"Success lies in the strength of the teachers, their students, the parents who support their musical development and the conductors who together celebrate the power of music"

Long Island String Festival Association

Conductor Bios

2011-2012

NASSAU ELEMENTARY CONDUCTOR

Joseph Cavalea

     Joseph Cavalea holds a BS degree in music Education from Hofstra University and a  Master’s degree from Stony Brook University.  His post graduate studies include George Mason University, College of Saint Rose and Long Island University. Mr.Cavalea has taught most areas of music on the elementary, junior high and senior  high school levels.  He is a retired High School Orchestra Director from the Sachem  School District where his orchestras have attained superior ratings at NYSSMA, Festivals of Music and numerous honors of distinction including Suffolk County Proclamations, United States Congressional honors as well as having performed at the United States Capitol in Washington DC.

Joseph Cavalea’s professional accomplishments include:

- SCMEA Chairperson for Festivals

- NYSCAME All- County High School Orchestra Chairperson

-LIFSA Orchestra Chairperson

- Recording Artist

- Numerous television appearances

-National Performing Tour

-Members of SCMEA,LIFSA,NYSSMA,AND MENC

- Recipient of Suffolk County Proclamation and US Congressional Honors for the Sachem Chamber Orchestra

- NYSSMA Adjudicator

     Since his retirement from the Sachem School District, Joseph  Cavalea has  held leave replacement positions in various school districts including Sayville, Middle Country  and Sachem as orchestra conductor.  Mr. Cavalea held posts as conductor of the Suffolk County Training Orchestra, as well as having guest conducted for the Atlantic Community band, SCMEA Orchestras, NMEA Orchestra, All-District Orchestras at William Floyd, Three Village, and Sachem. He has also conducted the  All -State orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky.  In addition,  Joseph Cavalea has been recognized  for outstanding achievement in  Who’s Who among  America’s teachers.

SUFFOLK ELEMENTARY CONDUCTOR

Eileen Murphy

     Eileen Murphy is an experienced conductor, violinist and music educator.  She retired from public school teaching after a 35 year career during which time she taught elementary, middle school and high school orchestra.  Ms. Murphy’s string orchestras participated in regional music festivals and NYSSMA Majors many times, always receiving high praise from adjudicators.

     Ms. Murphy is currently an “Artist-in-Residence” who works with talented high school string players.  She is also an adjunct professor at the City University of New York, Queens College, where she supervises student teachers during their field experience.  She performs as a violinist with several local orchestras and is principal second violinist with the South Shore Symphony of the Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts.

     Ms. Murphy has conducted both string and symphony orchestras throughout her career.  In addition, she has conducted numerous pit orchestras for high school musical productions and coached small ensembles.  She is an adjudicator for NYSSMA Solo and Ensemble Festivals as well as NYSSMA Majors. She is a frequent guest conductor at area festivals and is looking forward to working with the fine young musicians who have been selected to this year’s Long Island String Festival.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CONDUCTOR

Patricia Koppeis

     Patricia (Patsy) Koppeis, a native of North Carolina, attended UNC-Chapel Hill, received her Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory, and completed her graduate degree from Teacher’s College Columbia University.  Prior to her teaching career she was a first violinist in the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and she also freelanced in New York.

      During her thirty-five years of being a professional educator, Ms. Koppeis taught all levels of strings in the Syosset Central School District.  Her inspiration for teaching was influenced by her training and professional performing.  Conductors-Claude Monteux, Sir Neville Marriner, Russell Stanger, and Ben Zander- and teachers -Lilo Glick and Eric Rosenblith – inspired her to guide her students to the highest musical levels.  At Syosset her orchestras consistently achieved the highest NYSSMA Major Ensemble ratings and were invited to perform at state and national music conferences.  Her students performed with Dr. Bert Konowitz, Dr. Billy Taylor, and Dave Brubeck and worked with Paul Nadler, Metropolitan Opera conductor.

     Ms. Koppeis began conducting with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestras (MYO) in 1997 and continues to serve as musical director and conductor of the MYO Nassau Chamber Orchestra. For many summers Ms. Koppeis served as String Orchestra conductor for the New York State Summer School of Orchestral Studies Program in Saratoga, NY. This program is co-sponsored by the NY State Education Department, the Philadelphia Orchestra, NYSSMA, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center. 

     A frequent clinician and guest conductor, Ms. Koppeis has conducted several area All-State, All-County, and LISFA orchestras.  Her professional memberships include NYSSMA, MENC, NMEA, LISFA, and ASTA and she has served as Tri-M chairperson on both the state and national level for NYSSMA and MENC.

