Ruth Meints

Executive Director, Violin, Viola

Ruth Meints is the Executive Director for the Omaha Conservatory of Music and the Violin instructor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She currently teaches violin and viola in the Omaha area and conducts various workshop orchestras throughout the state of Nebraska. Ruth received her Bachelors in violin performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her Masters degree with an emphasis in Suzuki pedagogy from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with John Kendall.

Her teaching experience has included head of the string department at Azusa Pacific University and faculty at Biola University in the Los Angeles area. She was conductor of the Azusa Pacific University Symphony and coached chamber music, as well as teaching a full studio of violinists and violists. She continues to perform regularly with the Azusa Pacific Chamber Players, a piano quartet also based in the Los Angeles area. Their first CD “The Alphabet of Revelation” will be released in the near future.

Erin Birkestrand Aguirre

Violin

Erin Birkestrand Aguirre began studying the violin at age three in a Suzuki program near her hometown of Luverne, Minnesota. This "Suzuki kid" performed with the Sioux Empire Youth Symphony and was a three-year member of the Minnesota All-State Orchestra. She earned her BA in music performance and education from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. As a member of the college orchestra, she traveled throughout the United States and Europe.

Erin spent six years teaching strings in the Great Bend, Kansas public schools, and she has been teaching private violin lessons for 11 years. She is a member of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra and OCM’s resident string quartet, and she has performed with the LaCrosse (Wisconsin) and Hays (Kansas) Symphony Orchestras, as well as several string quartets. Past teachers include Matt Means, Virginia Strauss, Ray Sidoti, Theresa Ling, Carl Iba, and Cherie Dirks.

Christina Allred

Cello

Christina Allred received her Bachelor of Music degree in music performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and she completed her Master of Music degree in music performance at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has attended master classes with such notable performers as Yehuda Hanani, Sharon Robinson, and members of The Emerson String Quartet. She has recorded debut albums with the following local groups: Omaha Project, Panang, and Blue Rosa. She is the cellist for The Metropolitan String Quartet.  Ms. Allred is also a Gifted and Talented Facilitator with Omaha Public Schools.

Mary Amador

Violin

Mary Amador grew up in a musical family in Moline, Ill. It was natural for Mrs. Amador to take up the violin with both of her parents teaching music. After graduating from the University of Iowa, she continued her studies earning a Master of Music in violin performance at the University of Michigan. Her teachers include Allen Ohmes, Jacob Krachmalnick, and Camilla Wicks. Mrs. Amador has played as professional violinist since 1981 for the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, the Modesto, Fresno, and Santa Rosa California orchestras and the Lincoln Symphony.

She came to Omaha as the assistant concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony, and then taught strings in the Omaha Public schools. Besides serving on the faculty of Omaha Conservatory of Music, she currently performs with the Omaha Symphony and the Nova String Quartet.

JoAnna Cochenet

Viola, Violin, Conducting

JoAnna Cochenet, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, holds a Masters in Music in Viola Performance and Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM, 2010), a Bachelor’s of Music with certification in Instrumental Music Education and a Performer’s Certificate in Viola from Coe College (2008), situated in Cedar Rapids, IA.  She received numerous awards, scholarships, and grants to study at both institutions.  JoAnna studied conducting with Margery Deutsch, Dr. William Carson, the late Richard Hoffman, and Dr. Marc Falk and received coaching from Dr. Sharon Hansen and Dr. John Climer.  Her formal viola studies were with Lewis Rosove, Dr. Michael Kimber, and Beth Hoffman. 

She has taught privately since 2004, subs with the Omaha Symphony, and plays with Orchestra Omaha and the Kronberg Ensemble, a budding midwestern string chamber ensemble. Find more information about her on her website.

Jesse Griggs

Viola, Violin, Chamber Music

Jesse Griggs earned his Master of Music degree in Viola Performance at Bowling Green State University in 2007 having been awarded the Graduate String Quartet Assistantship. For his undergraduate degree, he was awarded a full tuition music talent award to BGSU where he studied with Csaba Erdelyi and graduated with a Batchelor of Music in Viola Performance: Suma cum Laude and with University Honors. He has participated in master-classes with Donald McInnis, Paul Neubauer, Jeffrey Irvine, Roger Chase, Karen Ritscher, Anner Bylsma, Merry Peckham, Roland Vamos, and David Ying, among many others.

