Dr. Laura Kobayashi, violin
Violinist, Laura Kobayashi, performs as a member of the Kobayashi/Gray Duo, and the Main Street Chamber Players. She actively performs throughout the United States and has also performed abroad in Wales, Thailand, South Africa, Norway, Argentina, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Brazil and the islands of Trinidad, St. Lucia and Puerto Rico. In addition, she has recorded two compact discs of music by women composers for the Albany Records label. She has also edited for publication a violin sonata by 19th Century French woman composer, Marie Grandval, for Hildegard Publishing Company. Dr. Kobayashi is also the recipient of two teaching awards: the 2012 VASTA (Virginia State Chapter of ASTA) Outstanding String Teacher Award and the 2002 “Excellence in Teaching” Award by the School of Music and College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University. She is a founding member of the Main Street Music Studios where she maintains a studio of students. Her students have been accepted to Rice University, Boston University, Ithaca College, The Hartt School (Hartford, CT), among others and many of her former students hold university tenured positions and public-school teaching positions throughout the U.S., in addition to conducting professional orchestras or being a member of a professional orchestra. Dr. Kobayashi’s past teaching positions include West Virginia University, the University of Georgia and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Prior to her teaching career, she was a professional orchestral musician and played in the second violin section in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Dr. Kobayashi studied violin with Dorothy DeLay, Andrew Jennings, Paul Kantor and Denes Zsigmondy. Her degrees are from The Juilliard School, Yale University and The University of Michigan.
PC: Chris Holtmeier
Mrs. Lara Buchko, Violin
Lara Buchko is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began the violin at the age of four. She studied with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Christopher Wu and Chia-Chi Lin. She received her Bachelor of Violin Performance degree from Penn State University and holds a Master of Arts in Music Education. Her teachers have included James Lyon, Julie Savignon, and Linda Cerone from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Currently, Lara is the Orchestra Director and Fine Arts Chair at River Bend Middle School in Loudoun County Public Schools. Previously, she was the Orchestra Director at Timber Creek High School in Orlando, Florida. Lara has served as a guest clinician and orchestral strings coach for Loudoun & Orange County Public Schools, and The Capitol Symphonic Youth Orchestras in Fairfax, Virginia. She has been invited to adjudicate for the Prince William County Public Schools, Florida State Music Teacher’s Association orchestra assessment, and various solo & ensembles.
Lara has served as a violinist for Walt Disney World, Orlando Philharmonic, Florida Chamber Orchestra, and Brevard Symphony Orchestra. Currently, she performs with the National String Symphonia, Maestra Ensemble, and free-lances in the Washington DC area.
Lara is a member of the Virginia Music Educators Association, Virginia Band and Orchestra Association, and the National Association for Music Education.
Mr. Stephen Matthie, violin
Stephen Matthie is currently the Director of Orchestras at Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, VA, where he is also the chairperson of the Faculty Advisory Council. Prior to this, Mr. Matthie held orchestra directing positions at Robinson Secondary School, Rachel Carson Middle School, and Greenbriar West Elementary School. His orchestras consistently receive “Superior” ratings at festivals and assessments and are praised for their great musicianship and energy. In addition, the Rocky Run Chamber Orchestra was only one of two middle school orchestras chosen to perform at the 2013 Virginia Music Educators Association State Conference. In 2015, the Rocky Run Chamber Orchestra was also chosen as “Commended Winner” for The Foundation of Music Education’s Mark of Excellence Orchestra Festival, based out of Texas. Under Mr. Matthie’s direction, the Rocky Run orchestra program has grown from 88 students in 2006 to 295 students at its peak.
Mr. Matthie was the recipient of the Virginia Chapter of the American Strings Teachers Association’s 2010 New Strings Teacher of The Year Award, given to a teacher each year in their first 6 years of teaching. Recently, Mr. Matthie is also a sought after guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician for several honors orchestras, assessments, and solo competitons throughout Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.
Mr. Matthie is originally from Kingston, Jamaica and moved to the United States when he was five years old. He is a graduate of Chantilly High School, part of Fairfax County Public Schools, in Chantilly, VA. He earned his B.M. in Music Education from James Madison University where he studied violin with Dr. Wanchi Huang and conducting with Dr. Robert McCashin. Mr. Matthie is a member of American Strings Teachers Association and National Association for Music Education.