JR HIGH SCHOOL CONDUCTOR

David Stewart Wiley

     David Stewart Wiley has proven to be a strong, innovative, and inspiring young American music director, leading orchestras to artistic success, especially in challenging times.  Wiley serves concurrently as Music Director & Conductor of our Long Island Philharmonic and Virginia’s Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Prior to these positions, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

     Active as a guest conductor, pianist, lecturer, and film composer, Wiley conducts professional orchestras throughout the U.S and abroad. He has guest conducted in nearly all U.S. states, including the symphonies of Boston, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Saint Louis, Atlanta, Oregon, Honolulu, Utah, and Buffalo.  Wiley’s career has taken him to dozens of countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa — most recently to Italy, Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.  Wiley created and leads an acclaimed event with business executives and musicians together on stage  titled “Conducting Change” which helps executives to model leadership skills in a fun and engaging atmosphere.  From 1999 until the summer of 2006, Wiley was the Artistic Director & Conductor of the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in Virginia.

      David Stewart Wiley became the fourth Music Director of our Long Island Philharmonic in 2001.  Wiley is credited with bringing artistic growth, energy, and excitement to the Long Island Philharmonic.  Wiley has been a visible and energetic leader for the Philharmonic with his popular pre-concert conversations.  He has created and hosted TV shows promoting Long Island and the LIP, and the orchestra is seeing growing summer parks performances and critical acclaim.  The annual New Year’s Eve concert is now a popular sell-out, and the orchestra is expanding into new venues including Patchogue and Garden City.  To better serve Long Island, the orchestra has tripled its “side-by-side” and youth concerts and other educational offerings conducted by Wiley, reaching tens of thousands of students throughout the island each year. 

     Wiley recently composed, recorded and conducted part of the full-symphony film score for the new film “Lake Effects” starring Jane Seymour & Jeff Fahey, to be released internationally this summer.  He also just released a new violin/piano duo CD “Preludes & Lullabies” with violin virtuoso Akemi Takayama.  Wiley’s other CDs include an album of French cello concerti with Zuill Bailey & the Roanoke Symphony on Delos International, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral”, American Piano Concertos with Norman Krieger on Artisie 4, ”David Wiley & Friends: Classical Jazz”, with Wiley at the piano, “American Trumpet Concertos” with the Slovak Radio Symphony and Paul Neebe, and a recording of American contemporary music with the IU New Music Ensemble.

      David Stewart Wiley won the prestigious Aspen Conducting Prize, which led to his engagement as Assistant Conductor for the 1994 Aspen Music Festival. In 1995, after being invited to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, he was awarded a Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood, where he conducted several performances. Wiley holds a Doctor of Music in Conducting from Indiana University, where he had also received his Master of Music degree, a degree in Piano Performance with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a degree in Religion, summa cum laude, from Tufts University, where he co-founded the Tufts Amalgamates. Wiley was honored by the NAACP as Citizen of the Year in the Arts.

     As a solo pianist, Wiley has performed with numerous major orchestras throughout the United States including Minnesota, Indianapolis, Oregon, Honolulu, Wheeling, and at the Aspen, Garth Newel, Wintergreen, and Prince Albert (Hawaii) summer festivals.  He has also appeared as a jazz pianist in Boston’s Symphony Hall and in recital appearances throughout the U.S. as well as in China, Russia, Romania, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Bulgaria.

     David and his wife Leah have a son and a daughter.  Together, they enjoy travelling, hiking and mountain biking, and family music time. 

Wiley’s website is www.DavidStewartWiley.com.

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL CONDUCTOR

Dr. Kirk D. Moss

     In Fall 2010, Dr. Kirk D. Moss joined the faculty of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, where he serves as an Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Education Department. Prior to his Lawrence appointment, he led orchestral activities and string education at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Under his baton, the MSU-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra tripled in size, and it performed for the 2009 Minnesota Music Educators Association Conference and 2007 North Dakota MEA Conference. He conducts on the summer faculties of the Lamar Stringfield Music Camp (NC) and Interlochen Music Camp (MI). He previously worked as Area Chair in Music Education at Valdosta State University and led the South Georgia String Project.

         Moss has appeared as a guest conductor, clinician, or adjudicator in over twenty-five states. He serves as national President of the 10,000-member American String Teachers Association and has received three ASTA National Citation for Leadership & Merit awards. He has written for Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra––Volumes 2 and 3, Journal of String Research, American String Teacher, Music Educators Journal, and The Instrumentalist. He also completed a four-year term on the Music Educators Journal Editorial Committee for MENC.

         He has twelve years experience teaching elementary, middle, and high school orchestras. One of his former schools honors him by annually awarding a college string scholarship in his name. School orchestras under his direction performed for The Midwest Clinic (Chicago), Jubilee 2000 (Italy), earned the Gold Award at The San Francisco International Music Festival, the Grand Champion Award at The Orlando Festival of Music, and played three times for the Georgia MEA Conference (including a performance/clinic by the school’s thirty member viola choir).

            Moss holds a PhD in Music Education, conducting emphasis, from the University of Florida (Gainesville). In 2008, the UF School of Music awarded him their Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award. He received a Master of Music degree, with a cognate in string pedagogy, from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a graduate teaching assistant for Gerald Doan and a Bachelor of Music degree, with high distinction, from the University of Michigan under the guidance of Robert Culver. Dr. Moss and his wife, Deb, celebrate over twenty years of marriage. They have three children: Bethany, Luke, and Lydia.