Directors

John McNeur founder and Executive Director of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, is a career educator who has taught all aspects of music over the past thirty four years. He is currently Director of Music for the GRAMMY-winning Herricks Public Schools, former national chair for the Tri-M Music Honor Society, past-president of the Nassau Music Educators Association, and chair of committee responsible for organizing The Balanced Mind Curriculum Conferences. For six years he served as general chair for the MENC All-Eastern Honors Ensembles, organizing festivals in Rochester, Baltimore and at Carnegie Hall. Mr. McNeur has served as conductor of the Stamford Young Peoples Orchestra, The Fairfield County Student Operetta Orchestra, The North Shore Youth Operetta Orchestra and the MYO Summer Touring Orchestra. He was recently named “Music Educator of the Year” by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

Scott Stickley ( MYO Nassau Principal Orchestra) has led MYO ensembles since 1995, taking the helm of the Principal Orchestra in 1997. He has premiered several new works with the orchestra, including New York Dances by Pulitzer-winning composer, Paul Moravec and two premieres by prodigious composer, Jay Greenberg. Born in Oregon, Mr. Stickley was associate conductor of the Corvallis Youth Orchestra and Youth Orchestra Consort. He also served as music director for the Jackson Youth Symphony in Jackson, Michigan. Prior to assuming the MYO podium, he conducted the North Shore Youth Concert Orchestra and was associate conductor of the Long Island Youth Orchestra. Currently he is Director of Bands at Herricks High School where he leads two bands, including the wind ensemble which consistently receives Gold with distinction ratings at NYSSMA and has performed at the MENC All-Eastern Festival. He recently finished two seasons as interim director of the Adelphi University Orchestra. Mr. Stickley holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Michigan. He studied conducting at the Tanglewood Music Center and attended conducting seminars with Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas and Daniel Lewis. Mr. Stickley has also traveled extensively with the MYO Principal Orchestra, leading concerts in China, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Patricia Koppeis (Nassau Chamber Orchestra) is a native of North Carolina, Ms. Koppeis attended UNC-Chapel Hill and received her degree in music at New England Conservatory, with a master's degree from Columbia University. As a violinist, Ms. Koppeis has performed professionally with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe under such conductors as Neville Marriner and Claude Monteux. She has taught all levels of strings in Massachussetts and, most recently, for the Syosset Public Schools. At Syosset High School, her program includes two orchestras and a chamber orchestra. These ensembles have performed and received highest ratings at NYSSMA Large Ensemble festivals and have been invited to perform at state and national music conferences. A frequent clinician and guest conductor, Ms. Koppeis has conducted several area all-state and honors orchestras. During the summer Mrs. Koppeis directs the string orchestra at The New York State Summer School of Orchestral Studies in Saratoga, NY.

Stephanie Koppeis began playing the violin at age four. She attended the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Program for several years before attending Ithaca College where she earned her undergraduate degree in violin performance, graduating summa cum laude. She received her Master of Arts in Classical String Performance from the University of Limerick (Ireland), graduating with highest honors. She also earned her Master of Science degree in Music Education from Syracuse University. Ms. Koppeis has performed in several countries with various orchestras including the Irish World Music Trio Tour (Hungary); the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Georgishes Kammerorchestra (Ireland); the Muenchniker Philharmonkier (Germany); and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. She was a violin and viola instructor at Syracuse University, SUNY-Oswego, and Lemoyne College. She has served as orchestra director at Holy Trinity High School, and, most recently, Liverpool High School, near Syracuse. Ms. Koppeis has just returned to her native Long Island and is currently the orchestra director for grades 9-12 at Syosset High School.

Phil Preddice (Suffolk Principal Orchestra) is a graduate of the Crane School of Music where he studied viola with Lamar Alsop, Theodore Isreal, and Maurice Baritaud. His conducting studies were carefully guided by Brock McElheran. Performances under the batons of Eugene Ormandy, James Levine, Stanley Chappel, Howard Hanson, and Aaron Copland inspired Mr. Preddice to reach for new heights as a conductor. Mr. Preddice frequently conducts State, Regional, and Summer Festival Orchestras. He is currently Conductor of the New York State Summer School of the Arts String Orchestra in Saratoga. This orchestra is administered by the New York State Education Department, and is coached by principal members of the Philadelphia Orchestra Mr. Preddice is a past President of the Suffolk County Music Educator’s Association, a past Executive Board member of LISFA, and has worked as a public school orchestra director on Long Island for 35 years. Under his baton the Ward Melville High School Chamber Orchestra was featured at the NYSSMA Winter Conference in 2005, NYSSMA Winter Conference in 1997, MENC All-Eastern Conference in 1999, and the MENC All-Eastern Conference in 2003. Mr. Preddice is the recipient of the 2000 Helen Hosmer Excellence in Music Teaching Award, granted by the Alumni Association of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

