Ensemble Directors
Brian Worsdale
Music Director and Conductor
The Popkin Wolchok Music Director Chair
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Worsdale attended public schools, the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division, and received his formal music training as a trombone student of David Finlayson (New York Philharmonic). He is a conducting protégé of the late Maestro Jonathan Strasser (former faculty of Manhattan School of Music) and has continued his professional studies working with Larry Livingston (on faculty of University of Southern California) and Anthony Maiello (on faculty of George Mason University). He had recently returned to the Manhattan School of Music as conductor of the Pre-College Division Symphony Orchestra.
His work as a guest clinician and adjudicator has brought him to cities throughout the United States. He has conducted Texas’ Region 23 Orchestra, The Southeastern Regional Orchestra for the State of Virginia and many other honor bands and orchestras. He is a senior teaching artist and consultant for The New York Pops and helps run their Kids on Stage program.
Having appeared on the podiums of the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, The Williamsburg Consort (VA), The Westchester Symphonic Winds, The Brooklyn Wind Symphony, The Kilkenny Youth Orchestra (Ireland), and the Royal Spa Brass Band (UK), he is in active demand as a guest conductor and clinician, frequently working with middle school and high school programs across the country. He is a champion of new music and young artists, having commissioned works for both wind ensembles and orchestras, including many new works from composer Michael Markowski.
Perhaps most importantly, Mr. Worsdale’s commitment to education shines brightest through his entrepreneurial efforts to build stronger wind band programs in New York City. The award-winning “InterSchool Orchestra of New York” Symphonic Band, which is one of the only private youth wind ensembles in the Metropolitan New York area, is an ensemble he began more than two decades ago. Last season, he served as Music Director and Conductor of the ISO organization and led the Symphony Orchestra. He also was conductor of the Grand Street Community Band.
During the summer months, Brian calls Delaware County, New York his home where he serves as artistic director and conductor of the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. There, he leads the symphony orchestra, conducting classes, and numerous pit orchestras while supervising one of the largest and most comprehensive summer performing arts programs in the United States.
Mr. Worsdale conducts YPO and runs the Apprentice Conducting Program.
Robert Traugh
Wind Symphony Conductor
Robert Traugh is a Pittsburgh-based freelance composer and Adjunct Professor of Composition at Duquesne University. Rob has written for wind bands, jazz ensembles, chamber ensembles, dance as well as other commercial projects. Rob’s music draws influence from an eclectic study of contemporary music, an appreciation of the natural world, and pervading undertones of jazz. He is currently actively engaged with commission projects. With a background spanning 12 years of service as a public school music teacher, his works have received acclaim as having artistic and pedagogical applicability in the modern ensemble curriculum. Most recently, Rob’s music has been programmed for performances in the Arizona MEA Conference, Pennsylvania MEA Conference, Ohio MEA Conference, as well as the Music for All National Festival.
Rob holds an M.M. degree in Electronic Composition (2017) from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University, where he studied theory and composition with Lynn Purse, Patrick Burke, and Joseph Willcox Jenkins. He completed a B.M degree in Music Education at Youngstown State University (2006), where he studied music theory, score analysis, conducting, composition, and arranging with Till MacIvor Meyn, Stephen Gage, Michael Crist, and David Morgan.
Rob currently resides in Cranberry Township, PA, with his wife Bethany and children Gavan & Maia.
Eliseo Rael
Percussion Ensemble
Eliseo Rael is an Emmy™️ Award-winning percussionist who has forged a dynamic career of creative collaboration as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. He is a member of the Pana Percussion Quartet whose performance of the piece “Spiral” earned two Emmys™️ at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Award Ceremony in 2023.
As the percussionist of the ensemble IonSound Project, Eliseo performed in such music series as “The Phoenix Concerts” in New York and “Music in a Great Space” in Pittsburgh. He has had the opportunity to work closely with composers such as Joan Tower, Jennifer Higdon, David Stock, Michael Gandolfi, and many others.
In addition to his work as a chamber musician, Eliseo has also performed with many orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, and the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra; in Switzerland; performing under such conductors as James Levine, Kurt Massur, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Manfred Honeck. He has performed as a soloist with the Wheeling Symphony’s WSO on the Go series.
Eliseo is currently the area coordinator of the Percussion Department and the Percussion Ensemble Director at Duquesne University. Students he has taught play in orchestras all over the country and has won numerous competitions including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Modern Snare Drum Competition, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania All-state, and has been accepted to some of the country’s top music schools such as New England Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Duquesne University among others.
