Board of Directors 2023-24

  • Read Bio

    Christin Danchi  is a collaborative violinist with a passion for exploring connections between music and other disciplines. Her performance interests include solo, chamber, and orchestral works, as well as fiddle music and sacred collaborations in her church. Christin and her three siblings are proud alumni of Triangle Youth Music. She joined the Triangle Youth Symphony in 1999, later serving as Concertmaster of the Triangle Youth Philharmonic.  TYM played a pivotal role in her decision to pursue studies in violin performance at UNC Chapel Hill and Carnegie Mellon University. Christin also works as the Associate Director of Development for the Emily K Center in Durham, NC. She loves seeing students achieve their dreams in music, school, and all areas of life. Christin is honored to serve on the board of the PA and grateful for the chance to give back to an organization that has touched her life for over 28 years.

  • Read Bio

    Stephanie Petzold served as a public school orchestra teacher for ten years in Fairfax County. She is the mother of three young musicians, two of whom have participated in Triangle Youth Music ensembles. She has served the organization as the Triangle Youth Symphony Ensemble Coordinator and photographer. She is also active in supporting the band programs at her children’s schools.

  • Read Bio

    Kim Bentley is a Private Voice Teacher, Singer, Coach and Vocal Health Educator in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas as well as a member of National Association of Teachers of Singers (NATS). Along with being a board member for Triangle Youth Music, she serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Board for the International Young Artists Project (IYAP) and was a founder and board member of the Sunday Evening Concert Series at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in NYC, where she lived and performed for many years. Kim has performed in operas, recitals and orchestral concerts both nationally and internationally, and has won numerous awards including being a NY District winner and regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She received her B.A. in Music from Valparaiso University, her M.M. from Meredith College and her Professional Studies Diploma in Opera Performance from Mannes College of Music. Kim is passionate about musical education and development in our young people as well as in our society at large.

  • Read Bio

    Bio Coming Soon!

  • Read Bio

    Krista Telford recently graduated from Meredith College with a major in English and minors in Arts Administration, Music, Professional Writing, and Creative Writing.  She is currently pursuing a PhD in English Literature at UNC Chapel Hill.  During the four years of her undergraduate, Krista worked as Executive Assistant at Triangle Youth Music. Krista is an alumna of the TYM having played in the Triangle Youth String Orchestra, the Triangle Youth Orchestra, the Triangle Youth Symphony and the Triangle Youth Philharmonic, and attaining the position of Concert Master of TYS in 2016 and Principal Second Violin of TYP in 2017.  In 2016, she formed a string quartet of TYS players that continued to perform together until 2018.  From that experience, Krista discovered her passion for arts management.

At Large Directors

  • Read Bio

    Zoila Airall once read “having a passion in life may be important in the pursuit of happiness, but it may be best to have multiple passions.” It is in this way that she would describe her life’s journey. After forty years of having an impact on the lives of young adults, she retired from Duke University as a senior administrator and adjunct professor. During her career as an educator, however, she always found time for the other passion that she dearly loves, music. Zoila provided piano pedagogy to children, served as a church organist, and performed as a violinist in community orchestras. Music, shall we say, provided the proverbial wind beneath her wings. Now, in semi-retirement, she serves as a substitute church organist in the Triangle and is studying the cello, a newly discovered joy. She says that it is difficult to imagine a day without creating music.

  • Read Bio

    Pamela Bash, a native New Yorker, graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, MA with a B.A in Art History. Her love for the arts began at an early age when her parents took her and her sister to plays, ballets and concert performances around NYC. She also grew up listening to her father playing piano and her aunt, a Julliard educated opera singer. Pam is also an avid traveler and has also lived and worked abroad teaching English as a Second Language in Turkey, Russia and Morocco. When Pam returned to New York in 2011, she restarted her fundraising career as the Corporate Relations Manager for the New York Philharmonic, and eventually moved to North Carolina to become the Assistant Vice President of Philanthropy at the North Carolina Symphony. In 2020, Pam joined Code The Dream, a nonprofit focussed on educating and uplifting the voices of underrepresented populations in tech.

  • Read Bio

    Jason Campbell is an eminent domain attorney representing private clients across North Carolina when the government buys their land for roads, parks, etc. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and has been practicing eminent domain law for about 25 years. He met wife at law school. Her father conducted the Ann Arbor Symphony and trained in cello with Leonard Rose and briefly with Pablo Casals. His mother-in-law is a Juilliard trained mezzo-soprano. He loves the NC Symphony and NC Opera. He also heartily enjoys the Chamber Music of Raleigh concerts at the NCMA. We live in a great city for music. TYM plays a critical role. He believes that peoples lives are enriched by playing an instrument and there is no better time to nurture this than when they are children and young adults.

  • Read Bio

    Joel Duquene is a Senior Software Engineer at IBM and inventor with over 18 patents granted. He is a resident of North Carolina for 18 years and earned a M.S. Telecommunications from Pace University. He grew up in a family where music played a very important part of life. His Mother was school principal and introduced music classes as part of the curriculum. Many uncles were also music teachers. During Middle and High School, Joel played the French Horn, and later the Barytone for the town band, and the Tuba for the College band. He has one daughter who plays the piano and Viola, and was a member of the 2018-19 TYS orchestra.

  • Read Bio

    Tiffany Haddock Born into an artistic family, Tiffany’s affinity for music was nurtured early on while learning to play the cello, alto saxophone and flute during primary and secondary schools.That exposure would remain with her and further her aspiration to participate in and support the arts. With nearly two decades of professional experience in business administration and operations, Tiffany realizes that her career longevity and hard-won achievements have been due in part to a relentless drive coupled with a perpetual pursuit of the things she is most passionate about. Those qualities easily extend themselves to Triangle Youth Music where she desires to utilize the skills she’s acquired in the workplace and world-space to enhance the lives of youth musicians and artists.