Peggy Ho (Nassau Concert Orchestra) was born and raised on Long Isand where she began her musical training on clarinet, piano, and violin in grade school. She continued her education at Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Music, began her masters at Purchase Conservatory, and completed her Master of Arts at Long Island University. Ms. Ho has traveled extensively, performing with the North American Elite Youth Orchestra and the Long Island Youth Orchestra. She has performed in the Rome Music Festival in Italy. Her conducting teachers include Miriam Burns, Grant Cooper, and Dr. Peter Boonshaft. Ms. Ho is presently director of bands at the Wheatley School in East Williston, NY. During the summer months, she has served as Assistant Band Dirctor at USDAN Center for Performing Arts and is currently a clarinet clinician at the Signature Band and Choir Camp held in up-state New York.

Scott Zarchy (Suffolk Concert Orchestra) is a cellist, composer and music educator. He received Bachelor of Music degrees in Cello Performance and Music Education from the Peabody Conservatory of Music with minor studies in composition, as well as a Master of Music degree in Music Education from the Boston University College of Fine Arts. Upon completing his undergraduate studies, Mr. Zarchy returned home to Long Island, where he currently holds the position of Orchestra Director at Patchogue-Medford High School. Ensembles under his direction at Patchogue-Medford have achieved Level VI Gold and Gold with Distinction ratings at the NYSSMA Major Organization Festival. In addition to the High School orchestras and Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Zarchy is the conductor of Patchogue-Medford's District-Wide Middle School Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Zarchy studied the cello at Peabody under the tutelage of the late Mihaly Virizlay, 40-year veteran principal cellist emeritus of the Baltimore Symphony, and Alan Stepansky, former associate principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic. He has participated in master classes with renowned cellists including Alisa Weilerstein, Natasha Brofsky and Amit Peled. An active soloist, orchestral player and chamber musician, Mr. Zarchy has performed in venues including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Mr. Zarchy is also an active composer and arranger, and has seen numerous symphonic works receive recent premieres.

Victoria Alaimo (MYO String Orchestra) is currently the orchestra conductor and Department Head of Fine and Performing Arts at Memorial Junior High School in Valley Stream, NY. Ms. Alaimo began her violin studies at three years old at the Queens Borough Community College Pre-College Suzuki program with Nicole DiCecco. At age seven, she traveled with the New York Young Musicians’ Ensemble and the New York Children’s Chamber Ensemble to Italy where she performed for Pope John Paul II and as a soloist in the Palace of Princess Doria Panfili. In addition, she has performed for the Gubernatorial functions of Mario Cuomo. Ms. Alaimo continued her violin studies with Ms. Shirley Givens of the Juilliard School of Music. Under Ms. Givens’ direction she was a competition winner and soloist for such organizations as: the Young Musician’s Award at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and The National Federation of Music Clubs. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Alaimo is an alumni member of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, and was one of the youngest members of the New York Youth Symphony. She continued her studies at Ithaca College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and earned her Masters’ at Columbia University and was inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society for Educators. Ms. Alaimo has traveled, as a soloist and orchestral musician to Los Angeles were she studied at the famed Henry Mancini Institute under the direction of the television composer, Jack Elliott. In L.A. she studied and performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the American Jazz Philharmonic, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Oscar Peterson, Diana Krall, Dave Grusin, and Bill Watrous. She was also invited to attend the Oberlin in Italy Program as a soloist at the Cassalmaggiore chamber music hall and in various venues throughout Cremona, Italy. In 2005 she traveled to Siena, Italy where she was a member of the Sessione Senese Musica Accademia Chamber Orchestra, featured soloist, and conductor. With this group she performed at over twenty-five cities throughout Italy and Switzerland.

Edward P. Norris III (Youth Chorale) is currently the director of Choral Music at Glen Cove High School. Mr. Norris conducts the one hundred voice Mixed Chorus and the fifty voice Select Chorale. In addition to his choral work, he also teaches courses in Music Theory, and Music In Our Lives. Mr. Norris also serves as the director and conductor of the school’s musical productions and advisor of the Tri-M National Music Honors Society. Mr. Norris is a graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, where he received both his Bachelor of Arts Degree, and his Masters Degree in Music Education and Choral Conducting, respectively. Mr. Norris has furthered his choral studies singing under the batons of Anton Armstrong, Weston Noble, Maurice Peress, Timothy Peter, John Rutter, and Peter Schikele. He has also sung professionally with the Canticum Novum Singers under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum. Mr. Norris is an active member of the National Association for Music Education (MENC), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) and Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) In the past Mr. Norris has served as a guest conductor for the Long Island Choral Festival. He has also taught at Queens College and Hofstra University.