Eliseo holds a B.M. in performance from the University of North Texas, an M.M. in performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, and an Artist Diploma from Duquesne University.
Click here to view Pana Percussion’s Emmy™️ Award-winning performance https://youtu.be/VteCvHc1K00?si=uYbtRolmxb1jbK3q ”
Pierce Cook
Symphonette and Tutti Strings Conductor
Mr. Cook serves TRYPO as the Symphonette conductor, Tutti Strings conductor, Music Theory instructor for TRYPOsphere, and a coach for Youth Chamber Connection (YC²).
Mr. Cook is the proud director of orchestras at Mellon Middle School in Mt. Lebanon, redesignated in 2021 as a Don Eichhorn Pennsylvania School to Watch. Mellon’s Orchestra Program includes many opportunities for all students to get involved – a Cross-Aged Tutoring Program, a Chamber Orchestra, a Pops Orchestra, Cello Ensemble, and student-formed and managed small ensembles.
Over the past eight years, Mellon’s orchestras have performed annually throughout the region at local hospitals, assisted living residences, and an annual holiday performance at South Hills Village Mall.
Additionally, as an educator, Mr. Cook has provided private lessons out of his home studio since 2005 and served as the Bass Coach for Pittsburgh Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2022 Mr. Cook teamed up with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to host several “Beethoven in Your Neighborhood” Library Project events.
Mr. Cook serves as the bassist for Gary Racan and the Studio E Band, known nationally for their Warriors Rock concerts.
A native of Arlington, Virginia, Mr. Cook moved to Pittsburgh to attend Duquesne University and lives in Green Tree, where he serves as a volunteer firefighter.
TRYPOsphere Instructors
The biographies for our TRYPOsphere instructors can be found above.
Pierce Cook: Music Theory I & II
Brian Worsdale: Conducting
Young Peoples Orchestra Section Coaches
Dennis O'Boyle
1st Violin Coach
Dennis O’Boyle joined the second violin section of the Pittsburgh Symphony in the fall of 2000 under Music Director Mariss Jansons, and rose to his current position of Assistant Principal Second Violin in 2011. Before arriving in Pittsburgh, Mr. O’Boyle spent three years in Florida as a fellow in Miami Beach’s New World Symphony and subsequently Principal Second Violin of the Florida Orchestra, Tampa Bay. Mr. O’Boyle holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, as a student of Oswald Lehnert. He earned his Master of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Ik Hwan Bae. He lives in Squirrel Hill with his wife, Anna Wukich, and their two sons.
Lorien Benet Hart
2nd Violin Coach
Violinist Lorien Benet Hart has been a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2001. Her previous positions include assistant concertmaster in both the Charlotte and Windsor Symphony Orchestras. The summers often find her in Jackson Hole, WY where she has been a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival since 1995.
Ms. Hart holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Music degree from the University of Michigan. She has studied under Murray Adaskin, Sidney Humphreys, Anne Crowden, Emanuel Hurwitz, and Paul Kantor. A passionate teacher herself, Ms. Hart strives to continue the tradition of making joyful music that was passed down to her from these foundational mentors.
When not on stage, Ms. Hart can be found volunteering for 412 Food Rescue, a Pittsburgh non-profit that addresses food waste and food insecurity. She was recognized by the League of American Orchestras in 2021, receiving the Ford Musicians Award for her work spearheading the Musicians of the PSO’s Body & Soul partnership with 412 Food Rescue.
Lorien lives in Highland Park with her husband, Chris, and their two children, Abigail and Jonah.
Marylène Gingras-Roy
Viola Coach
A native of Québec City, Canada, Marylène Gingras-Roy joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra viola section in the 1997 season, and in 2004 was promoted to fourth chair. She studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec with Douglas McNabney and François Paradis and graduated in 1993 with unanimous First Prizes in both in viola and chamber music. She was the recipient of Canada and Québec Arts Councils’ Scholarship Grants, enabling her to attend the Harid Conservatory, where she studied with Victoria Chiang, and then at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music with Karen Tuttle and Joseph DePasquale. She earned an Artist Diploma in 1997.
Marylène is adjunct professor of viola at Duquesne University and has a full private studio at home. She is also an orchestra coach for the Three River Young Peoples Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. A highly sought-after teacher and pedagogue, Marylène has over twenty years of experience with students at various levels of experience and distinction. Marylène has also taught at summer music festivals such as: Domaine Forget, Québec, Interharmony Festival in Germany and Italy and Advanced Chamber Music Seminar in Pittsburgh. Marylène has been featured as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Duquesne University Orchestra and Symphonette and she performs regularly in chamber music concerts.
