Casey Buck is passionate about public school music education, and honored to continue the long legacy of teachers affecting the lives of students from one generation to the next. He began playing cello in the third grade, and through his experiences in the public school and youth orchestra programs, as well as the inspiration of his teachers, decided to pursue music. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Performance degrees from Loyola University New Orleans, where he studied cello with Allen Nisbet. Additionally, Mr. Buck achieved National Board Certification in Music through a rigorous candidacy process. Since 2006, Mr. Buck’s principal performance engagement as a cellist has been with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He was also the guest conductor for the ASO’s annual Independence Day “Pops-on-the-River” concert in 2023. 

As a music educator, Mr. Buck’s commitments are broad and diverse. The greatest share of his activity is through his work with Conway Public Schools, which began in 2006. Mr. Buck is the orchestra department head, directing the Conway High School Orchestra and overseeing the program. He has had the privilege of working with students from their beginner year in sixth grade all the way through graduation, working with the orchestras at Conway’s middle schools and junior high as well. He has also taught 8 th Grade Music Appreciation at Conway Junior High, and has taught Advanced Placement Music Theory at Conway High School since 2010. His students consistently receive the highest ratings at adjudicated performance assessments and competitions, and the Conway Orchestra program is known for its legacy of excellence. 

Outside of his work in Conway, Mr. Buck directed the Preparatory Orchestra (one of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Youth Ensembles, serving first- and second-year string players across central Arkansas) from 2008-2020. He has also directed the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Strings program (formerly the UALR Summer Strings Camp) from 2011- 2022, and was a clinician for the UCA Summer String camp from its inception in 2009 until it closed in 2019. Mr. Buck’s teaching experience also extends to the university level, where he was a Visiting Lecturer of Music at Arkansas Tech University from 2006-2012, teaching String Methods and Applied Strings, and has also been a guest lecturer in various university music and education classes. 

Mr. Buck has worked with the College Board’s Advanced Placement Music Theory program as a Reader, Table Leader, and Question Leader for the annual AP Reading since 2016. He was a consultant for the AP Daily program, having produced instructional videos available to students across the country and around the world through the APClassroom portal. He also consulted with the Arkansas Department of Education on the Arkansas Fine Arts Frameworks, serving on the revision committee and leading statewide training sessions on implementing the new standards. Additionally, he has presented professional development sessions and workshops on music theory pedagogy and ensemble best practices at conferences across Arkansas. 

Deeply involved in the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association (ASBOA), Mr. Buck has served on the board as the State Orchestra Chair since 2019. He previously held positions as Region Chair and Region Treasurer, and also continues to serve as senior high orchestra manager and audition host for the South Region Orchestra. In addition to ASBOA, he holds professional memberships with the Texas Orchestra Directors Association, the American String Teachers Association, and the National Association for Music Education. Honored by the Arkansas chapter of the American String Teachers Association as the inaugural Arkansas Orchestra Director of the Year in 2024, Mr. Buck was recognized as the Arts Educator of the Year by the Conway Alliance for the Arts in 2022, and was also a GRAMMY Foundation Music Educator Award quarter-finalist in 2020. He lives in Conway with his wife, Kristina Rose Buck (a classically-trained mezzo-soprano and fellow music educator), and their two amazing musician daughters, Abigail Rose and Adia Shalom.

Nathan Groot is a music instructor at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts. He directs the string ensemble and teaches one-on-one applied string lessons among other music courses. Dr. Groot holds degrees from Tennessee Tech University (BS in music performance and pedagogy), Miami University (MM in music performance), and the University of Georgia (DMA in music performance).

Dr. Groot has experience as an orchestral, chamber, and solo performer. As a soloist, he has performed in the United States, Bulgaria, and Austria, and has also performed and recorded multiple world premieres. Dr. Groot has also won multiple awards and competitions as a chamber musician including the national American Viola Society Ensemble Invitational Competition in 2021. As an orchestral violist, he frequently performs with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Conway Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he performed in both principal and section roles with the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, the Rome Symphony Orchestra, and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra. He has also recorded television soundtracks in Nashville, Tenn., (History Channel’s Vikings) and for a documentary with songwriter/performer Kishi Bashi.

Prior to teaching at ASMSA, Dr. Groot worked as a Presidential research fellow, taught university-level musicology and string techniques courses, co-founded a non-profit for low-income music students, served as viola faculty and chamber coach at the Tennessee Tech Summer Music Institute, worked as the strings director for the New Horizons Strings Ensemble, and taught hundreds of students of all ages privately. In Arkansas music education, Dr. Groot currently serves as the South Region treasurer for ASBOA and President-Elect of the Arkansas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

Outside of teaching music, Dr. Groot enjoys spending time with family and friends, hiking with his dog, reading (with a hot cup of coffee), and birdwatching.

