Festival Director & Musicians

Music Director & Conductor

Gerardo Edelstein

A native of Argentina, Gerardo Edelstein has conducted symphony orchestras, choirs, and ballet and opera productions in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. Critics and audiences have hailed his performances as sensitive, charismatic, and energetic. Edelstein is currently director of orchestral studies, music director of the Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras, and artistic director of the Penn’s Woods Music Festival at Penn State. In addition, he is music director/conductor of the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, and Pennsylvania Center Orchestra.

In Israel he was principal conductor of the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir and Orchestra, with whom he appeared on radio and television and toured throughout the country. In the United States, Edelstein served as associate conductor and music advisor for the Richmond Symphony in Virginia.

Edelstein has guest conducted the Israel Sinfonietta, Israel Kibbutz Orchestra, Jerusalem Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, Kharkov Philharmonic in Ukraine, Tucuman Symphony Orchestra and Choir, Symphony Orchestra of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina, Houston Chamber Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony, and San Antonio Symphony in the United States, and at festivals in Dublin, Ireland, and Bordeaux, France. Most recently he collaborated with cellist Kim Cook, recording a CD with the Saint Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra in Russia.

With the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra, he toured Spain and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, and at Alice Tully Hall in New York with the Penn State Chamber Orchestra. For the fiftieth anniversary of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture, Edelstein conducted a full production of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, receiving rave reviews.
Committed to the education of young musicians, Edelstein was conductor of the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio and served as clinician and guest conductor for many orchestra festivals in Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Vermont, New York, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. He has collaborated in side-by-side concerts with the San Antonio Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Edelstein has given masterclasses and conducting workshops in the United States, as well as at the Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Bordeaux, France; Istanbul, Turkey; and Jerusalem, Israel.

Edelstein received degrees from the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires; the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music, where he won the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Scholarship awarded by the American/Israel Cultural Foundation; and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

2024 Festival Orchestra Musicians

Violin

• James Lyon*+, Concertmaster, State College, PA
  Ed Gallus Chair
• Trevor Thompson, Reynoldsburg, OH
• Emily Karosas Konkle, Harrisonburg, VA (June 22)
  Joanne Feldman Chair given by friends of the Nittany Valley Symphony
• Sally Minnich, State College, PA (June 29)
  Joanne Feldman Chair given by friends of the Nittany Valley Symphony
  
• Carolina Pedroza, Pittsburgh, PA
• Mark Minnich, State College, PA
• Michael Divino, Philadelphia, PA
• Sarah Hamm, Williamsport, PA
• Timothy McClure, State College, PA
• Vinicius Vieira, São Paulo, Brazil
• Emily Long, Boalsburg, PA
• Spencer Stover, Southampton, PA
• May Zia, Harisburg, PA

Viola

• Melinda Daestch*, Ithaca, NY
  Seda Sahakian Chair
• John Roxburgh, Dunedin, New Zealand
• Isabel Healy, Leesburg, VA
• Nicole Felker, Hartford, CT
• Mary Scripko, West Hartford, CT

Cello

• Kim Cook*+, State College, PA
  Maureen Mulderig & Michael Johnson Chair
• Stephen Feldman*, Conway, AR
• Carol Lyon, State College, PA
• Jonathan Dexter+, State College, PA
• Hudson Webber, Rockford, IL

Bass

• Joshua Davis*+, State College, PA
• Kevin Huhn, West Hartford, CT
• Dante Tramontin de Paula, São Paulo, Brazil

Flute

• Naomi Seidman*+, State College, PA
  Eleanor D. and Dan C. Armstrong Chair
• Cathy Herrera, State College, PA
• Laura Zabanal, Arlington, VA

Oboe

• Andreas Oeste*+, State College, PA
• Robyn Dixon Costa*+, State College, PA
• Laurel Wellman, State College, PA

Clarinet

• Anthony Costa*+, State College, PA
  Gary and Christina Schell Chair
• Anthony Poehailos, Selinsgrove, PA
• Mandi Bearjar, Summerhill, PA

Bassoon

• Margaret Fay*+, State College, PA
  Howard and Judith Bond Chair
• Jason Worzbyt, Indiana, PA

Horn

• Sarah Schouten*+, State College, PA
  Pieter and Lida Ouwehand Chair
• Lisa Bontrager#, State College, PA

Trumpet

• Derek MacDonald, Boulder, CO
• Hayden Cameron, Clarksburg, MD

Timpani

• Dan C. Armstrong*#, State College, PA

Stage Manager

• Javier Groelik, Buenos Aries, Argintina

*Principal
+School of Music faculty
# School of Music emeritus facuty