Conductors
Dr. Hyeyoun Jang
Assistant Conductor
Hyeyoun Jang is a young, versatile conductor, composer and educator who creates high quality music with a solid understanding of a wide range of repertoires. She believes in the power of music to move people’s minds and pursues to spread its affirmative influence to the community.
She has worked with the University of the North Texas Symphony and Concert Orchestras, the NOVA contemporary Ensemble, the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra and the University of Iowa opera production. The orchestra members describe her as “a very expressive conductor, and a conductor who gives specific instructions.”
She has been privileged to actively participate in valuable workshops and festivals throughout the United States. As a conducting fellow, she conducted the orchestras at Fort Wayne Philharmonic International Conductor Workshop, Richmond Symphony Orchestra Conducting Workshop, and many others. Ms. Jang has studied with famous conducting tutorages such as Gerard Schwarz, Kenneth Kiesler, Andrew Constantine, and Steven Smith. Her conducting is influenced by David Itkin, Ki-sun Sung and William LaRue Jones.
With a special interest in new music, Ms. Jang loves broaden repertoires to new music series. She presented two U.S. premieres of internationally recognized composers’ compositions, Harrison Birtwisle’s Entr’actes and Sappho Fragments and Younghi Pagh-Paan’s Man-Nam I, along with one Texas premiere of Larry Polansky’s Yitgadal with the NOVA contemporary ensemble at the University of North Texas.
Born in Busan, South Korea, Ms. Jang began her music studies through learning violin and piano at the age of six. She immediately found a deep interest and passion in music and has continued her studies with various musical methods. She studied composition and received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Music Composition at Ewah Woman’s University in Seoul, Korea. Also, she earned a Master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the University of Iowa. She is continuing her studies as a doctoral candidate at the University of North Texas.
Evan Cano
Assistant Conductor
Evan Cano is currently the Director of Orchestras at Ben Hill Middle School in Tampa. He has served as their director for the past eight years and is currently on his ninth year. Along with the other Ben Hill Music Faculty, he received the Enrollment Award for more than 50% of the student body enrolled in a music class. This award was presented to Evan Cano and his colleagues during the 2016 FMEA Convention in Tampa.
His students have participated in Solo and Ensemble festivals receiving Excellent and Superior Ratings. At the district level, Evan’s ensembles have received Excellent and Superior ratings consistently over the past few years. Evan Cano has also served as clinician and chamber coach at The University of Tampa and Florida Southern music camp for the past seven years with his colleague Dr. Kira Olmenchenko. He is an active clinician, adjudicator, and freelance musician as a clarinetist. The student of Dr. Lynn Musco from Stetson University, he is an accomplished clarinetist, performing with many bands and orchestras across the state such as the Florida Wind Band at USF and Southern Winds Ensemble at Stetson University.
Evan also has his own private studio where his students have received Superiors at District and State Level Competitions, made All-County and All-State Ensembles, and some of his students made semi-professional ensembles such as Bay Winds. Though a clarinetist by trade, he also has started performing as a cellist for his church. His cello teachers include Mr. Lowell Adams, Cellist for the Florida Orchestra and Scott Garrison, director of Orchestras at Alonso High School.
He is a sought after adjudicator having judged in Naples, Orange County, and Pinellas County at their District and Solo and Ensemble Assessments. Evan has served on the Board for the Florida Orchestra Association as 7-8 Honors Orchestra Chairman from 2014-2015 and the Middle School All-State Coordinator for the years 2017-2018. He is a member of the Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Orchestra Association, FSMA, Florida Band Masters Association, and ASTA. Evan Cano graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance and Bachelor of Music degree with an Outside Field In Education in 2010, and will be receiving his Masters in Music Education from the Florida State University in the Fall of 2019.
William Sanderson
Assistant Conductor
After graduating from Florida State University, William Sanderson moved to Tampa to teach elementary strings and middle school orchestra. Currently, he is the Director of Orchestras at Randall Middle School in Lithia, FL where he teaches students in the 6th through 8th grade. As a cellist, he has performed and taught privately throughout the state of Florida and has served as a guest clinician with the Tampa Metropolitan Youth Orchestras in Tampa, FL. He was a guest at the Florida Southern College String Camp last year and is looking forward to returning as a Head Counselor and the conductor of the Forte Strings.
