Artistic Direction at MYS

Lajos Balogh 
MYS Music Director
Conductor, Symphony Orchestra and Vivaldi Strings 

Lajos Balogh is the founding music director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony and has been the principal conductor since the organization’s inception in 1974. He is also the conductor of the Marylhurst Symphony Orchestra and the Portland Festival Orchestra. Mr. Balogh spent many years as Principal Second Violin with the Oregon Symphony, and has served on the faculties of Marylhurst College, Portland State University and Lewis and Clark College.

Mr. Balogh holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where he studied with Dezsö Rados, Pal Jardanyi, Anton Molnar and Zoltan Kodaly, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Oregon. He has appeared as soloist with the Munich, Nuremberg and Göttingen symphonies and has recorded for radio stations worldwide.

Leroy Anderson 
Conductor, Symphonic Band

Leroy Anderson is an inspiring and dedicated music educator, who has devoted his career to enriching the lives of young musicians. As a band director, he emphasizes details such as sparkling articulations and dramatic dynamic contrasts. Mr. Anderson was formerly Director of Bands at Spokane’s North Central High School and Moses Lake High School, and most recently was the band director at Sandy High School in Sandy, Oregon, which had consistently high ratings at the Oregon State Band Contest. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician of marching and symphonic bands in the northwest for thirty years.

Leroy Anderson is currently Director of Bands at Mount Hood Community College, and hen not conducting he enjoys woodworking and golf.

Travis Hatton 
Conductor, Concert Orchestra

Mr. Hatton is an extremely versatile conductor who has performed extensively in both Europe and the United States. During five years in the Czech Republic, he was the conductor of the Moravian Opera Theater and Artistic Director of the City Opera Theater of Usti nad Labem.

Mr. Hatton has appeared as an orchestral conductor in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and in major cities across the U.S. In the Portland area, he has conducted the Vancouver Symphony, Beaverton Chamber Symphony, Washington-Idaho Symphony, Columbia Symphony and Rose City Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Hatton holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of the Pacific and a master of music degree in orchestral conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music. He is the music director of the Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Director of Orchestras at Valley Catholic School in Beaverton and Director of Music at the First Baptist Church in downtown Portland. Mr. Hatton is also conductor of the Vancouver Children’s Opera.

Robert Callison 
Conductor, Concert Band

Bob Callison graduated from UCLA with a degree in music education in 1970. He served in the U.S. Army with the 28th Army Band, Fort Ord, California during the transitional years of the Viet Nam era. Post-military experience included graduate studies at California State University, Fresno and Lewis & Clark College.

Bob is a certified music educator in both Oregon and California. and is now retired from a 30-year teaching career. He held high school directing positions in both California and Oregon, and for the final 23 years of his career, Bob served as Director of Bands at Gresham High School. During his tenure he served as Oregon Music Education Association district chairman for more than ten years. He also served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Oregon Band Directors Association, and a term as the 2nd-Vice President of the Oregon Music Educators Association. Bob has been selected as a member of the Northwest Bandmasters Association, and remains active performing on trumpet and as a substitute band director in area middle and high schools.

Nita Van Pelt
Conductor, Interlude Orchestra

Nita Van Pelt is a full-time orchestra teacher in the Lake Oswego School District, where she currently has over 250 students in 5 string orchestras, elementary through high school. A native of Portland who graduated from Sunset High School in Beaverton, Nita received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Education degrees from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. She taught orchestra and band in Elyria, Ohio, and was an assistant conductor with the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra before returning to Oregon.

In 1999, Nita initiated the Oregon Music Educators Association All-State Middle School Honor Orchestra, and served for 4 years as the state chair for the OMEA. Nita joined the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in 1998 as the conductor of the Interlude Orchestra. She is also the principal clarinetist of the Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra.

Kathie Reed 
Conductor, Overture Strings 

Kathie Reed is well-known in the Portland area for dual careers in conducting and cello. A former president of the Oregon Cello Society, her cello students have won scholarships sponsored by Oregon Music Teachers Association and Oregon Cello Society, and have been selected to perform at OMTA state conventions.

Kathie Reed has been the syllabus chairman and public school liaison for OMTA, has presented sessions at the OMEA state conference and the National Music Educators Association northwest conference, and has adjudicated at solo and ensemble contests and orchestra festivals throughout Oregon.

Ms. Reed is the co-Director of the Oregon Suzuki Institute and teaches at the Elementary String Program in the Lake Oswego School District. She holds a BA in music education from the University of Oregon and an MAT in Music from Lewis & Clark.

Derek Sims 
Conductor, Jazz Orchestra I 

Trumpeter Derek Sims is much in demand in both jazz and classical music scenes in Portland. Derek received a Bachelors of Music degree from The University of Michigan, graduating with honors. While at Michigan, he studied with the great Armando Ghitalla (Boston Symphony), and Charles Daval (Montreal, Seattle Symphonies). After college, Derek toured around the world with Princess Cruise Lines for two years, and during that time performed in over 40 countries. 

Mr. Sims has also played with many groups in the Portland area including: Mel Brown, Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band, The Oregon Symphony, Columbia Symphony, Big Horn Brass, Alan Jones Sextet, Bobby Torres Ensemble, Soul Vaccination, Pepe and the Bottle Blondes, Pink Martini and Dahlia. Mr. Sims maintains a private teaching studio and is also a clinician and faculty member of the Mel Brown Summer Jazz Camps.

Greg McKelvey holds a well-deserved reputation for excellence as a music educator. He has taught music in the public schools for over 30 years, and during a 12-year tenure, his bands at Wilson High School won over 150 trophies and attracted students from all over Portland. Wilson’s Advanced Jazz Band won many awards, including first place at the 1990 Musicfest USA National Championships in Oakland, California, and also performed for then-President George Bush and former President Ronald Reagan. In 1993, Greg McKelvey founded the Cultural Recreation Band along with Thara Memory and Ronnye Harrison, which features elementary and middle school inner city students.

Greg holds degrees in music education from University of Portland and Warner Pacific College. He currently directs the award-winning bands at Battle Ground High School in Washington, teaches at the Northwest Academy and runs the instrumental music program at Self Enhancement Inc. Also a saxophonist and composer, Greg lives in Aloha, Oregon with his wife Connie, an attorney. He has six children and eight grandchildren.

Sally Kuhns joins MYS in 2010 as conductor of the Sousa Band. She is Director of Bands at West HIlls Christian School, and formerly held that position at Conestoga Middle School in Beaverton. Mrs. Kuhns holds a Masters of Education degree from Portland State University and degrees in trumpet performance from Northwestern University (Master of Music) and the New School of Music in Philadelphia (Bachelor of Music).

Sally Kuhns was assistant principal trumpet with the Oregon Symphony for more than twenty years, during which time she performed with many presitigious groups including Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the American Wind Symphony, and she also appeared at summer venues such as the Tanglewood Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto Festival (Italy) and Grand Teton Music Festival. Mrs. Kuhns has received numerous awards and honors, including the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship, Pearl S. Buck Scholarship and American Brass Chamber Music Award, and can be heard on Koch, Delos and other record labels.