Teachers Collaborative sessions are co-presented by WYSO conductors and veteran school orchestra and band instructors. This season's presenters include WYSO Philharmonia Conductor Michelle Kaebisch, Concert Orchestra Conductor Christine Mata Eckel, Opus One Conductor Steve Kurr, WYSO Director of Community Partnerships Andrew Briddell, and retired teachers Mark Saltzman and Carl Davick. They do this every week with WYSO's students; on these evenings they do it with you.
Kyle Knox is Music Director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and Resident Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and conducts the Adult Reading Orchestra. With the Madison Symphony he leads six programs each season, including subscription concerts, the orchestra's education series, MSO at the Movies, community concerts, and a range of special projects and collaborations.
As Music Director of WYSO, Kyle has grown the organization's reputation as one of America's premier youth orchestras. In addition to conducting the Youth Orchestra, he oversees its five orchestras, all instrumental ensembles, chamber program, WYSO Music Makers, and WYSO's artistic faculty of over 50 conductors, coaches and teachers. Before turning to conducting, Kyle served as Assistant Principal Clarinet with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera. He holds degrees from Juilliard and UW–Madison, and makes his home in Madison with his wife, violinist Naha Greenholtz, their three young kids and two cats.
Mark taught music in the Madison Metropolitan School District for more than 25 years, retiring as Orchestra and Band Director at Madison East High School after 18 years at Whitehorse Middle School. He has taught bands since 1989, in Benton and Beaver Dam before Madison, and has conducted at UW–Madison and Edgewood College. A founding director of the Madison Wind Ensemble and the Madison All-City Honor Band, he currently directs the Madison New Horizons Band and has played with the Madison Jazz Orchestra and the Acme Brass Quintet. He holds bachelor's (1989) and master's (1994) degrees in music education from UW–Madison.
A native of Fairfield, Connecticut, Christine holds a Bachelor of Music with Distinction and a Master of Music in Education from UW–Madison, where she studied clarinet with Linda Bartley. She has taught band and instrumental music in Madison since 1997, primarily at Our Lady Queen of Peace School and, for more than twenty years, Eagle School. Before her appointment as Concert Orchestra Conductor she was WYSO's woodwind sectional and chamber coach, and she has served as a judge and clinician for WSMA events and on the faculty of the UW–Madison Summer Music Clinic.
Andrew began his career playing bassoon with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra before coming home to music education, where he served as Music Director of the Alabama Youth Symphony and later taught high school orchestra in Elkhart, Indiana. Most recently he was Superintendent of the McFarland School District, where he led the design team for the McFarland Performing Arts Center. In addition to his work with WYSO, he is a member of the Pentissimo Wind Quintet. He holds degrees in music from Indiana University (B.S.) and Temple University (M.M.), and in education from Ball State University (M.A.) and UW–Madison, where he earned his PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in 2013.
Middleton High School; WYSO Opus One Conductor
Monona Grove (ret.); bassist, Madison Symphony Orchestra
WYSO Executive Director; Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor
WYSO Director of Community Partnerships · WYSO Connects program lead
