Nassau Secondary Festival
Nassau Secondary Festival
Wisdom Lane MS., Levittown NY
Nov. 13 Rehearsal 3:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Nov. 14 Rehearsal 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Nov. 15 Concert 1:00 PM
SENIOR HIGH CONDUCTOR- DAVID RAMEAL
DR. DAVID RAMAEL
BIOGRAPHY
Heralded as a “highly gifted conductor” and for his “exceptional command and professional demeanor”, Dr. David Ramael has been in great demand as guest conductor, clinician and lecturer in the United States and abroad. In recent years, he has appeared with the Long Island Chamber Virtuosi, the Massapequa Philharmonic, the Suffolk County All-county Orchestra (divisions 3 and 4), the Easton District Festival Orchestra, the Gettysburg College-Community Orchestra, the University of Dayton Symphony Orchestra and the Nassau All-county Orchestra (division 4). This past July he made his debut with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra in Chengdu, China, where his performance of Dvorak’s New World Symphony received critical acclaim. For 2010 he will return to Chengdu for a return performance with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, and he will also conduct the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 8 Orchestra Festival. Furthermore, he is frequently invited as guest speaker, in 2009 at the Conductor’s Guild National Conference in NYC and at the World Federation of Amateur Orchestras International Conference in Antwerp. Most recently, he has been appointed as a consultant to the Flemish Commission for Music Education, under the auspices of the Flemish government, to improve orchestral and string education in Flanders.
Dr. Ramael is Director of Orchestral Activities at Hofstra University on Long Island. At Hofstra, he conducts the Hofstra Symphony Orchestra, the Hofstra String Orchestra, the annual opera production, and he teaches orchestral conducting at the graduate level. In his short tenure at Hofstra, he has led the HSO to high artistic levels, expanding the ensemble’s repertoire and doubling the number of concert appearances. His performance of Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem has been called “moving and exciting”. A champion of new and unknown repertoire, Dr. Ramael also conducted an all-Belgian program with the Hofstra Symphony Orchestra, including many American premieres of works by Belgian composers, as well as the world premiere of acclaimed composer Luc Brewaeys’ Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra. Recently, he led the HSO in the world premiere performance of Chandler Carter’s Orchestral Suite from “Strange Fruit”.
Equally at home in opera, Dr. Ramael has led acclaimed productions of Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Mechem’s Tartuffe and most recently Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. In January 2010, he will conduct the Hofstra Opera Theatre’s newest production of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Dr. Ramael began his musical studies in his native Belgium. He studied trumpet and music theory at the Royal Brussels Conservatory, as well as musicology at the Free Brussels University. In 1996, he was awarded the Erasmus Fellowship for study abroad in the European Union, which he spent at the University of Vienna. He obtained a Master’s degree in Musicology at the Free Brussels University, as well as degrees from the Royal Brussels Conservatory in solfège, harmony, counterpoint and music management.
In 1998, he was awarded the prestigious Belgian American Education Foundation Fellowship for study in the United States. He chose the University of Minnesota to pursue a doctorate in musicology, and upon completion of all coursework towards the degree he switched his emphasis to conducting. Dr. Ramael then obtained in quick succession the Master in Music and Doctorate in Musical Arts degrees in conducting.
Upon graduating from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Ramael worked as a freelance conductor in the greater Twin Cities area. He served as the conductor of the Concertino Northeast with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, and as music director of the Golden Valley Orchestra, Lake Waconia Wind Ensemble and the Twin Cities Chamber Orchestra.
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL CONDUCTOR- JULIE ALONG CARR
Julie Along Carr received a Bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and a Master’s degree from the University of Kansas. She retired from the Cortland City Schools after teaching the string program for twenty-seven years and serving as the district music curriculum leader for ten years. Since her retirement she has been teaching string pedagogy and supervising the junior string teachers for Ithaca College. In the fall of 2008, she started a string program at St. Mary’s School in Cortland to serve as a lab school for the junior teaching field experience program.
Mrs. Carr is an All-State certified adjudicator, guest conductor, past New York State School Music Association string chairperson and currently serves as the Zone 3 representative. She is the treasurer for NY- ASTA. As member of the NYS Academy for Teaching and Learning, she is committed to the development of music curricula and has served as a co-facilitator for the academy’s Peer Review conferences. She has had music reviews and articles published in the Instrumentalist Magazine and in the New York State School Music News.
In May, 1999 Mrs. Carr received the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra Outstanding Music Educator’s Award and in May, 2001 she was named the Cortland Rotary Club Outstanding Teacher of the Year. She maintains a private studio and performs with the Ovation String Quartet.
