MaryBeth G. Schotting
Director Summer String Workshop, Violin

MaryBeth Schotting serves on the violin faculty of Carnegie Mellon University as Artist Lecturer in Violin and Director of the String Preparatory Division, a program she was asked to create and has developed since 2002. Since her tenure as Director, Ms. Schotting founded the Carnegie Mellon Summer String Workshop. Ms. Schotting has taught for the past nineteen years, including at Connecticut College and Yale University. Many of her students have won local competitions and play in the youth symphonies, winning principal positions.

Ms. Schotting also has extensive orchestral experience, and currently is a member of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras, having played Assistant Concertmaster. She has performed with many orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Westmoreland Symphony and the Music on the Edge Orchestra for the University of Pittsburgh. Ms. Schotting has performed at music festivals around the world including the Sunflower, Breckenridge, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Spoleto Music Festivals (USA and Italy), and at music festivals in Austria and France.

Ms. Schotting has a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale University, and a Performance Residency Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University. Her teachers include Alan Bodman, Linda Cerone, Stephen Majeske of the Cleveland Orchestra, Syoko Aki, and Andres Cardenes, Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

She has played solo and chamber music recitals around the United States, including New York City, South Carolina, Ohio, and Pittsburgh for the Steinway Society. She has received awards for her chamber musicianship, notably from the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France. Ms. Schotting has won numerous violin competitions, including the Tuesday Musical Club in Akron, OH, and has soloed with local orchestras including the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra and Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic.

Daniel Meyer
Chamber Orchestra Director

Daniel Meyer is recognized as one of the top young conductors of his generation. He is currently Music Director of the Erie Philharmonic and Asheville Symphony, only the fourth conductor to hold that position in the orchestra's history. As former Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, Daniel Meyer conducted performances including the subscription, young people's, community, and pops concerts. Meyer has worked closely with Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Sir Andrew Davis, and Charles Dutoit, led the Pittsburgh Symphony on tour, and conducted performances with Pinchas Zukerman, Sarah Chang, and Marvin Hamlisch as soloists. Committed to education and young audiences, Mr. Meyer has developed a new series of Tiny Tots concerts based on popular children's books.

A native of Cleveland, Mr. Meyer is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he composed and conducted works for ensembles at both schools. As a student at Boston University, Mr. Meyer received the Orchestral Conducting Honors Award. He also studied at the Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Prior to his appointments in Pittsburgh, Mr. Meyer was Assistant Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the KSO Youth Sinfonia. As Assistant Conductor of Cincinnati's Vocal Arts Ensemble, Mr. Meyer designed and conducted a series of ASCAP award-nominated educational concerts for inner-city schools. In addition to his work as a conductor and composer, Mr. Meyer has been active as a violinist, pianist, and vocalist.

Dr. Natalie L. Ozeas
Chorus Director

Natalie L. Ozeas holds three degrees from the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Pittsburgh; she has also earned specialized certification in Dalcroze Eurhythmics.  Dr. Ozeas is Past President of the Eastern Division of the Music Educators National Conference, past president of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and past president of the Dalcroze Society of America.  Dr. Ozeas taught Eurhythmics, general, vocal and instrumental music in the public schools, Preschool through high school, for over twenty-five years.  She was an Associate Professor of Music at California University of PA where she directed the University Choir and California Singers and taught Elementary Methods, Theory and Eurhythmics.  She is currently a Professor of Music and Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University and Head of the Music Education Division. She is project director for a grant from the Grable Foundation for Professional Development for Music Educators in Urban Schools in the Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg School Districts.

Her current research is with the Pittsburgh Urban Music Education Project in twenty-six Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg Elementary, Middle and High Schools. Dr. Ozeas has presented workshops in Germany, Taiwan, Korea, Malysia and Italy.  She frequently guest conducts and presents workshops throughout the United States. 

