Newark-Granville
Youth Orchestras
Youth Orchestra and Chamber Strings
NGYS and NGCS Spring Concert
Sunday, May 10th | 4 PM
The John Gilbert Reese Center
1209 University Drive
Newark, OH 43055
“Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” — Plato
The Newark-Granville Youth Orchestras
The Newark-Granville Youth Symphony was formed in 2005 and is in its 21st season under the direction of Dr. Heather Lofdahl (NGYS) and Jordan Koogler (NGCS).
The NGYS brings together gifted young musicians from throughout east central Ohio and provides them an opportunity to study and perform a broad range of orchestral repertoire in a supportive collegial environment. They perform as both a string orchestra and full symphony. The NGYS is committed in helping students develop their musical skills to their fullest potential, strengthening our region’s existing school music programs, and inspiring cultural awareness and appreciation of music in our community.
The NGYS has been active in our community. In 2010, the NGYS was the only youth symphony chosen to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for the National Capital Music Festival. In 2009, the NGYS was selected as a featured performing ensemble at the Ohio Music Educators Association State Convention. The NGYS has also performed with the Central Ohio Youth Ballet at the Midland Theater in Newark, Ohio, bringing together dance and live music for the first time in the region. In 2007 and 2011, the orchestra performed onstage side-by-side with the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture and Danzón No. 2 by Marquez under the direction of Timothy Weiss.
Many of the NGYS students also perform in the East Central and South Central Regional Orchestras, OMEA All-State Orchestra and All-State Band, the Youth Philharmonic of Central Ohio, the Columbus Youth Symphony, and community orchestras such as the Knox County Symphony, the Westerville Symphony, and the New Albany Symphony Orchestra.
The Newark-Granville Chamber Strings was formed in 2012 under the direction of Ginny Workman. This young string orchestra led by Music Director Jordan Koogler is made up of students in grades 4 – 9. The Chamber Strings shares the mission of the NGYS in offering students opportunities to develop their musical skills at a challenging level.
Dr. Heather Lofdahl, Youth Symphony Music Director
Dr. Heather Lofdahl is Assistant Professor of Music Education at The Ohio State University, where she directs the string education program. Prior to her appointment at Ohio State, she served as Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra; Assistant Conductor of the University of North Carolina Greensboro Sinfonia; Program Coordinator for the Peck Alumni Leadership Program; and violin and viola teacher at The Music Academy of North Carolina, where she was awarded the Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award in 2014.
As a conductor, Dr. Lofdahl has also held positions as the Assistant Conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Youth Philharmonic and Conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Youth Strings. She has over a decade of experience teaching elementary through university orchestra students in Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, and Ohio.
Dr. Lofdahl is published in the String Research Journal and American String Teachers Journal. She is an active member of the American String Teachers Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the International Society for Music Education. Through these organizations as well as the Suzuki Association of the Americas, Dr. Lofdahl has presented research and pedagogy sessions at the Symposium for Music Teacher Education; International Society for Music Education Conference (Helsinki, Finland and Glasgow, Scotland); American String Teachers Association National Conference; and various state conferences. Her research is focused on equity and access in music education and best practices of outstanding string teachers.
Dr. Lofdahl holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from Augustana College, Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and a PhD in Music Education from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is an active guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States.
Jordan Koogler, Chamber Strings Music Director
Jordan Koogler is an Orchestra Director in the Pickerington Local School District. He is responsible for the administration and instruction of orchestra in grades 6-12 on the north side of the district. Mr. Koogler was previously the orchestra director for Ashland City Schools where he taught 4th-12th grade orchestras for 6 years. In 2014, Mr. Koogler was selected as the Co-Winner of the Ohio String Teacher’s Association Young Teacher of the Year award at the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) State Conference. Mr. Koogler’s top school orchestra was selected via blind audition to record and submit a performance for the OMEA 2021 Virtual State Professional Development Conference. Mr. Koogler holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Otterbein University & Master of Arts in Music Education from The Ohio State University. When not teaching, Mr. Koogler enjoys playing violin in the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, giving private violin lessons, doing and coaching CrossFit and spending time with his wife and three children, Madalynn, Lyla, and Harrison.