Dena Byers has been with the organization since its founding in 2004. She currently teaches at Hillandale Elementary School and serves as one of the lead elementary music teachers for Durham Public Schools. Dena has taught in Durham for 27 years.  She is National Board Certified and has been honored as a top four finalist for District Teacher of the Year and a recipient of the NC Symphony’s Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement in music education. An active member of the American Choral Directors Association and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Dena has been a guest conductor for All-State Honor Choirs in Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee as well as District All-County Choirs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. She has presented workshops for Orff Schulwerk chapters throughout the US and at National AOSA Professional Development Conferences. Dena currently teaches Level II Orff Schulwerk at the University of Memphis each summer.  She received BA degrees in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Music from the University of Minnesota and holds Level III and Master Level Orff Schulwerk Certifications from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of Memphis, respectively. 

Originally from McKenzie, Tennessee, Michael Chandler taught music and movement to elementary school children in Texas public schools for 16 years, most of them in the Lewisville Independent School District, where he was named Teacher of the Year at two campuses. In 2005, 2007, and 2013 his student ensembles were selected to perform at the TMEA Clinic and Convention in San Antonio. Dr. Chandler has presented workshops in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for TMEA, TCDA, AOSA, and numerous state MEA organizations. He has taught in AOSA-approved Orff Schulwerk teacher education courses at Southern Methodist University, the University of Central Arkansas, the Hartt School, Oregon State University, the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), the University of Memphis, and Education Through Music in New York City. He is a past-president of the North Texas Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA) and served as a Regional Representative on the AOSA National Board of Trustees. Dr. Chandler was a pianist for the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas (CCGD) for 10 years and the organist and pianist at Round Grove United Church (UCC) in Lewisville for 17 years. He is the author of Everyday Recorder, Recorder Everyday!, an Orff Schulwerk approach to integrating recorder into the general music classroom. His publications have also been featured in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, The Orff Echo, and The Southwestern Musician. Dr. Chandler earned the Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee; the Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; the Master of Arts degree in music education from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota; and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in music education from the University of North Texas.