Apart from teaching in the public schools, Mr. Matthie is currently the Associate Concert Master of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, runs a violin studio of 5 students out of his home in Fairfax, VA, and is the second violinist for the BASH Quartet, an ensemble made up of fellow orchestra directors.
Mrs. Anna Sengstack, violin
Mrs. Anna Sengstack is the director of orchestras at Katherine Johnson Middle School in Fairfax County. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music Education degree from George Mason University where she studied violin with Mr. Peter Haase of the National Symphony Orchestra. She was a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Alpha Chi Honors Fraternity. She earned her Master of Education in Instructional Design with an emphasis on the ADDIE method of Instructional Design from Western Governors University where she is a member of the National Society of Leaders of Success.
Mrs. Sengstack has been the director at KJMS in Fairfax County for many years and her orchestras continuously achieve high scores from assessments. She has served as her school’s fine arts department chair and has been the sponsor for TRI-M. She enjoys planning and organizing many opportunities for her students throughout their time at KJMS. She was outstanding Educator of the Year for 2023 for her school and the City of Fairfax.
Mrs. Sengstack is a violinist and freelances in the Washington D.C. area and teaches a violin and viola in her private lesson studio. She loves practicing and sharing her passion for music with her students.
When she isn’t performing or teaching, she is enjoying her time at home with her husband Eric and 3 children Alice, Peter, and Susie.
Mrs. Holly Taylor, violin/viola
Holly Taylor is a violinist and violist. She received her undergraduate degree in Music Education from George Mason University and Masters in Performance from GMU under the direction of National Symphony violinist, Peter Haase. In addition to performing with the Haase String Quartet for over 20 years, Mrs. Taylor performs in the Friends and Family Chamber Orchestra directed by F. Wayne Taylor and in the American Festival Pops Orchestra directed by Peter Wilson. She performed the Bach Double Violin Concerto with National Symphony Violinist Peter Haase and the Friends and Family Chamber Orchestra in 2007 and played the viola in the Mozart Violin and Viola Concerto in 2010 with the same group. She also performed the Mozart Violin Concerto in G Major with the George Mason University Chamber Ensemble in 2000. She is a Strings teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools and coaches violin and viola sectionals with local youth orchestras. She served as a summer counselor with the Kennedy Center Summer Music Institute in 2000-2001 and performed Shostakovich string Quartet No. 8 at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Mrs. Taylor performed alongside her quartet colleagues in the movie Hannibal starring, Anthony Hopkins, and Julianne Moore.
Holly continues to advocate and work with young musicians in the Metropolitan area through the language of music. Mrs. Taylor also enjoys oil painting in her spare time and she loves to work with commissions, and operates her own Etsy shop where she sells some of her artwork. She has two wonderful children and a fantastic cellist husband, Dr. Taylor, who she loves spending time with.
Dr. Harold Levin, viola
Harold Levin serves as Artist-Teacher of Viola at The Main Street Music Studios in Fairfax, and violist of The Main Street Chamber Players. He has held faculty positions at the University of Nebraska, Bucknell University, and Skidmore College; and has directed youth orchestras in Indiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Florida. Dr. Levin holds degrees from Rutgers University, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Ball State University. During the summer he teaches, performs, and conducts at the Blue Mountain Festival.
Mrs. Eleanor Plunkett, viola
Eleanor graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in music education from West Virginia University, studying viola with Andrea Priester Houde. She taught orchestra for Fairfax County Public Schools for nine years, and will be teaching with Prince William County in the fall. Eleanor also maintains a private viola and violin studio and works as an instructional coach for local youth orchestras and summer music camps.
Mrs. Danita Grundvig, viola
Danita Grundvig attended high school and raised her family in Northern Virginia and is an alumnus of American Youth Philharmonic. She maintains a thriving private studio of 12 years for violin and viola students who perform at various levels and with top youth orchestras in the Washington D.C. Metro Area.
Danita completed her degree in education at Brigham Young University, where she also participated in the Symphonic and Philharmonic orchestras. She is passionate about continued learning in violin/viola pedagogy and enjoys participating in teaching workshops. Her success in teaching her music students includes her ability to connect with and help them identify and meet their goals and to find joy in their musical aspirations.
