We are excited to announce that Dr. Luis Fernandez has been selected to lead the Youth Orchestra!
Maestro Fernandez comes to YO with an
outstanding background as an educator, performer, and conductor. We have been
fortunate to have him with us as our 1st violin coach in past seasons, a role
that Maestro Fernandez plans to continue in addition to conducting.
We are excited to have his voice on our team
and look forward to how YO will thrive under his leadership!
Luis Fernandez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where he began violin
and orchestra studies through the El Sistema music program.
After immigrating to the United States, he earned
a Doctor of Musical Arts in instrumental performance and conducting at the University of Miami.
Dr. Fernandez has performed with many orchestras such as Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet, Naples Philharmonic, Amarillo Symphony, and Lubbock Symphony (as associate concertmaster). Currently, he performs with Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, and is concertmaster of the Weidner Philharmonic Orchestra.
Active as a teacher as well as a performer, Dr. Fernandez has been on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (Michigan) since 2008 and has been invited to implement the teaching techniques of Venezuela’s renowned El Sistema in Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico. He was previously director of the violin program at St. Philip’s School (Coral Gables, FL), and served on the faculty of the Community Arts Program and of Greater Miami Youth Symphony. In 2013 he served as Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Florida. He has taught general music at Valencia Elementary (Portales, NM), where he instituted an after-school strings program, and general music and strings at Badger Elementary School (Appleton, WI). He was also previously on the faculty at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (Milwaukee, WI).
Dr. Fernandez presently holds the Robert and Joan Bauer Endowed Professorship in Strings and Music Education at University of Wisconsin Green Bay.
