Robert Loughran, YOBC Music Director
Conductor, Symphony Orchestra
ROBERT LOUGHRAN is currently a member of the Arts Faculty of Princeton High School, where he serves as Music Director of the orchestra program. He is a former member of the music faculties of Westminster Choir College of Rider University and Bucks County Community College. Holding a Bachelor of Arts from Gettysburg College and a Master of Music from Northwestern University, Mr. Loughran has studied conducting with Dr. Joseph Barone, founder of l’École Monteux, and Herbert Blomstedt, Honorary Conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester. He has conducted the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra, Temple University’s Gifted Young Musicians Baroque Orchestra, the Main Line Symphony, and the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia.

Steven B. Sweetsir, Assistant Music Director
Conductor, Fanfare Winds
STEVEN B. SWEETSIR has a distinguished career as a conductor and performer. Mr. Sweetsir received a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from New England Conservatory of Music and earned a Master of Music degree from Ithaca College. As a French horn player, he has performed with the US Coast Guard Band, the Portland Symphony, the Elmira Symphony, the Corning Philharmonic, and many other performing organizations. He is currently active in the area as a performer and conductor. He is a member of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic and Bucks County Symphony, performs frequently with chamber ensembles, and is an active soloist. He is also the Music Director of the Delaware Valley Wind Symphony. Mr. Sweetsir was the founding conductor of the YOBC Wind Ensemble.

Emily Anastasi
Conductor, Prima Strings
EMILY ANASTASI is forever grateful to her mom for starting her down her musical path with piano lessons at the age of 4 and violin lessons at the age of 8. She is a proud YOBC alum, a past coach of the YOBC String Ensemble, and a former teacher in the YOBC Morrisville Students in Concert Program. Ms. Anastasi currently teaches music at Bensalem High School, working with the school’s Symphonic Winds, Concert Band, Orchestra, piano students, and Select String Ensemble. A West Chester University graduate in music education, Ms. Anastasi previously worked for The Philadelphia Orchestra, where she oversaw the Orchestra’s education and community engagement programs as Manager of Collaborative Learning. She was a guest mentor for the North Brunswick Township High School Orchestra in its Carnegie Hall debut, and she performed in “The Gonzales Cantata” debut at the Philly Fringe Festival. A frequent performer in the Philadelphia region, Ms. Anastasi continues to play professionally at weddings and other events and has performed with the Bucks County Symphony Orchestra, the Main Line Symphony Orchestra, and the Lower Merion Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Anastasi holds a Master of Education degree from Cairn University and is a recipient of the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award. She resides in Langhorne with her husband, John and their two children, Luke and Violet.

Sebastian Grand
Conductor, Philharmonia
SEBASTIAN GRAND is a Director of the Grand School of Music in Pennsylvania and active as a conductor and educator both throughout Europe and in the United States. He is a First-class graduate of the Joint Course between the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music and has received a Masters with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London. Mr. Grand is Assistant Conductor of the Bucks County Symphony Orchestra, Conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County’s Philharmonia, a faculty member at Lafayette College and a coach and accompanist for the Philadelphia International Music Festival. Mr. Grand studied on the Orkney International Conductors Course and received a full scholarship to conduct the Orchestra of the Swan in a public masterclass. He was Principal Conductor of the Guernsey Sinfonietta for seven years, co-founded the Odyssey Symphony Orchestra and has worked with numerous professional orchestras including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Trondheim Soloists and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Grand is a prizewinning pianist and has performed at major venues throughout Europe, including several appearances as concerto soloist. He has also worked as an adjudicator for several competitions, including the Bart Pitman Memorial Scholarship and the Caprio Competition.

