEA HS String Honor Orchestra and 2017 TMEA HS Full Honor Orchestra. Additionally, in 2017, the Martin High School Symphony Orchestra was selected to perform at the 71st annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Mr. Stringer was awarded the prestigious AWARE Award for Educational Excellence in 2014 by the Arlington AWARE Foundation.  Mr. Stringer holds memberships in the Texas Music Educators Association where he currently serves on the Executive Board as Vice-President and Chair of the Orchestra Division, Texas Orchestra Directors Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Mu Omicron, Texas Music Administrators Conference and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Michael has a wonderful wife, Sara, and two beautiful children, Matthew and Kari. In his spare time, he enjoys attending all of Matthew’s orchestra and choir events and feeding Kari all the foods she shouldn’t eat.