She has participated in many festivals, including the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, the Solti Project at Carnegie Hall, the Jerusalem Music Festival, the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra (where she served as Principal violist), and since 2000 the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho. Marylène’s recordings of chamber music include Leo Zeitlin’s Yedish songs and the Caprichos Nos. 2-4 by Leonardo Balada (world premiere recording) for the Naxos label. She has also recorded the Serenade no 6 for trombone, viola and cello by Vincent Persichetti. Marylèneʼs viola is by Italian maker Umberto Muschietti (1929).
David Premo
Cello Coach
David Premo joined the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1992 and now serves as Associate Principal. Mr. Premo has been Artist-Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University since 1994. He came to Pittsburgh from Washington, D.C., where he was Assistant Principal Cellist of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra from 1980 until 1991. Since coming to Pittsburgh, Mr. Premo has appeared frequently as a chamber musician and soloist on Shadyside and Rodef Shalom concert series. In 1996 Mr. Premo won the prestigious Passamaneck Award entitling him to a solo recital which he gave in Pittsburgh‘s Carnegie Hall in April 1997. His cello, made in approximately 1860 is by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.
Aaron White
Bass Coach
Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, bassist Aaron White began his musical studies in public school system after moving to Irving, Texas. He continued his studies at Southern Methodist Univ. and then Duquesne Univ. His principal teachers include Thomas Lederer and Jeffrey Turner. In 2012 and again in 2014, he performed with the “All-Star Orchestra” lead by Gerard Schwarz. Prior to joining the Pittsburgh Symphony, Mr. White was a member of the Louisville Orchestra and the Florida Orchestra.
Jennifer Steele
Woodwind Coach
Jennifer Steele joined the flute section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1994 under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Previously, she served as Principal Flute of the Charleston Symphony in South Carolina. As a native of San Francisco, Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with world-renowned flutists Jeanne Baxtresser and Julius Baker. She has performed numerous recitals in both the US and Asia and has made several appearances as a soloist with the PSO. As a devoted chamber musician, she appears frequently in concerts in Pittsburgh and around the US.
Outside of performing, Jennifer is a dedicated teacher committed to training the next generation of flutists through her past and present associations with Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, and Indiana University. She has also been an adjudicator and lecturer for the National Flute Association and a contributing author to Flute Talk Magazine.
Jennifer has spent recent summers teaching and performing at Brevard Music Center, Strings Music Festival, and Grand Teton Music Festival. In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys playing pickleball, listening to live jazz, and hanging out with her mini Golden doodle, Ginger.
James Nova
Brass Coach
James Nova joined the Pittsburgh Symphony as second/utility trombone in 2009. Prior to this, he served as assistant principal/second trombone of the Utah Symphony for eight seasons. He attended the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree before moving on the New England Conservatory of Music for his Master’s Degree. Mr. Nova is adjunct trombone professor and brass coordinator at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. Since 2012, Jim has found a new passion using recording technology to explore multitrack recording, also known as “overdubbing” and created numerous stunning recordings of challenging new arrangements he’s done of a variety of exciting repertoire for trombone choir. These employ a number of trombones: contra bass, bass, tenor, small tenor, alto and even soprano trombones! To hear these, got to www.soundcloud.com/jimnova.
Eliseo Rael
Percussion Coach
Eliseo Rael is an Emmy™️ Award-winning percussionist who has forged a dynamic career of creative collaboration as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. He is a member of the Pana Percussion Quartet whose performance of the piece “Spiral” earned two Emmys at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Award Ceremony in 2023.
As the percussionist of the ensemble IonSound Project, Eliseo performed in such music series as “The Phoenix Concerts” in New York and “Music in a Great Space” in Pittsburgh. He has had the opportunity to work closely with composers such as Joan Tower, Jennifer Higdon, David Stock, Michael Gandolfi, and many others.
In addition to his work as a chamber musician, Eliseo has also performed with many orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, and the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra; in Switzerland; performing under such conductors as James Levine, Kurt Massur, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Manfred Honeck. He has performed as a soloist with the Wheeling Symphony’s WSO on the Go series.
Eliseo is currently the area coordinator of the Percussion Department and the Percussion Ensemble Director at Duquesne University. Students he has taught play in orchestras all over the country and has won numerous competitions including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Modern Snare Drum Competition, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania All-state, and has been accepted to some of the country’s top music schools such as New England Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Duquesne University among others.
Eliseo holds a B.M. in performance from the University of North Texas, an M.M. in performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, and an Artist Diploma from Duquesne University.