Sarah O’Boyle
Violin

Born into a large musical family, Sarah O’Boyle was taught violin from a young age by her mother. As an adolescent, she lived in Lima, Peru and later attended high school at North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied with Stephen Shipps. Upon graduation, she moved to Santiago, Chile and at 18, became a member of the Santiago Philharmonic. After two years, Ms. O’Boyle returned to the U. S. to study with Andres Cardenes at Carnegie Mellon University. She received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts with University Honors, and began working with numerous ensembles in Pittsburgh, including the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Theatre Orchestras, where she was appointed Associate Concertmaster.

Mary Persin
Violin/Viola

Violist Mary Persin has traveled worldwide distinguishing herself with concerts and masterclasses for audiences of all ages. Ms. Persin performed for twelve seasons as a founding member of the Biava Quartet, recognized as one of the most exciting and accomplished young American string quartets. The Biava Quartet completed successful tenures as Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School and Yale University.  She has received numerous awards including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, top prizes at the Premio Borciani and London International Competitions, as well as the Coleman and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competitions.  She has performed to acclaim in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including appearances at the Mostly Mozart, Rockport, Kingston and Aspen Music Festivals, Chautauqua Institution, the Pacific Music Festival in Japan as well as concert tours of China, England, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

Ms. Persin has been a faculty member and artist in residence at the Brevard, Great Lakes, Madeleine Island, Methow Valley and San Diego Chamber Music Festivals, the Indiana University Summer String Academy, the Innsbrook, David Einfeldt and Heifetz International Music Institutes, and the Luzerne Music Center.  Having recorded for the Naxos and Cedille record labels, she has also been heard on London’s BBC Radio 3, NPR, American Public Media’s Performance Today, as well as in frequent national broadcasts.  The Biava Quartet has been featured in Strings and Strad magazines and was the subject of a PBS documentary film. Ms. Persin has also received numerous awards as a soloist. She was the winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Auditions, Duquesne University, Westmoreland Symphony, and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Concerto Competitions, as well as the Duquesne Young Artist Competition.  Ms. Persin has performed as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Pittsburgh and Westmoreland Youth Symphonies and recently with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic and Asheville Symphony.  Highlights of last season also include masterclasses and performances in China, and a debut at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Ms. Persin graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Robert Vernon and has a Master’s Degree in Chamber Music and Viola Performance from the New England Conservatory where she studied with Martha Katz.  Other teachers and coaches include Thomas Dumm, Hong-Guang Jia, Stephanie Tretick, and members of the Emerson, Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets.  Ms. Persin holds the prestigious Artist Diploma degree from both Yale University and the Juilliard School.  She is married to conductor Daniel Meyer.

Jonathan Tortolano Cello

Cellist Jonathan Tortolano currently teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, and is Artist in Residence with the D’Angelo Piano Trio at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra and is Principal Cello of the Erie Philharmonic. Prior to moving to Toronto in 1999 with his family,Jonathan spent time in Europe, where he taught and played in Spain, Portugal and Italy. He has been a member of Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, The Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestra London, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, The Windsor Symphony, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, the National Ballet Orchestra and the Orchestra do Algarve. He has been heard on CBC and Radio Canada, Radio Nacional de Espana and Radio France, in addition to National Public Radio in the United States.

A native of Vermont, Jonathan is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Cleveland Institute of Music. His cello studies have been with Elsa Hilger, Andor Toth Jr., Janos Starker, and Stephen Geber. In Europe he had a chance to work with William Pleeth and Martin Ostertag while holding symphonic jobs and touring with Quartet Metropolis. Jonathan also was Principal Cellist of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico. While in the Carribean he performed for the Fundacion Musical de Ponce, and presented two lecture recitals at The Gallery Inn, in Old San Juan. In 2007, Jonathan performed with the Quatour Prima Vista in France.

Jonathan is now spending time in Norway, as one of the finalists for the principal cello position in Kristiansand. He has recorded and performed with such artists as Diana Krall, Jesse Cook, the Mantovani Orchestra, Andrea Bocelli and Rod Stewart. He has also recently been seen in a Kelly Clarkson video, and playing Kodaly in a nationally televised Canadian commercial. Jonathan plays a cello made by Armando Piccagliani of Modena.