Noelle Casella Grand
Conductor, Ripieno
NOELLE CASELLA GRAND, an American born cellist and conductor, is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she received a Master of Arts and accompanying LRAM Diploma with Distinction. Prior to her years at the Academy, Noelle studied in New York at Sarah Lawrence College and at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Regularly in demand as soloist and orchestral musician, Noelle’s recent performances include Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Old York Road Symphony, Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto with the Bach Festival Orchestra, and the Korngold Cello Concerto with the Guernsey Sinfonietta. Noelle has performed with such ensembles as the Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) Piano Trio, Bach Festival Orchestra (Principal), Riverside Symphonia, La Fiocco (soloist), Pennsylvania Sinfonia (Asst. Principal), L’Offerta Musicale Venezia and the New York Consort of Viols. Upcoming engagements include a series of concerti with Amici Strings. As an internationally active pedagogue, Noelle is currently a Director of the Grand School of Music (New Hope, PA) and a member of the string faculty at George School (Newtown, PA). Noelle also recently participated as an orchestral coach at ECSOC (Elizabeth College Summer Orchestral Course) in Guernsey, U.K.

Karl Krelove
Conductor, Wind Ensembles & Clarinet Trio
KARL KRELOVE is a life-long resident of the Philadelphia area. After graduating from Hatboro-Horsham High School he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance from Temple University. In 1969 he joined the US Army Field Band with which he performed for three years as first clarinetist and clarinet soloist. On leaving the army he spent the next 35 years teaching and performing as a freelance clarinetist in the Philadelphia area. Retired in 2007 after 30 years of teaching music in the Neshaminy School District, Mr. Krelove, who still performs with several area orchestras, has continued teaching and coaching clarinetists in Lower Bucks County and is proud to have the opportunity to work with students in the YOBC program.

David Pimentel
Conductor, Concertino
HECTOR DAVID PIMENTEL-CEDRE, or Dahveed as he is known, currently serves as strings teacher in the North Penn School District, where he has directed the grades 7-9 string orchestras at Pennbrook Middle School since 2008.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dahveed began his violin studies at the age of 5 at the Conservatory of Music’s “Programa de Cuerdas”. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Violin performance at Penn State University, and two Master’s Degrees: one in Viola Performance at Temple University and the second in School Administration at Touro College (New York City).

As a performer and music educator, Dahveed has had the privilege to study with many outstanding instrumental and orchestral directors. In NY and PA – Karen Dreyfus, Sidney Curtiss, James Lyon, Donald Hopkins, Raymond Page, Luis Biava, Douglas Meyer, Michael Jinbo, Joseph Primavera, Becky Brown, abd Nancy and Jerry Bidlack. His lifetime of orchestral and quartet performances include performances and international tours, participating with Lower Merion, Bucks County, Symphony in C, Bridgeton, Lansdowne, Lower Merion, Altoona, Johnstown, Puerto Rico Chamber, Operaworks, Blue Hill Troupe, Liederkranz Chamber, Hunter College, North Carolina School of the Arts, Long Island Youth Symphony, Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, and the Young People’s Philharmonic.

Dahveed looks forward to a wonderful year of working with the amazing string students of the Concertino string ensemble, as well as the amazing professional staff at YOBC!

Joe Shonis
Conductor, Wind Symphony

JOE SHONIS has had the privilege of working with several music programs from across the country. With over 35 years of experience, his background includes being a conductor, director, performer, adjudicator, visual designer or consultant for concert bands, wind ensembles, jazz ensembles, marching bands, percussion ensembles, indoor programs, college bands and drum corps. His groups have consistently received superior ratings at the high school, middle school and elementary level. Individual students he as instructed have also been successful at the county, district, regional and all-state level.

After graduating from Lake-Lehman High School as an All-State musician, he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in instrumental concentration from West Chester University and received his Master of Education degree from Holy Family University.

Joe would like to thank the students, parents and the entire YOBC staff and faculty for their continued support of YOBC programs. He and his wife have two children who participate in YOBC, and the  experience as a student and parent has been profound. As a YOBC conductor, he looks forward to sharing his experience, enthusiasm and expertise with the students and families in Wind Symphony.

Dave Stockton,
Director of Percussion Ensemble
DAVE STOCKTON is currently an Associate Percussionist at the New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra who also regularly performs with the Philadelphia Wind Symphony, the Steve Weiss Percussion Group and the Stockton-Willet Project. He has made his mark within the tuned percussion community having performed with the Capital Philharmonic, the Keystone Wind Ensemble and the Butler Symphony. Additionally, he is the Director of Percussion for Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School.