Laurie is the Program Coordinator for the UNM String Lab School, the Program Manager for the NM Phil Young Musician Initiative, and has a private violin studio in Albuquerque. She is proud to serve her community with the hopes of fostering an equitable, excellent musical environment that serves all NM string teachers and their students.  She spends her free time traveling, baking, and hanging out with her pups. 

Jessica Retana is a Suzuki Violin teacher and founder of The Well-Balanced Violin Studio in Albuquerque, NM. Jessica is honored to serve as Vice President of New Mexico ASTA and she’s committed to serving this community by providing access to string education and opportunities for all teachers and students in New Mexico. Jessica is a 2023 recipient of the Suzuki Association of the Americas Certificate of Achievement, and she enjoys cultivating a life-long love of music in each of her students. Outside of teaching, Jessica is a member of the New Mexico Philharmonic, and she enjoys spending time with her husband and three cats.

Dr. Sigrid Karlstrom enjoys a career as a violinist and violist, chamber musician, Suzuki teacher, and school orchestra director based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

As ASTA secretary, she founded Violapalooza NM 2024, a workshop and concert that brought together 50 professional and student violists from all over the state. 

Her doctoral research and interest in contemporary works and works by underrepresented composers culminated in two albums of pieces for viola and piano by the American composers Marion Bauer, Vivian Fine and Miriam Gideon. A portion of this research is published as a “Foreword” to the American Composer Alliance’s edition of Miriam Gideons Sonata for Viola and Piano. Dr. Karlstrom's performance of the Marion Bauer Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 22 was featured on the American Viola Society’s “Emerging Artists” recital in 2019. 

From 2013-2017, she played as a tenured member of the New Mexico Philharmonic viola section. Sigrid graduated on full merit scholarship with a DMA from The Hartt School.

Crystal Boyack is a leader in early childhood violin pedagogy and the best selling author of Wee Violin: Music for Young Violinists Preparatory to Twinkle.

She currently teaches at the University of New Mexico’s Lab School and runs a private studio teaching Suzuki Violin and Music Together in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

She loves spending her time gardening, doing yoga, and spending time with her husband and four young children.

Joseph Alcocer is the Director of Orchestras and Mariachi at Goddard and Roswell High Schools and serves as the String Area Coordinator for Roswell Independent School District in New Mexico. A trained Suzuki Method teacher and recipient of the Bornoff National Diverse String Teacher Fellowship, Joseph is dedicated to engaging diverse student musicians and pioneering the integration of Mariachi ensembles into secondary music programs. As a violinist, he actively performs with area orchestras and Mariachi groups, blending his classical training with his cultural heritage.

Joseph has directed orchestra and Mariachi programs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Austin, Texas, and contributes to the profession as a clinician, conductor, and adjudicator. He has presented to educators and pre-service teachers across New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Michigan and has served on ASTA's National Eclectic Styles and K-12 Committees. Outside of music, he enjoys restoring and playing retro arcade cabinets and keeping up with the latest Marvel Comics.

Joined ASTA in 1968 in Utah. Taught hundreds of students during my 50 plus years of teaching in my private studio in Madison, Wisconsin, Orem, Utah and Los Alamos/White Rock, New Mexico. Graduated from the University of Utah with a minor in music. Taught Orchestra in the public schools in Wisconsin and in Los Alamos.  Awarded the 2008 ASTA NM Lifetime Achievement Award. Member of the Madison Wis. Civic Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Valley Symphony, The Los Alamos Sinfonietta/Symphony Orchestra and currently playing with the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra. Served as concertmaster for the LASO fifteen years.

Also an active lifetime member of NMPMT (NM Professional Music Teachers Association). My students often performed in the state and regional competitions.