He has performed under the batons of conductors including Klauspeter Seibel, David Barg, Emily Freemen Brown, Samuel Addler, Leonard Slatkin, and Robert Spano among others with orchestras including: Lima Symphony Orchestra, BGSU Philharmonia (where he was principal violist), Firelands Symphony, Ottawa University Symphonette (KS), the Texas Music Festival Symphony, and the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with musicians such as: Csaba Erdelyi, Rachel Barton Pine, Dr. Alan Smith, Dr Penny Kruse, Dr. Andrew Pelletier, Josh Groban, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Manheim Steamroller, and members of the Pacifica Quartet. Mr. Griggs has performed concertos with the Ottawa University Symphonette (KS), and Orchestra Omaha. In 2005, Mr. Griggs was invited to tour with the Bowling Green State University Men’s Chorus during their spring tour of New England.

In addition to his teaching at the Omaha Conservatory of Music, Mr. Griggs also coaches sectional rehearsals with the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra, and appears regularly in the viola section of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Griggs also enjoys baseball, having played for 15 years and been an umpire for 12 seasons. Additionally, he enjoys a good game of disc golf or racquet ball and is an avid amateur aquarist.

Candace Jorgensen

Cello

Candace E.B. Jorgensen was once told at a young age that she “looked like a cello person,” picked up the instrument and never looked back. Originally hailing from Syracuse, New York, Jorgensen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in music and education from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. While pursuing her degree, she performed with strings and jazz ensembles at Doane and in addition attended the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) to perform in the UNL Symphony Orchestra. 

Jorgensen has a great love for musicals and has enjoyed playing in many theaters in Nebraska as well as in Chicago, Illinois where at the Jedlika Center for Performing Arts she played in the Chicago-area premier of Little Women and the national premier of In My Life, as well as the emotional show Last 5 Years at the Steele Beam Theatre.

In recent years, Jorgensen has traveled Europe and Asia with her vocalist husband where she performed and taught music through any platform available. She spent two years in Hong Kong teaching English through music. While in Asia, she performed with the alternative rock band Noughts and Exes.

Shuang Liang

Violin

Shuang Liang has studied the violin for 20 years—the last fourteen years of which being intensive professional training. She studied at the Art School attached to Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China) from 1995-2001 where she received a diploma in violin performance. From 2001-2005 she studied at one of the top three music colleges in China, the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, where she was the recipient of the Outstanding Student Scholarship. While there, she studied with the prestigious professor Guan Wang, and earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance in 2005. 

She finished her Masters degree in music performance at the University of  Nebraska at Omaha in December 2008 as a student of Prof. Ruth Meints. She was concertmaster or associate concertmaster of the UNO chamber orchestra, performed in several chamber groups and Orchestra Omaha, and received an honorable mention at the 2007 UNO Heartland Philharmonic Concerto–Aria Competition.

In the summer of 2007 she participated in masterclasses with Brian Lewis and Won-Bin Yim of at Sound Encouters.

Ms. Liang has been teaching violin and theory privately since 2002. In 2005 she was a violin teacher at the Attached Music Institute of Shenyang Conservatory of Music. During that time she was a first violinist in the Shenyang Philharmonic Orchestra and was a regular violinist at the Shenyang Hotel.

Margaret Lim

Cello

Margaret Lim, cellist, began her study of the cello at the age of six in Tucson, Arizona.  Her teachers included Yvonne Tait, Helena Bell, Carol Work, Raya Garbousova and Channing Robbins.  An alumni of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra  program, Ms. Lim went on to earn her Bachelor and Master degrees from the Juilliard School, in addition to completing her Suzuki certification under the tutelage of Channing Robbins at the School for Strings in New York City.

A performing professional for over 25 years with the Omaha Symphony and Midlands String Quartet, Ms. Lim has travelled and performed internationally, including a world premiere of a commissioned piano quartet in Carnegie Hall with her sisters and brother-in-law, Lawrence Dutton, the violist of the Emerson String Quartet.

