Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra
Meet the Conductor
Gregory Woodbridge Music Director and Conductor
With this latest appointment, Gregory Woodbridge returns to the orchestra with which he made his conducting debut over 16 years ago while CPYO's first Assistant Conductor. Having just completed an 8-year tenure with the Central Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra (Hershey, PA) and holding current posts with the York Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet Orchestra, Mr. Woodbridge continues to inspire impassioned performances from players of all levels, student through professional. Mr. Woodbridge is sought after by professional symphonies, collegiate-level orchestras, honors orchestras, pops concerts, and children’s concerts.
Mr. Woodbridge began his musical studies at the age of 7 as a pianist, and took up the violin at the age of 9. He holds undergraduate degrees in Piano Performance and Music Education and a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Penn State University where he studied with Dr. Pu-Qi Jiang. While at Penn State, Mr. Woodbridge was assistant conductor for the Penn State Philharmonic, the Penn State Chamber Orchestra, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra. Additional conducting studies include the Conductor’s Institute of South Carolina and the Pierre Monteux Conducting Institute in Maine.
In 1999, Woodbridge began studying the conducting philosophy and techniques of the Russian school under students of the esteemed conducting pedagogue Ilia Musin from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. By invitation, Woodbridge returned to Russia in 2000 to continue his studies and to appear as a guest conductor with the Sochi Symphony Orchestra on the coast of the Black Sea. Woodbridge also attended the International Academy for Advanced Conducting in Macon, GA to study with Musin’s assistant, Oleg Proskurnya, and Leonid Korchmar of the Kirov Opera and St. Petersburg Conservatory. Most recently, Woodbridge worked with the founder of the Musin Society, Ennio Nicotra in Palermo, Italy.
Woodbridge is no stranger to the youth orchestra milieu. He works daily with the Hershey High School Symphony Orchestra, a 90-member orchestra that won a performance spot at the PMEA All-State Conference last April in Pittsburgh, PA. He was also the Music Director and Conductor of the Wednesday Club Youth Orchestra (Harrisburg, PA) from 2000-2007, a highly selective string orchestra comprised of 40 high school-aged musicians. That orchestra had the distinct honor of performing with fiddler Mark O’Connor on two separate tours to the Harrisburg area as well as Harrisburg Symphony's Concertmaster Odin Rathnam and Anker Buch.
Previous guest conducting engagements include the York Symphony (PA), the PMEA Region IV-V State Orchestra Festival, the Lebanon Valley College-Community Orchestra, the Messiah College Orchestra, the Cumberland Valley Chamber Players, and high school county festivals in Berks, Bucks and Cumberland counties. Mr. Woodbridge lives in Harrisburg, PA with his wife Heather and their two children Delaney and Liam.
www.gregorywoodbridge.com
www.yorkyouthsymphony.org
www.prballet.org
With this latest appointment, Gregory Woodbridge returns to the orchestra with which he made his conducting debut over 16 years ago while CPYO's first Assistant Conductor. Having just completed an 8-year tenure with the Central Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra (Hershey, PA) and holding current posts with the York Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet Orchestra, Mr. Woodbridge continues to inspire impassioned performances from players of all levels, student through professional. Mr. Woodbridge is sought after by professional symphonies, collegiate-level orchestras, honors orchestras, pops concerts, and children’s concerts.
Mr. Woodbridge began his musical studies at the age of 7 as a pianist, and took up the violin at the age of 9. He holds undergraduate degrees in Piano Performance and Music Education and a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Penn State University where he studied with Dr. Pu-Qi Jiang. While at Penn State, Mr. Woodbridge was assistant conductor for the Penn State Philharmonic, the Penn State Chamber Orchestra, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra. Additional conducting studies include the Conductor’s Institute of South Carolina and the Pierre Monteux Conducting Institute in Maine.
In 1999, Woodbridge began studying the conducting philosophy and techniques of the Russian school under students of the esteemed conducting pedagogue Ilia Musin from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. By invitation, Woodbridge returned to Russia in 2000 to continue his studies and to appear as a guest conductor with the Sochi Symphony Orchestra on the coast of the Black Sea. Woodbridge also attended the International Academy for Advanced Conducting in Macon, GA to study with Musin’s assistant, Oleg Proskurnya, and Leonid Korchmar of the Kirov Opera and St. Petersburg Conservatory. Most recently, Woodbridge worked with the founder of the Musin Society, Ennio Nicotra in Palermo, Italy.
Woodbridge is no stranger to the youth orchestra milieu. He works daily with the Hershey High School Symphony Orchestra, a 90-member orchestra that won a performance spot at the PMEA All-State Conference last April in Pittsburgh, PA. He was also the Music Director and Conductor of the Wednesday Club Youth Orchestra (Harrisburg, PA) from 2000-2007, a highly selective string orchestra comprised of 40 high school-aged musicians. That orchestra had the distinct honor of performing with fiddler Mark O’Connor on two separate tours to the Harrisburg area as well as Harrisburg Symphony's Concertmaster Odin Rathnam and Anker Buch.
Previous guest conducting engagements include the York Symphony (PA), the PMEA Region IV-V State Orchestra Festival, the Lebanon Valley College-Community Orchestra, the Messiah College Orchestra, the Cumberland Valley Chamber Players, and high school county festivals in Berks, Bucks and Cumberland counties. Mr. Woodbridge lives in Harrisburg, PA with his wife Heather and their two children Delaney and Liam.
www.gregorywoodbridge.com
www.yorkyouthsymphony.org
www.prballet.org
Matthew Sheppard, Assistant Conductor
Matthew Sheppard is completing a degree in Violin Performance and Music Education at the Penn State School of Music. He is a student of violinist Max Zorin, and is concurrently studying orchestral conducting with Maestro Gerardo Edlstein, Director of Orchestras at Penn State University. He is a member of the Music at Penn's Woods orchestra and founded and conducted the PSU Summer 2010 orchestra. Matt recently accepted the position of Music Director at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County and has been CPYO's assistant conductor since January 2010. He is looking forward to our great Twentieth Anniversary Season!