In the Northern Virginia area, Danita has performed as a violist with the McLean Orchestra and the Temple Orchestra of Washington D.C. Previously she performed with symphonies in Mesa and Tucson Arizona.
Outside of teaching, Danita enjoys hiking, being outdoors and spending time with her family and grandchildren. Most recently, Danita completed the Tour du Mont Blanc, a 65 mile trek through the Alps.
Dr. Mark Taylor, guest conductor/cello
Dr. Mark A. Taylor, Director of Orchestras at Centreville HS, is an award winning music educator and composer. He has been honored as Teacher of the Year for Region 5 in Fairfax County Public Schools, the VA branch of the American String Teachers Association, and the Fairfax Orchestra Directors Association. Dr. Taylor regularly composes and guest conducts for all levels. He plays cello under the direction of his father, F. Wayne Taylor, in the Friends & Family Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Taylor holds a BM from George Mason University, an MME from Shenandoah Conservatory, and a DMA in Composition from George Mason University, where he studied under Dr. Glenn Smith.
When he is not making music, Dr. Taylor enjoys spending time with his family and riding his bike wherever the roads might take him. While he once took an unsupported bike trip from Virginia to Alabama to raise scholarship money for his students, most trips encompass a much smaller radius. Mark, his wife Holly, daughter Jacqueline, and son Curtis reside in Centreville, Virginia.
PC: CVHS MOB Historians
Mr. Gerald Fowkes, guest conductor/cello
Gerald Fowkes, cellist and conductor, is a graduate of Louisiana State University where he graduated summa cum laude in Cello Performance. In addition, he holds a Master of Music Education from Brigham Young University. A Northern Virginia native, Gerald is an alumnus of the American Youth Philharmonic and a past Virginia Emerson Scholar at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan.
From 2014 to the present, Mr. Fowkes serves as Director of Orchestras at Fairfax High School. From 2003-2014 he taught in Prince William County Schools and was the recipient of the 2014 Dale City Civic Association High School Teacher of the Year. In addition to his duties at Fairfax, he is conductor of the Young Artist Orchestra of the DC Youth Orchestra Program, and on the artist faculty as the Orchestra Director of the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute. From 2017-2020, Fowkes was Music Director and Conductor of the McLean Youth Orchestra. Prior to that position, he was on the conducting staff of the Youth Orchestras of Prince William from 2004-2017. He has had the distinct honor of guest conducting numerous honor orchestras throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and is a frequent guest conductor at the annual JMU Spring String Thing.
Mr. Fowkes is currently a member of the George Mason University faculty, teaching applied cello, as well as courses in cello pedagogy and class strings. He is a frequent chamber music collaborator and a past chamber music fellow at the Hot Springs Music Festival and the Park City International Music Festival. A former member of the Baton Rouge Symphony, he performs frequently as a freelance cellist throughout the Baltimore/Washington metro area having performed with the Virginia, Fairfax, and McLean Orchestras amongst others. Mr. Fowkes maintains a private cello studio at his home where he resides with his wife and four children.
PC: BR Chaney Photography
Mr. Joshua Kowalsky, cello
Josh is member of the Air Force Strings, the official string ensemble of the United States Air Force. Originally from Interlochen, Mich., he graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy then continued his musical studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, earning a Bachelor's of Music. He also earned a Master of Music from the University of Michigan and went on to earn a Performance Diploma from the Hochschule Für Musik in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2004. His principle teachers were Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliott, and Michael Sanderling respectively.
Josh has performed with James Levine, Kurt Masur, Evgeny Kissen, Martha Argerich, Rostropovich, Joshua Bell and Vadim Repin amoung others. As a soloist, he has performed in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, at the Library of Congress, and on tour in Germany, Poland and Switzerland, premiering the orchestral version of "The Holocaust Cantata" for solo cello, orchestra and choir. He has performed for various high-level dignitaries, including current and former presidents, vice-presidents, global air chiefs, and various service secretaries. In addition to his Air Force performances, he has performed with local groups including the National Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony, Richmond Symphony, National Philharmonic, Fairfax Symphony and Alexandria Symphony.
Josh took suzuki training with Ronda Cole and the cello books with Andrea Yun. He has been teaching since 1999 and maintains an active cello studio.