Recent local chamber music performances include those with the Omaha Chamber Music Society, Joslyn Castle Consort and the Vespers Concert Series. Over the years, Ms. Lim has also shared the stage with notable acts including the Trans Siberian Orchestra, Josh Groban, Quincy Jones and David Foster.

As Music Series Coordinator at the Joslyn Art Museum from 1991-2005, Ms. Lim combined administrative skills with programming acumen to produce the following wildly popular series:  Jazz on the Green, Bagels and Bach, First Friday Jam and Holiday Under Glass.

Ms. Lim is thrilled to be joining the faculty at the Omaha Conservatory of Music and looks forward to working with motivated students at the school.

Lisa Lopez

violin

Lisa Lopez has been playing the violin since 1985 where she studied the Suzuki method under Laura Atkinson in Lincoln, NE.  Recently Mrs. Lopez graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education where she studied under Ruth Meints.  While attending the University, she performed with the Heartland Philharmonic Orchestras, acted as Secretary on their Board, and worked as the Orchestra Librarian.  Mrs. Lopez has been teaching violin since 2005; she is currently teaching at El Museo Latino in South Omaha and Omaha Conservatory of Music.

Tom Miller

Bass

Tom Miller has a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  He has studied bass with Bill Ritchie, Leslie Carter and Jeremy Baguyos.  He currently teaches at Alice Buffett Magnet Middle School where he directs the 5th - 8th grade orchestras, the Fusion Rock Orchestra and is the Drama Director.  He also coaches with the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras and is on the Board of Directors for SNAP! Theater.

As a professional bassist, Miller has played with Harry Connick, Michael W. Smith, Josh Groban, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, The Mantovani Orchestra, the North American Tour of Spamalot, and served as a guest artist for the Jazz Series at Buena Vista Univeristy.  For the past ten years he has served as Principal Bass with the Sioux City Symphony and is a member of Orchestra Omaha.  He has also been on stage and in the pit orchestras for over 40 musical theater productions.

Melissa Holtmeier

Violin, Viola, Fiddling

Melissa Tatreau Holtmeier has a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She studied pedagogy with Darcy Drexler through the Wisconsin String Academy.  She has studied violin with Dr. Paul Todd, Dr. Laura Kobayashi, Ms. Anne Nagosky and Dr. Myron Kartman. Melissa has registered training in Suzuki books 1-4 with Susan Kempter and attends Mark O’Connor’s fiddle camp each summer.  Tatreau was in the first teacher certification class of the Mark O’Connor Violin Method, books 1 and 2, in New York City in the summer of 2009.  Tatreau also has her 200 RYT in yoga and teaches five classes per week.

Tatreau is a full time Artist Faculty member at the Omaha Conservatory of Music.  She was the assistant director of OCM’s summer institute in 2008.  Tatreau is also a regular coach for the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras and has taught strings classes part-time for Millard Public Schools. She is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, the American String Teachers’ Association and the Omaha Musicians’ Union.

As a professional musician, Tatreau has played with Mary J. Blige, Bobby Vinton, Frank Sinatra Jr., Rod Stewart, Josh Groban, Pam Tillis, The Lettermen, Michael W.Smith, Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Tatreau is a founding member and manager of the Mahr String Quartet and has played with the Omaha, Lincoln, Sioux City and Tulsa Symphonies. Tatreau has also toured China and the USA with the Mantovani Orchestra.  Most recently, she performed the Salute to Vienna New Year’s 2010 concerts in Southern Florida and played with the Broadway shows Little House on the Prairie and Westside Story.

William Wolcott

Violin

A recipient of many awards, including the MTNA State and Regional competitions, Mr. Wolcott has performed around the country as a soloist, orchestral, and session violinist. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with David Updegraff and Linda Cerone before moving to Los Angeles to study privately with Eugene Fodor. He has performed in master classes and received coaching from such distinguished artists as Oleg Krysa, Jaime Laredo and Israel Baker.

Since returning to Omaha in 2003, his students have held principal positions in all Omaha Area Youth Orchestras, have captured first prize in the OAYO Concerto Competition, and have won the Nebraska Young Artist Award. In addition to his teaching duties at OCM, Mr. Wolcott teaches strings at Skutt Catholic High School