LEADERSHIP & STAFF
Meet WSCO's Leaders, Conductors, and Staff.
Board of Directors
President: Jason Howell
Vice President, Internal: Miki Fly
Vice President, External: Nicole Jackson
Treasurer: Mariane Hermanson
Secretary: Mindi Katzman
Members at large: Wally Bostick, Rob Duisberg, Jim Hunt, Roberta Newland, Rosa Dale-Moore
Founder
Toni Reineke
Founder, Conductor Emeritus
Adult Beginning Winds & Percussion Class
Toni, the founder of the orchestras and retired conductor, has had two careers in music. After graduating from Central Washington University with her bachelor's in music education, she taught instrumental music, (mostly orchestra) for about 10 years. During that time she returned to Central for a master's degree in music performance. Later she earned a Ph.D. in Systematic Musicology from the University of Washington, then worked as a freelance editor for 18 years. Toni recently retired from her second music teaching career, having taught instrumental music to fourth- and fifth-grade beginners for Seattle Public Schools for ten years.
In the fall of 2002, Toni co-founded the Symphonette with the late Kathleen Hunt. She knows that Kathleen would be proud that the organization has now grown to three orchestras with over 200 members! Toni continues in WSCO as the instructor for the Adult Beginning Band Class, and as the Music Resource Consultant.
Conductors
Anna Wittstruck
Symphony Orchestra
Anna joined the WSCO team as the Symphony Orchestra conductor in Fall, 2019. Anna has served as Assistant Professor, Director of Orchestra for the University of Puget Sound School of Music since 2017. Before that she spent two years at Stanford University as Acting Assistant Professor, serving as Interim Music Director and Conductor of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and Stanford Philharmonia.
Anna has conducted concerts across the United States, in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. She has served as a guest conductor with the Harbin Symphony in China and as the 2017 and 2018 Conducting Fellow with the Eastern Sierra Symphony. She conducted concerts at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and Teatro Nacional de Cuba in Havana, where she performed with Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba and the Chamber Orchestra of Havana. In December 2013 she conducted the first-ever symphonic concert on Catalina Island (“Sounds of America,” featuring Copland’s Appalachian Spring) and returned with her touring ensemble the following three seasons. She has conducted concerts at the Rudolfinum in Prague and the Musikzentrum Augarten (home of the Vienna Boys’ Choir) in Vienna, as well as concerts in Berlin, Bad Elster, and Teplice.
Anna is also an active orchestral musician whose performances as a cellist span from the Beijing Modern Music Festival to the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Her string quartet gave a concert tour of Thailand sponsored by the Yonok and American-Thai Foundations, in honor of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s sixtieth birthday celebrations. She won a blind audition at the age of fourteen to become the youngest contracted member of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, and has participated in orchestra festivals such as Tanglewood, Round Top, and the National Symphony/Kennedy Center Institute. She has appeared as a soloist with the Charlotte and Hendersonville Symphonies, on the Public Radio International show, “From the Top,” and with the
Stanford Symphony Orchestra.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Princeton University with certificates in orchestral conducting and creative writing, and her PhD in musicology from Stanford University.
Anton Coleman
Wind Symphony
Anton received his B.A. in Music from Texas A&M University where he was also a member of the nationally famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and studied Flute with Penny Zent, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra's principal flutist. Anton also received his B.M. in Music Education from the University of Washington Seattle where he studied Flute and Flute-Pedagogy with Donna Shin and is a former member of the UW Wind Ensemble under the directions of Tim Salzman and Steve Morrison. Anton worked as a woodwind coach in the greater Seattle area including the Northshore School District and Seattle Public Schools. Anton remains an active member of the Seattle Flute Society, National Flute Association (NFA) and the Collegiate National Association for Music Education and has served as an adjudicator for area high school marching band competitions. Anton is proud to be the founding conductor of WSCO's Wind Symphony and has been affiliated with WSCO since 2010.
Bryan Kolk
Concert Orchestra
Bryan Kolk is a music educator, conductor, and bassist from Michigan. He received a Bachelors of Music Education and Masters in Double Bass performance from the University of Michigan. He studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux School in Maine, the University of Michigan Wind Conducting Symposium, and the Sherborne Summer School in England. He has directed orchestra programs at Caledonia High School (MI) as well as Troy High School (MI), and currently serves as the Orchestra Director and Fine Arts Department Head at Garfield High School in Seattle’s Central District. He also works for the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras where he directs the Debut Symphony Orchestra, their intermediate ensemble.
Bryan has previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Dearborn Youth Symphony, Everett Youth Symphony, and Bainbridge Island Youth Symphony. During the summers, Bryan conducts the Masterworks Orchestra at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in West Michigan and has been a part of the administration of SYSO’s Marrowstone Music Festival since 2011. In his free time, he loves to go hiking in the Cascades and Olympics with his partner and their energetic dog Pepper.
Rachel Nesvig
Debut Orchestra
Inspired by her Norwegian roots, Rachel has built a career around her love of music, performance, teaching, and Scandinavian tradition. She earned her BA in Music and Norwegian from St. Olaf College in 2007, followed by a master’s degree in Violin Performance and K-12 Teaching Certificate from Central Washington University in 2011. Rachel completed additional studies in both classical and jazz violin at the Music Conservatory of the University of Stavanger, Norway, also using the opportunity to polish her Norwegian language skills. Although violin is her main jam, Rachel is an avid Hardanger Fiddler (the national folk instrument of Norway), an aspiring violist, an enthusiastic conductor, and a novice improv actor!
Rachel’s love of playing music includes her dedication to teaching. She absolutely loves coaching summer camps such as the Seattle Rock Orchestra Summer Intensive, Icicle Creek Summer Symphony, and Pipestone Music Camp. Always inspired to wear many different hats, she conducts the West Seattle Community Orchestras’ Debut Symphony. The group is a fun, full orchestra that consists of players of all ages (youngest age 8 and oldest 80!) who have 1-3 years of experience playing their instruments.
One of Rachel’s other passions is making videos for Pizzicato Peeps with her friend and colleague, Begin Scarseth. These tutorial videos are meant to make learning fun and accessible to all levels and ages. Check them out here!
In her time not creating music, Rachel coordinates gigs as the booking manager for Oahu Strings. Apart from freelancing in Seattle, traveling is one of Rachel's favorite activities. She hopes to continue to play all types of music for audiences around the world.
Staff
Dave Morgan
Orchestra Manager
Dave joined WSCO as Orchestra Manager in Fall of 2021. He comes to WSCO with a background as both musician and administrator, having served as Board Chair and co-Artistic Director for early music specialist ensemble Queen City Musicians, and Northwest Regional Chairperson and Washington District Auditions Director for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
As a harpsichordist, Dave received a Bachelor’s in Music Theory from West Virginia Wesleyan College, and attended the University of Colorado at Boulder for graduate studies in harpsichord under Elizabeth Farr. Since leaving Colorado, he has studied privately with harpsichordists Byron Schenkman and Jillon Stoppels Dupree and received an Artist Diploma in Harpsichord from Cornish College of the Arts.
Dave has enjoyed making music with many ensembles in the Pacific Northwest including Northwest Sinfonietta, Bellingham Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Historical Arts for Kids, Skagit Opera (Pacific Northwest Opera), and Queen City Musicians, among others.