Elective Instructors
Dr. Fen-Fang Chen
Piano
Dr. Chen joined the music faculty at FSC in the fall of 2013. She earned her first doctoral degree in piano pedagogy from the University of Mississippi. Prior to pursuing her second doctoral degree in music education, Dr. Chen served for five years as an Assistant Professor of Music and as the Coordinator of the Keyboard Musicianship program at Miles College, in Birmingham, AL. There, she performed frequently in Music Faculty showcases, school events, recruiting trips, and faculty recitals. Outside of her college duties, she enjoyed teaching a variety of private piano students of different ages, ethnicities, and levels, and her students regularly participated in local/state music auditions and competitions. She frequently served as a judge at many of these events. Read her full biography here.
Dr. Jeffrey Benatar
Advanced Improvisation (**NEW IN 2019**)
Dr. Jeff Benatar is a Jazz Pianist with a passion for teaching. He now serves as an Assistant Professor of Music, Director Jazz Studies and Coordinator of Music Management, at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Benatar has previously taught at Central State University (Wilberforce, Ohio), The Eastman School of Music, The University of Rochester (New York), Rutgers-Newark (The State University of New Jersey), and the Eastman Community Music School.
One of Benatar’s recent compositions, “Hank and Joe” for Jazz Septet, was called “Superb” and “Intense” by JazzTimes Magazine (November 2016). Benatar has performed with Pat LaBarbera, Bob Sneider, John Sneider, Melba Joyce, Andy Watson, Vaughn Weister's Famous Jazz Orchestra, The Rick Brunetto Big Band, The Tony Lewis Swing Orchestra, The Ohio State University Faculty Combo, and the Dayton Jazz Orchestra. He was also recently the Jazz Piano Artist-in-Residence at the Miami Valley Jazz Camp. He is versatile musician and improviser who has experience in Jazz, Commercial Music, Wind Ensemble, Studio Orchestra, and Choir.
Benatar has conducted, performed, accompanied, composed, and/or arranged works for solo piano, piano for four hands, ensembles from duos to octets, big bands, cantorial soloist and choir, brass sections, string sections (with harp), woodwind ensembles, and percussion. In recent years, Benatar has presented and/or performed at the Leeds International Jazz Education Conference, the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies at Cornell University, and Jazz Education Network Conferences.
Benatar earned his DMA in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media, with a minor in Pedagogy, from the Eastman School of Music. Benatar earned his MA at the world's only Jazz History and Research Program at Rutgers-Newark, The State University of New Jersey. Benatar was the first Jazz Piano Performance student (BM) at The Ohio State University to graduate with Honors.
Abigail Workman
Theory Co-Teacher
Tyler Marais
Theory Co-Teacher
Nate Strawbridge
World Drumming
Nathaniel Strawbridge is a graduate of the University of South Florida, with the B.S. degree in music education. He teaches general music at Crestwood Elementary School in Hillsborough County and is an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa. Nathaniel is a composer, arranger, transcriber, performer, drum circle facilitator and workshop clinician. He has presented original workshops and student performances at the Florida Music Educator’s Association Professional Development Conference, (January 2015, 2014, 2007, & 2005), the National Association of Elementary School Principals Convention and Exposition, (April, 2011),and the Council of the Great City Schools,“The Nations Voice of Urban Education,” 54th Annual Conference, (October 2010), and to teachers in Hillsborough, Polk and Pinellas counties.
In 2012, Mr. Strawbridge developed a comprehensive K-5 drumming curriculum entitled “Drumming and Grooving: An Integrated Approach to Learning,” which he continues to develop and present to teachers throughout the state of Florida. Mr. Strawbridge holds his Level 3 World Music Drumming certification, with a focus on the music of West Africa and Latin America. Nathaniel is a two-time Hillsborough County “Teacher of The Year” nominee, (2013 & 2009), a two-time Ida. S. Baker Minority Educator of the Year Award nominee, (2004 & 2006), and the 2009 University of South Florida Clarion Society “Teacher of the Year!” Last year, Nathaniel was named the 2015 Hillsborough County Elementary Music Educator of the Year, an award in which he was humbled and honored to receive.
Jason Baker
Beginning Improvisation / Fiddle
Jason Baker started playing music at a young age -- singing Gospel in church and in a musical family gathered around a piano for all the holidays. He started learning piano watching his Dad and three Aunts play at the age of 8. He knew then that he wanted to make music his life; however, it wouldn’t be until age 17 that he would find his musical voice and passion -- the fiddle.