  • Read Bio

    Jacobus Hermsen holds postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in Viola Solo and Orchestra Performance from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, The Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Musik Hochschule ‘Carl Maria von Weber’ Dresden where he studied with Nobuko Imai (Vermeer Quartet), Vladimir Bukac (Talich Quartet), and Michael Gieler (Principal Violist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam). Starting at age 12 in The Hague Youth Symphony Orchestra and considered to be one of the oldest youth orchestras in the world, his love for orchestra playing was born. For more than 10 years, Jacobus has been professionally engaged with orchestras and opera houses in The Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. Now residing in North Carolina, he plays regularly with the North Carolina Symphony, Opera Carolina, Carolina Ballet, and the Mallarmé Chamber Players. Jacobus is a passionate chamber musician and co-founder of Vida Strings: a string quartet combining Music & Medicine through concerts, research, and workshops. He performed at festivals such as the ‘Grachtenfestival’ in Amsterdam, the ‘Palais Sommer Festival’ in Dresden, ‘Music Academy of Villecroze’ in Paris, ‘Franco – Czech Academy of Music’ in TelĨ, and NC State’s ‘Flourish Mental Health Festival’. Concert tours brought him to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, France, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, and the USA. When he is not busy performing, Jacobus is also coaching & teaching at the National Bornoff Workshop for String Educators, NCCMI, Lamar Stringfield Music Camp, CODA Strings Camp, and at his own NC Strings Studio.

  • Read Bio

    Steve Hodges is a retired IT Executive. Recognized for his skill aligning process and technology strategies and for volunteering, developing and leading nonprofit organizations. Published on the use of technology, guest lecturer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM education classes. Multiple appearances with The Conference Board. Managed line and staff organizations of up to 1200 people with $ 2B revenue. He is an active volunteer in numerous musical and health organizations. Past Co Chair, Duke Hospice Patient Family Advisory Council, Co Chair of Duke Health Patient Family Advisory Program Oversight Council. Pianist for hospice and various senior/assisted living organizations. Past Board President of the Philharmonic Association (youth orchestras), current board member. Past board officer, North Carolina Symphony, current member. Board member, North Carolina Master Chorale. Advisory Board member, Healthtree Myeloid Leukemia panel. Recognized many times with the President of the United States’ Volunteer Service Award. Grandfather of 4, avid reader, Music & Memory practitioner and mindfulness advocate.

  • Read Bio

    Alice Ming-Yi Ju received her M.M.and B.M. in Violin Performance from the University of Maryland and M.A in Music Education from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Ms. Ju has performed with many ensembles including the Ars Nova, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Avanti Orchestra, Apollo Orchestra, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, and Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she has soloed with the Raleigh and Durham Symphony Orchestras. As a passionate chamber musician, she has performed the Brahms and Dvorak Piano Quintets, and most recently Shostakovich and Beethoven String Quartets with faculty members at the Levine School of Music and has worked closely with the Guarneri String Quartet, Miami String Quartet and the Left Bank String Quartet.  Prior to moving to back to the Triangle, Ms. Ju was the orchestra director at Farmington High School in Farmington Hills, MI, on faculty at the prestigious Levine School of Music in Washington DC, an Orchestra Director in Fairfax County Public Schools, a Violin Sectional Coach for Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (working with Artistic Director Jonathan Carney) and Violin Instructor for Vienna Summer Strings while maintaining a private violin studio and freelancing in the Washington D.C. area. Ms. Ju is currently the Director of Orchestras at Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh, on faculty of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra Summer Strings Camp, and a Coach for the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute.  Ms. Ju herself was a member of TYP from 1994-2001 and enjoys giving back to the organization that played an integral part in her musical journey.

  • Read Bio

    Kelli Partin was the Concertmaster for the Raleigh Youth Symphony Orchestra during Hugh Partridge’s entire tenure as Conductor. She is currently a violin teacher and active freelancer in the local community. Kelli is also on the Board of the Oakwood Waits and performs with them as a singer. She supports underprivileged youth by teaching Music Theatre at Community Music School of Raleigh.

  • Read Bio

    Christopher Short is an emerging musician from the Raleigh, North Carolina area. Christopher graduated Magna Cum Laude from the East Carolina University School of Music as a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Theory/Composition in May 2019, when he received the ECU School of Music’s Award for being the “Most Outstanding Graduating Senior” in the area of Music Theory, Composition, and Musicology. Christopher has traveled internationally as a choral musician, performed regionally in a variety of operatic and oratorio performances, is an award-winning composer, and enjoys regularly performing as a singer/songwriter in the Triangle area. Christopher currently holds staff singing positions at Duke Chapel and Christ Church on Capitol Square and performs with the Raleigh Bach Soloists and in the Duke Bach Cantata Series. In addition to his music career, he is currently working in the box office for the North Carolina Symphony, where he previously interned in the philanthropy department.

  • Read Bio

    Stephanie Swisher is a local violin teacher who played in the Raleigh Youth Symphony Orchestra when Hugh Partridge was the conductor. For many years she was the Assistant Director for the Duke String School.

  • Read Bio

    Past Presiden Seth Weinreb  is a hernia surgeon based at UNC-Rex Healthcare, where he also serves as Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO).  He double majored in music and biochemistry while an undergraduate at Yale.  Seth plays piano and various wind instruments, but concentrated on bassoon and orchestral conducting during his education and training.  He is passionate about the PA and helping to provide the best musical opportunities possible for our children.  When not caring for his patients, he enjoys spending as much time with his family as possible, which includes piano accompaniment for his daughters Noa (oboe) and Marni (bassoon), playing and coaching soccer, and eating Asian food whenever possible.

Share by: