PYCO Coaches

Pablo Ardiles, Strings Coach and Music Director

Pablo Ardiles, obtained his Bachelor Degree of Arts in Chamber Music at the University of La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina and his Master of Music in violin performance at Carnegie Mellon University. He also holds an Artist Diploma from Duquesne University. While at Carnegie Mellon University, Mr. Ardiles studied with Aaron Bitran, violinist of the “Cuarteto Latinoamericano” and Andrés Cárdenes, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony. At Duquesne University he studied with Movses Poggossian.

Pablo Ardiles has performed as a soloist, concertmaster, section principal and orchestra member of many orchestras and ensembles in the Tri-State area as well as in Latin American and European orchestras. He served as Concertmaster of the following orchestras: Lazarte Camerata, Tucuman, Argentina, 1989-91; San Damiano Consort, Pittsburgh, PA, 1991-94; San Luis Symphony, San Luis, Argentina, May 93 to Sept. 93; Butler Symphony, PA, 1994; Duquesne University Orchestra, 1995. He also played in the 1st violin section of the following orchestras: Fine Arts College Orchestra, Gilardo Gilardi Conservatory Orchestra, La Plata Youth Orchestra and Olavarria Civic Orchestra, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1985-87; Populare Konzerte Orchestra, Berlin, Germany, Spring 1988; Tucuman Symphony Orchestra, Tucuman, Argentina, 1989-91.

During the period from 1991 to 1999 Pablo Ardiles also played with the following USA orchestras: Westmoreland Symphony, McKeesport Symphony, Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, Altoona Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Johnstown Symphony, Saint Vincent Camerata, Pitt University Orchestra, Orchestra Nova with Maestro Sydney Hart, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne University Contemporary Ensembles.

He coached the string section of several youth orchestras in the USA and abroad. In 1992 he started teaching chamber music at the Carnegie Mellon pre-college program. In 1996, Mr. Ardiles founded the Musik Innovations Chamber Music Camp. He has been leading this program successfully for the past 12 years, constantly improving and implementing a format of efficient chamber music training. The program, now in its 12th season, has provided chamber music instruction to over 400 students from 30 school districts from the Pittsburgh, Ohio and West Virginia areas.

Pablo Ardiles became the music director of Serenading Strings in 2002 and in the Fall of 2003 he was appointed as Music Director of the Classical Concert Series for the Uptown Theatre, Washington PA. He taught violin at the Winchester Thurston School. He is presently a faculty at Carnegie Mellon University Pre-college program and the Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra which he founded in 2006.

Mr. Ardiles performs currently as a recitalist, and a free-lance musician playing over a hundred performances a year. Mr. Ardiles maintains an active studio of private students at Musik Innovations® School of Music, where he shares the art of playing violin and viola, and the joy of being a musician.

Roy Sonne (Pittsburgh Symphony Violinist) - Master Classes & Guest Conductor

Roy Sonne is active as a conductor, violinist, pianist and teacher. A native of New York City, he started playing the violin at the age of five. When he was fifteen he joined a chamber-music class at the Mannes College of Music prep department, which kindled his lifetime passion for string-quartet playing. He went on to study music at the New England Conservatory and the Mannes College of Music and Ohio State University. His violin teachers include Raphael Bronstein and Dorothy DeLay. He studied piano with Richard Tetley-Kardos and John Goldmark, and conducting with Carl Bamberger. While still a student, he became a member of the Long Island University String Quartet. and also was a regular substitute with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
In 1969 he became concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia. He made his professional conducting debut with that orchestra in 1970 followed by appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. During that period he also concertized widely as violin soloist throughout South and Central America.
Returning to the United States he played in the Columbus String Quartet for four years and then joined the faculty of Wittenberg University where he taught violin and chamber music and conducted the University Orchestra until 1980 when he joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Combining his interests in conducting and teaching, with his affinity for working with amateur musicians, in 1992 he became Music Director of the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. In ten years he built that orchestra into the premiere community orchestra in the Pittsburgh area.
Roy is deeply involved in educational activities. He is on the faculty of the Carnegie Mellon University Preparatory Department He also maintains a large private teaching studio in his home in Mt. Lebanon PA. As a Pittsburgh Symphony Ambassador he makes regular visits to work with the string players at Bethel Park High School and Mount Lebanon High School. He organizes and teaches group classes for adult amateur violinists in the Pittsburgh area. Since 2003 he has been artist-teacher in residence at the Lancaster County Music Camp.

Younga Reitz , Cello Coach

Cellist Younga Reitz began her musical training at an early age with piano, violin, then on to cello, and graduated from Sunhwa Arts School in Seoul, Korea. She holds a Bachelor’s degree Cum Laude (1995) and Master’s degree (1997) from Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music. She also studied Music Therapy as a graduate assistant and served as the librarian for Duquesne Symphony Orchestra.

Mrs. Reitz was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society in 1997. She earned an Artist Diploma in 2001 from the same institute. As the first prize winner of the Korean Music Education Association Younga Reitz has made a solo appearance with Les Arts de Baroque Orchestra at Hoahm Arts Hall for the Performing Arts in Seoul, Korea in 1994. Also, her solo and chamber music performance was heard in Switzerland, Holland, and the U.S. Her performances include the winner’s recital of Pittsburgh Young Artist Series in 1999. Younga Reitz has studied with Misha Quint, Anne Martindale Williams, Jennifer Langham, Sung Yon Lee, Lauren Mallory, and has participated in numerous international music festivals in the U.S., Europe and South Korea.

Mrs. Reitz is currently is an adjunct teacher at the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA High School), Center for Musically Talented at CAPA, the cello coach for Pittsburgh Youth Pops Orchestra and Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra. She also teaches at Musik Innovations and Quaker Valley High School after school program. She has been on the faculty at the City Music Center and Jewish Community Center, and has taught orchestral studies, chamber music, and private lessons in Westminster College, Geneva College, Seton Hill College, Fox Chapel Area High School, Waldorf School of Pittsburgh, Beaver Area High School, Pittsburgh Chamber Music Festival (1997 & 1998), Musik Innovations Chamber Music Camp (2001- 2007), Pine Richland School District Summer Strings Camp (2002-2008). She has played in the orchestras including Wheeling Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Altoona Symphony, Johnstown Symphony and Butler Symphony.

Mrs. Reitz is the founder and the leader of the Pittsburgh Ensemble and Good Samaritans Cello Ensemble.

Nicole Myers, Cello Coach

Nicole L. Myers is an active performer, teacher, and recitalist in the Pittsburgh area. She received the degrees of Master of Music (2004) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (2002) in Cello Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, studying with Anne Martindale Williams, principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Ms. Myers has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Cincinnati's MusicX Festival, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, CMU Baroque and Contemporary Ensembles, CelloFourte (rock cello quartet), Mannes Beethoven Institute, Pittsburgh Playhouse Theatre, and the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau, France. Ms. Myers was a founding member of the Starling String Quartet, which performed for renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich.

Ms. Myers teaches at the Pittsburgh Music Academy and has a studio in the North Hills area, where she directs the North Hills Cello Ensemble. Ms. Myers recently joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon's Music Extension and Pre-College Programs. In addition, she is on faculty at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh and the Manchester Academic Charter School.

Tara Yaney - Flute Coach

Tara Yaney is the principal piccolo player of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, where she was a featured concerto soloist in the fall of 2004.

She also has performed with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, the International Chamber Ensemble in Rome, Italy, the Ohio Light Opera Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, and numerous pit orchestras in the Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore and Pittsburgh areas.She performs regularly as a soloist and as the flutist for Cincopation, a Pittsburgh based woodwind quintet.

Ms. Yaney studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with Robert Willoughby. She currently teaches flute and clarinet at Musik Innovations, the Pittsburgh Music Academy, and the Winchester Thurston School.

Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida (Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Oboe) - Oboe Coach and PYCO Music Advisor

Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida became Principal Oboe of the Pittsburgh Symphony in September 1991. For two years prior to this she was Associate Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Since joining the PSO, Ms. DeAlmeida has been featured as a soloist in concertos by Bach, Haydn, Vaughan-Williams, Strauss, and Mozart and has collaborated as soloist with Pinchas Zukerman, Andrés Cárdenes, and Vladimir Spivakov. In 1993 she performed and recorded a commissioned concerto by Leonardo Balada with the PSO and Lorin Maazel for New World Records.
Ms. DeAlmeida is an avid chamber musician. Each summer she performs and teaches as a faculty member of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Several of her performances there have been chosen to be broadcast nationally on NPR’s “Performance Today.” In 2003, Ms. DeAlmeida was featured on national television on the CBS “Early Show” in a story relating to the oboe and its remarkable health benefits for asthma sufferers. This has led to her affiliation with the American Respiratory Alliance. In November 2002, Ms. DeAlmeida’s first solo CD was released on the Boston Records label. Classic Discoveries for Oboe was hailed by American Record Guide as “a masterly recording… Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida is simply one of the finest exponents of the instrument anywhere.” She has recently finished her second solo CD called Mist Over the Lake on the Crystal Record label. She can also be heard on Crystal Records’ recording of Sir André Previn’s Sonata for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano with Nancy Goeres and Sir Andrá Previn.
Ms. DeAlmeida is a faculty member of Carnegie Mellon University and is the Coordinator of the Woodwind Department there. She has been invited to teach master classes in the United States, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela. Ms. DeAlmeida also enjoys working with children in the PSO’s Early Childhood Program. Ms. DeAlmeida received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan, studying with Arno Marriotti, and the Master of Music degree from Temple University, as a student of Richard Woodhams. Cynthia and her husband, José, live in Pittsburgh with their children Veronica and Danny, and their standard poodle “Bones.”

Mary Beth Malek (Pittsburgh Opera Principal Clarinet) - Woodwind Coach

Mary Beth Skaggs Malek, clarinetist, is an active teacher and performer in the Pittsburgh area. She is the principal clarinetist for the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras. She also performs regularly with the Civic Light Opera, Gateway to the Arts, extra with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Canton Symphony and Wheeling Symphony.

She performs regularly with her woodwind trio, Ariplay. Mary Beth currently teaches saxophone and clarinet at West Liberty College in WV, and has maintained a private studio for 20 years. She has served on the faculties of Indiana University of PA, University of Pittsburgh and Seton Hill University.

Her training comes from Northwestern University and the Eastman School of Music. As a Fulbright Scholar, Mary Beth spent two years studying in Vienna, Austria with the principal clairnetist from the Vienna Philharmonic, Horst Hajek. Other teachers include: Larry Combs, CSO; George Silfies, St. Louis Symphony; Stanley Hastey, and Charles Neidich.

Philip VanOuse , Brass Coach

Philip VanOuse studied composition at the Cincinnati College Conservatory and received his Masters degree in performance from Carnegie Mellon.

He began his professional career in Boston, and has appeared locally with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the River City Brass Band and the Benedum Orchestra, among others. He has commissioned over a dozen new works for solo tuba and premiered works in concert at Mobius (Boston), Massachusetts College of Art, Boston University, M.I.T., Carnegie Mellon and the University of Cincinnati.

Philip VanOuse performs regularly in ensembles throughout western PA. He is the principal tuba player of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet orchestras, as well as McKeesport Symphony and has appeared with many other ensembles, including the River City Brass Band, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Symphony.

Phil can also be heard with various brass, chamber, jazz and folk ensembles. He is a past Pittsburgh Concert Society winner and is an instructor of low brass at Washington & Jefferson College.

Phil plays the tuba and the accordion in City of Steel – An American Musical Melting Pot.

P.J. Gatch, Percussion Coach

Perry Jonathan Gatch III heads the percussion department at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. He also serves as an adjunct professor of music education at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA), where he teaches Percussion Methods and coordinates percussion activities at the City Music Center, a pre-college program for Pittsburgh’s next generation of musicians.

Over the past decade, PJ has developed one of the largest and most successful teaching studios in Western Pennsylvania. Each year, several of his students go on to study at some of the country’s finest music schools. PJ served as percussive arts instructor at Norwin High School (North Huntingdon, PA) from 1991 to 1997. He served as the principal percussionist with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and has performed with the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra and the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh.

Drawing from his experience as a percussionist and educator, PJ has composed an all-inclusive text that will allow students and teachers to utilize more fully the vast array of percussion resources. The Art of Percussion: A Comprehensive Course of Study is slated to be published within the next six months. P.J. Gatch is afounding member of Tempus Fugit Percussion Ensemble.