In 2004, He moved to Pigeon Forge, TN to work for Elwood Smooche’s Ole Smoky Hoedown, Country Tonite Theatre, and others. After spending four years working in East Tennessee, He moved to Asheville, NC to work for Ghost Town In The Sky in, near by, Maggie Valley until their Bankruptcy at the end of the “09 Season. While in Asheville, Baker also partnered with guitar player/singer Leo Johnson in the swing jazz band called The Space Heaters.
Now, Jason has returned to his home in Florida to pursue his college education and is proud to be performing numerous bands and projects in the area--including, but not limited to: The Florida Bluegrass Express, Flatland, Red Hot Rooter, Stephanie Weatherford, Mitch Lind, and Dragon Slayers Studio (Engineer, Steve Bozeman).
Dr. Kira Omelchenko
Movement Workshop
Sectional Instructors
Dr. Colleen Ferguson
Violin
Dr. Colleen Ferguson is an active performer and teacher of both violin and viola. She holds both a Bachelor’s (2002) and a Master’s (2004) degree in Music Education from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was also a faculty member of the UT Austin String Project. Subsequently, Dr. Ferguson earned both an MM (2012) and DMA (2015) in Violin Performance from the University of Iowa.
An enthusiastic teacher of students of all ages, Dr. Ferguson taught general music and orchestra in the El Paso, TX public schools, served as the Graduate Teaching Assistant in Violin for 5 years at the University of Iowa, and coached chamber music at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, IA. She has also played professionally as a member of several orchestras including the El Paso Symphony, Las Cruces Symphony, Ottumwa Symphony, and Orchestra Iowa and has played with Mannheim Steamroller and the Transiberian Orchestra.
She has been an active participant at several international music festivals throughout Europe including festivals in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Russia. She is frequently featured as a guest artist/lecturer with appearances at regional universities and colleges including the University of Minnesota at Morris, Cornell College, The University of Texas at El Paso, and Florida Southern College. Dr. Ferguson enjoys sharing her knowledge with others and has presented several educational sessions across the United States at national conferences including the annual American String Teachers Association National Conferences, the National Association for Music Education Annual Conferences, and the Biennial Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference. Currently, Dr. Ferguson is Lecturer of Violin and Viola at Eastern Kentucky University where she maintains a robust studio of students and serves as Conductor of the String Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Ferguson has a keen interest in the works of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Her dissertation focused on the creation of a critical performance edition of Stanford’s Fourth String Quartet. This edition is scheduled to be published through the Stanford Society. The Dante Quartet also recently recorded the work and the CD album is set to be released in May 2018.
Lei Liu
Violin
Lei Liu joined The Florida Orchestra in 1994. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from the Central Conservatory in Beijing and his master’s degree in music from Temple University. Liu has performed with the Florida Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, and the Central Ballet Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician.
Jonas Benson
Viola
Violist Jonas Benson brings energy and diversity of experience to a wide range of music. He has served as the acting Assistant Principal of the Florida Orchestra and Principal Violist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He is currently a member of the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra and the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, and performs regularly with the Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Opera Tampa, and St. Petersburg Opera. Benson has also performed with many other ensembles, including EnsembleNewSRQ, Naples Philharmonic, New World Symphony, International Chamber Artists, Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Texas Festival Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, and The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists. Click here to view his full biography
Michael Sedloff
Cello
Michael Sedloff is a native of Kenosha, Wisconsin. He earned a BM degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a MM from the University of Michigan in cello performance. Mr. Sedloff was an active teacher and performer in the Midwest prior to moving to Florida in 1986. Mr. Sedloff taught Orchestra 31 years in the Polk County Schools before retiring in 2017, serves as principal cellist in the Imperial Symphony Orchestra and is an adjunct instructor at Florida Southern College. He is also a founding member of the Hollingsworth Piano Trio and maintains an active performing and private studio schedule.
Bleda Elibal
Bass
Studied bass in Vienna, Austria and performed with orchestras in Austria, Germany, and was Principal Bass with the Israel Sinfonietta. Currently performing with several orchestras nationally and performing as a chamber musician and bass soloist. Runs marathons (over 55 so far), and holds several national records for bench press in powerlifting.