Jayne Jostad is the Orchestra Director at Heritage High School in Rogers, Arkansas, where she brings a rich background in performance and music education to the classroom. She holds a degree in Music Education from the University of Arkansas and has studied under esteemed mentors including Dr. Er-Gene Kahng, Dr. Stephen Gates, Dr. Dominic Na, Dr. Robert Mueller, and Dr. Pecos Singer.

An accomplished cellist, she has been a section member of the Fort Smith Symphony since 2010 and regularly performs with the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. She also serves as a substitute cellist for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Her performance highlights include sharing the stage with Mannheim Steamroller and playing alongside the rock band Disturbed at the Walmart AMP during their rendition of “The Sound of Silence.”

Before transitioning to public education, she was a dedicated private cello instructor at Arkansas Music Works for eight and a half years. Her passion for orchestral music runs deep—her mother was an orchestra teacher and her father, a former symphony conductor, studied conducting with legendary maestros Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan.

She is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through excellence in music education and a lifelong dedication to the orchestral arts.

Er-Gene Kahng is a violinist, researcher and educator whose work first came to the fore through her advocacy of American composer, Florence Price. Her recording of Florence Price’s Violin Concertos (Albany Records, 2018) has been cited and praised by sources such as The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and The New York Times as an important contribution to American classical music, and has aired on programs like NPR’s Songs we Love, and APM’s Performance Today. Alex Ross, in The New Yorker states:

“Kahng’s new recording of the Violin Concertos with the Janácek Philharmonic, is Price’s best outing on disk to date. Kahng plays the solo parts with lustrous tone and glistening facility....The second concerto, which Price wrote in 1952, shortly before her death, begins with jarring chords of D major and F minor, establishing unstable harmonic terrain. The hyper-Romantic solo part now seems like a visitor from another world. This terse, beguiling piece has an autumnal quality reminiscent of the final works of Richard Strauss. It deserves to be widely heard."

Er-Gene serves as concertmaster with the Fort Smith Symphony, who completed a Florence Price recording her Symphonies no. 1 and no. 4, and most recently a world premiere recording of select symphonic works of Louis Ballard. Er-Gene also serves as the Concertmaster of Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra’s concertmaster, and remains a member of Chineke!, the first majority BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) orchestra in Europe, whose motto is “championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music.” Previously, Er-Gene has held title positions with the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, SoNA (Symphony of Northwest Arkansas), Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, as well as section positions with the Lancaster Symphony, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra.

Er-Gene has served as summer faculty at Faulkner Chamber Music Festival, Montecito International Summer Music Festival, PRIZM Ensemble, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, and the Bay View Music Festival faculty string quartet. Other summer festivals include the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, and The Banff Centre. Er-Gene also co-founded the Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival, which was held at the University of Arkansas from 2008-2015.

Multi-disciplinary works have involved co-curating a new music series “Fuse” (at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art) featuring the works of American minimalism, indeterminacy, and postmodernism. Her A/V collaborations include working with animator Wilson Borja, whose work, “Cheré” explores themes of forced and voluntary migration of the African diaspora. Other collaborations included those with the Texas Ballet Theater, and the Hong Kong Arts Academy, performing an original score “Crash” by choreographer Jonathan Watkins.

Er-Gene serves as Professor of Violin at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She was a Visiting Wolfson Fellow at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK, and received degrees from UCLA, Yale and Northwestern.

Crystal Sullivan is a passionate music specialist at Nettleton STEAM Elementary in Jonesboro, Arkansas. With 20 years of experience in Music Education across both Elementary and Secondary levels—including Choir, Band, and Orchestra—Crystal is now in her 20th year teaching music in Northeast Arkansas.

She has established the Nettleton Raider Youth Orchestra in the Nettleton School District and recently launched the Nettleton Junior High Orchestra. Beyond her work at Nettleton, Crystal runs the My Psalms 100 Music Studio in Jonesboro, where she teaches elementary and youth private orchestra students. Her teaching approach integrates Orff, Kindermusik, hands-on activities, and brain-based music learning. 

She studied Choral Conducting with Dr. Dale Miller, Voice with Mr. Matt Carey and Violin with Rebecca Markowski at ASU. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Education at Arkansas State University and pursued Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Lauren Schack Clark and Vocal Pedagogy with Mr. Matt Carey. She also holds a Master’s degree in Music Education. In addition, Crystal recently was the guest clinician for the ArkMEA Festival Honor Orchestra.