Erica Warner (Nassau Concert Choir) is an accomplished vocalist who studied and performed opera under the direction of Theresa Kubiak, while earning her Bachelor Degree in Music Education at Indiana University. She received her Master Degree from Long Island University and is continuing her studies in Vocal Health and Management at Westminster Choir College under Anat Keidar. Having chaired multiple All County festivals, Ms. Warner is an active member of the Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) and currently holds a board position as Director of Publications. Ms. Warner began her career as a Middle School Choral Director, teaching Chorus and Vocal Jazz. She presently teaches Chorus and Classroom Music at Searingtown Elementary in the Herricks School District.

Craig Knapp (Nassau Treble Choir, Suffolk Children's Choir) teaches Classroom Music, Music Technology, Recorder/Orff Ensemble and Chorus, grades 3 through 5, at the Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School in the Rocky Point Public School District. Mr. Knapp's 4th/5th grade students regularly participate in festivals as soloists/duets for voice, and his 4th/5th Grade Intermediate and 5th Grade Select Chorus ensembles have been performing annually at the NYSSMA Major Organization Evaluation Festival since Spring of 2003, where they have received consecutive "Gold" or "Gold With Distinction" ratings. Mr. Knapp has had several students participate in ACDA State and National Children's Honors Choirs and in the OAKE National Children’s Choir since 2004. Mr. Knapp was the first ever music educator to be selected as Dowling College/News 12 Long Island "Educator of the Month," in the 2005-2006 Academic Year. He has presented several elementary classroom music and choral workshops at various local and state conferences and has been a guest conductor for both the Nassau and Suffolk County Music Educators’ Associations. Mr. Knapp is an active member of SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association), where he currently serves as President-Elect after serving three years as Executive Vice President for All-County Festivals. He is the Administrative Program Coordinator for the Orff-Schulwerk Summer Studies at Hofstra University. Mr. Knapp is also actively involved with the NY/ACDA (New York Chapter of American Choral Directors Association), where he is currently the Repertoire & Standards Committee Chairperson for Children’s Choirs.

Anissa Arnold (Suffolk Executive Liaison) has been a very active Long Island music educator for the past 18 years. She is currently a high school and middle school orchestra director in the Herricks School District. At Herricks, Anissa has been the faculty advisor of the award winning Tri-M Music Honor Society for the past six years and also the advisor of the International Thespian Society. She also established the first student chapter of ASTA on Long Island. Anissa has just finished a two year tenure as President of the Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA). During that time, she has been successful developed many new and exciting programs for the county. Currently, Anissa is serving as NYSSMA Zone Representative for Nassau County in addition to holding board positions in the Long Island String Festival Association (webeditor), New York American String Teachers Association (member at large). Anissa is also a former conductor of the MYO String Ensemble.

Alicia Perrone (Woodwind Coach, Executive Assistant) graduated with her bachelors degree in Music Education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. While at Crane, Ms. Perrone studied clarinet with Dr. Alan Woy and Dr. Rafael Sanders. Currently, Ms. Perrone is a band director in the Herricks School District. She works in both the Middle School and the High School teaching band and lessons. As an active member of Nassau Music Educators Association, Ms. Perrone is assisting with the All County music festival as a chairperson. Ms. Perrone is also working towards earning her masters degree from Stonybrook University.

Anton Polezhayev (Violin Coach) won “Grand Prix” at the “International Violin Competition Pierre Lantier” in Paris France, 1997, as well as numerous other competitions, awards and scholarships. Anton was a member of the New York Philharmonic from 2002 to 2004 and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2002. In addition to recital and private teaching schedule Anton recently held the position of Associate Concertmaster in "Orchestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo", Brazil, and as a Teaching Artist at the C. W. Post Summer Music Festival. Mr. Polezhayev was featured on the cover of Part 2 of Newsday on October 21, 1992 and New York Times January 18th, 2004, and has performed numerous times on radio and television. His credits also include performances at the International Concert Series at Hofstra University, the Tilles Center, Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and numerous concert halls in Europe and Russia. Anton was educated at the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Dr. Albert Markov (1993-1999) and Principal Associate Concertmaster of New York Philharmonic Ms. Sheryl Staples (1999-2001). Mr. Polezhayev was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1976, and at age 5 began his violin studies at the Central Music School of Moscow State Conservatory. He lives in Sea Cliff, Long Island, and became US citizen in 1995.

Tomoya Aomori (MYO Percussion Ensemble) As a Juilliard Graduate in MM, Tomoya stands as a Classical musician, a Jazz musician, a Double Bassist and a Percussionist. As a bassist, Aomori was a finalist of the 2001 New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition and the first prize winner in the International Society of Bassists (ISB) Young Bassist Competition in 2003. As a percussionist, he has performed concertos with The Juilliard Orchestra, the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, and the Childrens’ Orchestra Society. He has played in Jazz Clubs such as the Blue Note and Birdland. Aomori is a co-founder of MuSE (Multicultural Sonic Evolution), an organization that both support and advance the evolution of music-making in modern society.