Panelists
2015-2016 Music Level 3 and Projects

September 11, 2014
9:00 AM - to conclusion

Chair: Glenn Lochrie
Program Manager: Tim Storhoff

Sameed Afghani

Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Orchestra and Building Operations, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, Illinois
Previously Finance Assistant, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Executive Director, Ocala Symphony Orchestra
M.M., Instrumental Conducting, University of Florida; B.M., Performance and B.S., Applied Science in Finance, University of Florida

Palm Beach County

Executive Director, Young Singers of the Palm Beaches, Palm Beach, Florida
Former US West Seattle Business Office Manager, Chairwoman of D.D. Eisenhower Elementary School’s School Advisory Committee, and PTA President
President of the Board of Directors, FoundCare Inc., Palm Beach
Recipient of the Palm Beach County Cultural Council Muse Award for Cultural Leader of the Year
Attended Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon

Marion County

Marketing Consultant for small business owners to develop marketing strategies
Former Executive Director, Ocala Symphony Orchestra
Former Account Executive, Entercom Communications WKTK-FM &WSKY-FM responsible for Acquisition and management of new business for advertising for on-air, online and e-commerce marketing assets
Served as “Light the Night Walk” Campaign Manager for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Managed Advertising as an Account Executive for the Gainesville Sun
Member, Ocala Symphony Orchestra Board and Youth Outreach Committee Member
BS, Public Relations, University of Florida

Walton County

Music Director, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Miramar Beach
Accomplished clarinetist and has performed in the Dame Myra Hess Chamber Music Series, sponsored by the International Music Foundation and broadcast live on Chicago’s WFMT 98.7 FM, and has appeared with the Opera Theater of Lucca (Italy), David Oistrakh (Estonia), Aspen, Cabrillo and Eastern Music Festival (USA)
He has premiered, commissioned and/or collaborated with composers such as Chris Brubeck, Augusta Read-Thomas, Dorothy Hindman, Thomas Schneller, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Joel Hoffman, Moiya Callahan, Samuel Robles, Steven Winteregg, and Tan Dun
Guest conductor Orchestre Nationale de France; one of two conductors selected world-wide to conduct the Iraqi National Symphony and three other Iraqi orchestras in a groundbreaking Unity Academy in Erbil, Northern Iraq sponsored by American Voices and the US Department of State
Artistic Advisor, Musicians for Harmony; award recipient from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, the Werner Foundation, and the International Music Foundation

Broward County

Regional Program Coordinator for VSA-Florida, Executive Director of Embrace Music Foundation, and Senior Consultant with Miller Calhoun and Company
Co-founded and previously served as Executive Director of Southeastern PA Legal Services for the Deaf and Disabled
Career in non-profit management working on grass-roots political campaigns, for community organizations, and as a development professional with local and national non-profit organizations
MA in Analytic Philosophy; BAs in Philosophy and Elizabethan English, Temple University

Lee County

Music & Executive Director/Conductor, Gulf Coast Symphony, Fort Myers, Florida
General and Artistic Director, Center City Opera Theater, Philadelphia
Previously Music Director, Florida Jewish Philharmonic Orchestra; Producing Artistic Director of Synergy Productions (FL); and Resident Music Director of the Jr. Session at the Luzerne Music Center; and held conducting posts with Metropolitan Opera Guild, The Pennsylvania Opera Theater, The Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Ash Lawn-Highland Opera Festival and the Ocean City Pops
Served on the Board of the Lee County Alliance for the Arts for nine years and on the Board of the Conductors' Guild, and received the prestigious 2007 “Performing Artist of the Year” Angel of the Arts Award and was the First Prize winner of the 2001 Accademia Dell’Arte di Firenze International Conducting Competition
PhD, Conducting, Peabody Conservatory; M.M., History; B.A., Music and Drama, University of Virginia