High School Orchestra Invitational

Jon Noworyta, is the Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands, Instrumental Activities, and Educational Outreach at the University of Indianapolis. There, he administers all aspects of the woodwind, brass, and percussion area, teaches conducting, courses in music education, and conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Pep Band, and opera. A versatile conductor who is equally comfortable with orchestras as well as wind or brass groups, Noworyta is the Director of the Crossroads Brass Band of Indianapolis, IN, the Artistic Director of the Queen City Freedom Band of Cincinnati, and the former Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Noworyta is a twenty-one year veteran public school music educator. Ensembles under his direction have given notable local, state, national, and international performances, the most significant being Carnegie Hall in 2009, the 2010 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and the 2012 Music for All National Festival. Noworyta has led groups at such legendary venues as Chicago's Symphony Center, the Kennedy Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Carnegie Hall.

Professionally, Noworyta has collaborated with members of the Buffalo and Dayton philharmonics, the Elgin, Knoxville, and Indianapolis symphonies, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Noworyta has accompanied world-renowned piano soloist James Tocco in concerti by George Gershwin and David Maslanka.

Noworyta’s professional affiliations have included the NAFME, CBDNA, WASBE, NABBA, NBA, Pride Bands Alliance, GLSEN, the Conductors Guild, and the Indiana, Illinois, New York (NYSSMA) and Ohio Music Educators Associations. He currently sits on the Committee for Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion for the North American Brass Band Association, and is listed in the Who's Who in America Educator's Edition.

A Western New York native, Noworyta holds degrees from Baldwin-Wallace University (BME), Northwestern University (MM), and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati (DMA). Additional study at the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory, and the Juilliard School, has given Noworyta the opportunity to work with the major conducting pedagogues in the field today. 

Dr. Gail Barnes is professor of Music Education and Director of the USC String Project.  She received her BM and MM from the University of Michigan and her PhD from the Ohio State University. Dr. Barnes teaches courses in stringed instrument methods and orchestra literature. 

Dr. Barnes's research interests revolve around community and school orchestra programs, with a particular focus on ensuring equitable access to music education for underprivileged youth. Her research has shed light on the positive impact of parental involvement and a supportive home environment on students' musical development. Furthermore, she has shared her expertise and research findings at conferences across the United States and abroad, delivering insightful presentations in countries such as Australia, Italy, China, Greece, Scotland, and Brazil. 

She is a co-author of Measures of Success for String Orchestra (published by The FJH Music Company), a method book for young string players. She is the founder of a forum for string and orchestra teachers on Facebook that has over 11000 members. 

Dr. Barnes continues to work with student-aged musicians in her role as Director of the USC String Project. In addition, she has conducted All-State Orchestras in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan. She was the head adjudicator at the 2022 Victoria School Orchestra Festival (Melbourne, Australia). 

Elizabeth A. Reed accepted a position as Assistant Professor of String Music Education at Miami University of Ohio in the fall of 2021. Since 2018, Dr. Reed has been the Executive Director of the National String Project Consortium. This non-profit organization focuses on children across the United States having access to string music education and providing emerging string music education majors the opportunity to practice teaching. Dr. Reed has taught beginning to advanced levels of orchestra (4th- 12th) to students in Fairfax County Public Schools (2004-2015, 2020-2021) and Lexington-Richland School District Five (2019-2020). During the fall of 2018, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Florida State University. 

Dr. Reed received her Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of South Carolina. Other degrees include a Master of Music in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music (2004) and a bachelor’s degree in Music Education with a Performance Certificate in cello from the University of South Carolina (2001). 

As a conductor, Dr. Reed has guest conducted for the South Carolina Junior All-State Orchestra, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William County District Honor Orchestras in Virginia, MMEA Eastern District in Massachusetts, and the GMEA Middle School Honors Orchestra in Georgia. 

As a researcher and clinician, Dr. Reed focuses on professional music teacher identity, culturally responsive teaching, the String Projects, and pitch perception. Her dissertation, Examining Professional Music Teacher Identity: A Mixed Methods Approach with Stringed Instrument Teachers, was published in 2018. Dr. Reed has other publications in the American String Teacher and Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, Volume 4. In addition, she has presented clinics and research poster sessions, nationally and internationally, at ASTA, IAFOR, ISME, NAFME, SMTE, TMEA, OMEA, and VMEA. 

Outside of the music, Dr. Reed enjoys traveling the world, gardening, being an aunt to her niece and nephew, and taking long walks with her rescue sheltie, Sophie.