Click here to view Pana Percussion’s Emmy™️ Award-winning performance https://youtu.be/VteCvHc1K00?si=uYbtRolmxb1jbK3q ”
Symphonette Section Coaches
Irene Cheng
1st Violin Coach
is a member of the first violin section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She won her first job with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra while pursuing her undergraduate studies. She has since held the positions of Principal Second violin, then Assistant Concertmaster of the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon in Portugal for two years before moving onto the first violin section of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in Spain. She also spent two years as an Assistant Principal First Violin in the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ms. Cheng has also performed with the Seattle Symphony, New Haven Symphony, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestras. Ms. Cheng has performed numerous solo recitals and chamber concerts in Western Europe, the East and West coasts of the United States, and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She has performed as soloist with the Camarata di Sant’Antonio, Seattle Philharmonic, Bellevue Philharmonic, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Central Washington University Orchestra, and the Pacific Lutheran University Orchestra. She has been the winner of the Seattle Young Artist Competition, the Washington State Concerto Competition, and the McGraw Hill Young Artists Showcase–which featured her on WQXR in New York City. Originally from the Seattle area, Ms. Cheng received her Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington. While at Yale, she studied with Sidney Harth, and chamber music with the okyo String Quartet and Claude Frank. She also spent many years studying with Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi, Ilkka Talvi, and Erich Eichhorn. Ms. Cheng attended several summers at the Aspen and Waterloo Music Festivals.
Rachel Stegeman
2nd Violin Coach
Rachel Stegeman is on the Adjunct Violin Faculty at Duquesne University, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 2002. At Duquesne she teaches Applied Violin and Orchestral Literature and Repertoire Class, as well as Violin Boot Camp during the summers. Many of her students have performing careers in professional orchestras and are teaching at Universities themselves. She was trained in Washington D.C. at Catholic University and teachers include William Steck, Luis Haza, Leslye Gartrell, Ramona Coppage, Sidney Harth, and Robert Lipsett. She is Concertmaster of the Wheeling Symphony and Youngstown Symphony, Associate Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra and Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra, performs as guest concertmaster for the West Virginia Symphony and Johnstown Symphony, and performs as a guest section violinist at Pittsburgh Symphony. Before moving to the East Coast, she was Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Opera Pacific, Los Angeles Opera as well as other orchestras in the area. She was also a member of the Pacific Symphony and a recording studio violinist in hundreds of major motion pictures, records, television shows, commercials and live award shows.
Katelyn Piroth
Viola Coach
Katelyn Piroth is an orchestra teacher in the Pine-Richland School District, where she teaches fourth through eighth grade orchestra. In addition to her work in the public school, she teaches private lessons for students in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Ms. Piroth is also a member of the Butler Symphony Orchestra and often plays with other orchestras and various ensembles in and around the Pittsburgh area. She holds both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education from Duquesne University, where she studied viola with Marylène Gingras-Roy. Ms. Piroth is also an alumna of Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras. In addition to teaching and making music, Mrs. Piroth enjoys working out, traveling, and spending time with her husband and daughter.
Kathleen Melucci
Cello Coach
A native of Pittsburgh, Kathleen Melucci holds the Principal Cello position with the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh. Kathleen holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Mannes College of Music. Her major teachers include Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Doane, and Timothy Eddy.
In addition to her orchestral positions, Kathleen is an active freelancer, chamber musician, and educator. Kathleen is a member of the Artistic Staff at the Three Rivers Young People’s Orchestras (where she was a member at age 10), Youth Chamber Connection, and maintains a thriving private cello studio. A committed Suzuki teacher, Kathleen has taught students ages 2 – 70 and believes passionately in the importance of music education for all.
Wind Symphony Section Coaches
Hanna Kim
Percussion Coach
Ms. Kim is currently a freelance musician based in Pittsburgh. She performs with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, New World Symphony in Miami, and Curtis Symphony Orchestra in Philadelphia.
Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor of Music Performance degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Daniel Druckman, her Masters of Music degree from Temple University under the tutelage of Alan Abel and Christopher Deviney, and her Artist Diploma from Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Don Liuzzi, Eric Millstein, and Robert Van Sice.
Ms. Kim has attended the Aspen Music Festival, Alan Abel Percussion Seminar, Verbier Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and National Repertory Orchestra.
A TRYPO alum (2007-09), Hanna has been the percussion coach for TRYPO’s Wind Symphony since 2021.
When she is not playing music, Ms. Kim enjoys discovering new coffee shops and spending quality time with her family, friends, and her cat Apollo.