Orchestra Clinicians
Ginger Marten is a proud Yooper who earned her bachelor's degree in music education from The Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI. She earned her master’s in music education degree from UW-Stevens Point. She is currently in her 29th year of teaching in the Wisconsin Rapids Public School District where she enjoys teaching sixth grade beginning strings and high school orchestra classes. At Lincoln High School she teaches freshman orchestra, sophomore orchestra and symphony orchestra. During her career she founded the Lincoln High School Mariachi Band and the Lincoln High School Fiddle Squad. In 2009 she earned the Kohl Fellowship for teaching. She currently serves as secretary to the Wisconsin state chapter of the American String Teachers Association and as Vice President for the WMEA North Central District. In the summers she teaches private lessons, and conducts levels 1-3 orchestras at the American Suzuki Institute. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, playing viola in the Central Wisconsin Symphony and being outdoors. She lives in Wisconsin Rapids with her husband Dick, her daughter Rachel, and her wiener dog Tootsie.
Kyle Knox took over the dual positions of Music Director of WYSO and Associate Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 2018-2019 season. Recent past and upcoming conducting credits include his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony (on both their Family and Connections concert series), the Madison Symphony’s 19-20 Bolz Final Forte and Education series concerts, Mark Adamo’s Little Women with Madison Opera, Albert Herring, The Turn of the Screw, and Transformations with UW Opera, Die Fledermaus, The Gondoliers and H.M.S. Pinafore with Madison Savoyards, as well as UW Music Clinic’s High School Honors Orchestra. Other concerts include Carousel, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd (2018) with Middleton Players Theatre, Jon Deak’s The Passion of Scrooge with Oakwood Chamber Players, as well as regular appearances with the Middleton Community Orchestra.
He was formerly a clarinetist with the Milwaukee Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and Philadelphia Orchestras, and on faculty at UW-Milwaukee. His festival credits include Tanglewood, Spoleto (Italy), Santa Fe Chamber Music, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festivals, as well as the New York String Orchestra Seminar. He has recorded for the Koch and Naxos labels and has been featured numerous times on NPR’s Performance Today.
Kyle has premiered works by Osvaldo Golijov, Tan Dun, Sean Shepherd, and Huang Ruo among many others. Nico Muhly’s chamber work Service Music (2004) was written for and dedicated to him. His debut album, a recording of Conrad Susa’s chamber opera Transformations (the work’s world premiere recording) will be released soon on Itunes. Kyle studied clarinet with Ricardo Morales and Yehuda Gilad, and conducting with James Smith. He holds degrees from Juilliard and UW-Madison.
He was formerly a clarinetist with the Milwaukee Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and Philadelphia Orchestras, and on faculty at UW-Milwaukee. His festival credits include Tanglewood, Spoleto (Italy), Santa Fe Chamber Music, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festivals, as well as the New York String Orchestra Seminar. He has recorded for the Koch and Naxos labels and has been featured numerous times on NPR’s Performance Today.
Kyle has premiered works by Osvaldo Golijov, Tan Dun, Sean Shepherd, and Huang Ruo among many others. Nico Muhly’s chamber work Service Music (2004) was written for and dedicated to him. His debut album, a recording of Conrad Susa’s chamber opera Transformations (the work’s world premiere recording) will be released soon on Itunes. Kyle studied clarinet with Ricardo Morales and Yehuda Gilad, and conducting with James Smith. He holds degrees from Juilliard and UW-Madison.
Michelle A. Kaebisch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been teaching in Wisconsin public schools since 1995. She currently teaches the orchestra and music composition classes at Oregon High School (OHS), as well as conducts the pit orchestra for their annual musical productions. Formerly, Ms. Kaebisch was the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) from 2006-2015, as well as a tenured violinist in the MSO from 1993-2015. Her book, HeartStrings: A Guide to Music Therapy-Informed Engagement for Symphony Orchestras, has been distributed to over 300 symphony orchestras and healthcare facilities world-wide. While at the MSO, she was a presenter at several local and national conferences including: League of American Orchestras (LAO), Society for the Arts in Healthcare (Arts & Health Alliance) and the Association of Wisconsin Orchestras. While at the MSO, Ms. Kaebisch was co-chair of the LAO’s national Education & Community Engagement Committee, as well as a mentor to education directors who were new to the field of arts administration. Additionally, Ms. Kaebish has served both as a teacher and conductor for the UW-Madison Summer Music Clinic, UW-Whitewater Strings Camp, Badger Conference Honors Orchestra and Iowa State Junior Honors Orchestra Festival (IJHOF). She remains active with the Wisconsin School of Music Association and has been a sectional coach (violin and viola) for the WSMA High School and Middle Level Honors Orchestras. Ms. Kaebisch is a sought-after clinician and conductor for music camps, festivals and honors orchestras. Other performing ensembles include: Edgewood Chamber Orchestra, Madison Community Orchestra, Madison Savoyards, Middleton Community Orchestra, Quartessence String Quartet, and the International Women’s Festival Orchestra.