Meet Our Staff
Artistic Staff
Jeffrey Domoto
Music Director & Conductor
Vermont Youth Orchestra Association
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Previously a member of the conducting staffs of the New York City Opera and Minnesota Opera, Jeffrey Domoto has worked extensively with young musicians and appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras in the US and abroad. Mr. Domoto is a native of Seattle, Washington. Mr. Domoto has worked with young musicians at the Sewanee Music Festival, the Kinhaven School, and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and with the youth orchestras of Nanjing and Guangzhou, China. Since 1998, he has held the position of Music Director for the Sergio Franchi Music Foundation, an organization that perpetuates the singer’s legacy through the support of young and emerging vocalists and entertainers. In addition to providing overall artistic leadership of the VYOA, Mr. Domoto conducts the Vermont Youth Orchestra and Vermont Youth Sinfonia.
Jeffrey Buettner
Conductor, VYO Chorus
Jeffrey Buettner holds his undergraduate music degree from St. Olaf Collage and a Masters in Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Michigan State University. In addition to leading the VYOA Choruses, he serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Middlebury College, where he is also founding music director of the Middlebury Bach Festival, which he developed with his wife, soprano Jessica Allen. Dr. Buettner has guest conducted high school festival choruses in the Midwest and Northeast, including the 2011 New York Summer Music Festival. He is a recipient of several grants for study and research in England, Germany and Ukraine, and he was a Fulbright Scholar to Ukraine in 2010.
Asiat (Ace) Ali
Conductor, Presto
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Ace is a 1988 graduate of the VYO. Currently, Ace is the beginning and middle school string instructor in the Essex Junction Public School System. He conducts the Essex High School Orchestra and he maintains a private studio of violin and viola students. Ace is a lifelong resident of Essex Junction.
Anne Decker
Associate Director of Instrumental Programs
Conductor, Vermont Youth Philharmonia
Director, Reveille! Music Festival
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Anne Decker joined the artistic staff of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association in 1999. In 2011, Ms. Decker was named the VYOA Associate Director of Instrumental Programs. Anne holds a Bachelors in Music Education from Western Michigan University and a Masters of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Illinois State University. She has studied with Glenn Block, David Effron, Charles Peltz, and Frank Battisti. Ms. Decker directs the orchestra programs at U-32 Middle and High School in East Montpelier. She resides in Waterbury Center with her husband and two daughters.
Berta Frank
Director, Vermont Youth Chamber Winds
Berta Frank, flutist, is a native of New York City who began her studies at the Y School of music. She attended Performing Arts High School and Juilliard Pre-College in New York City. She holds a Liberal Arts Degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Masters in Music Education from Columbia University. She has studied the flute with Gerardo Levy, Bob Stallman, Alan Cox, Thomas Nyfenger, Linda Chesis and Murray Panitz, principal flutist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She currently plays principal flute with the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, and piccolo with the Mozart Festival Orchestra. She has been an active member of the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble for 15 years, as well as a staff member at VYOA, teaching at their Music Day Camp since 1992. She also teaches flute at Johnson State College, Edmunds Middle School and Missisquoi Valley Union High School.
David Gusakov
Conductor, Vermont Youth Strings
802.453.5725
A 1971 graduate of Yale University, David moved to Vermont in 1973 when he joined the Vermont Symphony. Since then, he has played in numerous classical, swing and bluegrass ensembles. He began conducting VYS in 1993. He has also conducted the Amateur Musicians’ Orchestra, Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra, and has served as a member of the adjunct music faculty at Middlebury College for many years. When not teaching privately, David can be heard playing swing/jazz with the Will Patton Ensemble and Swing Noire, bluegrass with Saltlick, and Franco-American music with Michele Choinière.
Erik Nielsen
Music Theory Instructor
Erik Nielsen is a composer whose works have been performed all over the world, including such locations as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and New York City’s Carnegie Hall. During the school year, Mr. Nielsen teaches music theory at the Elley-Long Music Center. In the summer, he teaches composition for the VYOA during Music Day Camp. He resides in Brookfield.
Annemieke Spoelstra
Accompanist
Annemieke Spoelstra was born in the Netherlands and has studied classical piano since the age of seven. Her career began when she won first place for best accompanist at the National competition “Jong Muziektalent Nederland” at age 21. Later, she received the student of the year award (“Vriendenprijs”) from the Conservatory in Zwolle for her stage performance and piano pedagogy. Today she is a sought-after pianist with an international career. She is the accompanist for the VYO Chorus and Vermont Youth Concert Chorale. She also teaches piano at Saint Michael’s College and serves as the accompanist for the Saint Michael’s College Chorale. Ms. Spoelstra coaches vocalists and instrumentalists for auditions, competitions and performances and she maintains a busy home studio.
Administrative Staff
Rosina Cannizzaro Executive Director
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Lisamarie Charlesworth
Director of Marketing & Community Relations
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Liza Reed
Development Manager
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Art DeQuasie
Director of Operations
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Mia Fritze
Operations Assistant & Facilities Manager
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Laura Bouix
Director, Reveille! Music Festival
Tim Buckingham
Director, Music Day Camp
Carolyn Long
Librarian
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Board of Directors
Emily Magowan, Chair
Mike Noble, Vice Chair
Fred Erdman, Treasurer
Jonathan Silverman, Secretary
Carolyn Bever
Pat Harwick
Janine Jacobs
Beth Kuhn
John Mantegna
Connie Metz
Jonathan Milne
Jeff Nowell
John Pacht
Sarah Tischler
Rebecca Walsh
Nancy Waples
Honorary Board Member:
Carolyn Long
Committees of the VYOA Board:
| Executive Committee: Emily Magowan, Chair Mike Noble, Vice Chair Jeff Nowell, Treasurer Jonathan Silverman, Secretary *Rosina Cannizzaro Executive Director *Jeffrey Domoto, Music Director |
Governance Committee: John Pacht, Chair Beth Kuhn Mike Noble John Mantegna Jonathan Silverman |
| Development Committee: Janine Jacobs Pat Harwick Mike Noble Connie Metz Sarah Tischler Nancy Waples |
Strategic Planning Committee: Jim Lefevre, consultant Emily Magowan, Board Chair *Rosina Cannizzaro Executive Director *Jeffrey Domoto, Music Director |
| Finance Committee: Fred Erdman, Chair Jeff Nowell Katherine Meyers, volunteer Jonathan Milne Rebecca Walsh |
