Mr. Adam Lange-Pearson holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Stephen Doane and Pamela Frame. He has played in numerous orchestras, including the Rochester Philharmonic (Rochester, NY), the Charleston Symphony, and the Heidelberg Schosspiele, and has been active as a solo and chamber musician. Mr. Lange-Pearson taught cello as a graduate assistant at Eastman, and more recently was a cello teacher and orchestra conductor at the Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, NY. Mr. Lange-Pearson also holds a Bachelor and Master of Science in Computer Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), and is currently a software engineer at IBM.

 

Mr. Benjamin Linde, our Philharmonic Orchestra conductor, began piano lessons at the age of six, quickly developing a deep love for music--and a fascination with the full orchestra. This led him to obtain a Bachelor of Music Education from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. At Northwestern, Benjamin won two piano concerto competitions, soloing both times with the Northwestern Orchestra. He studied piano with Richard Lange, conducting with Timothy Sawyer and David Kozamchak, and served as student conductor and a violinist of the Northwestern Orchestra. Benjamin has also taught orchestra in the Stillwater School District. He currently directs the orchestra program at the St. Paul Open School and is pursuing a Masters degree in Ethnomusicology at Bethel University in St. Paul.

 

Mr. James Buchan attended Indiana University School of Music where he studied with the eminent violin pedagogue Josef Gingold. Buchan was a member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas' New World Symphony, and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. With these orchestras he toured the globe giving concerts throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East. He has recorded for Sony Classical, Argo, Virgin Classics, and Nuovo Era. As an educator he has held positions at Viterbo University and Yew Chung International School in HK. Always eager to pass on his love of music, the violin and orchestral playing, he continues to work with student orchestras in SE Minnesota and Western Wisconsin as a conductor and guest clinician as well as maintain a private violin/viola studio of the highest level.

 

Mr. Scott Ollhoff, our Percussion Ensembles director, has 20 years of experience as a private teacher, drumline coach, and college instructor. He received a B.A. cum laude from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. in Percussion from Truman State/St. Louis Conservatory and a Masters and Doctorate in Musicology from UW-Madison. Here he coached the Madison East HS drumline and was snareline coach for the Madison Scouts. Scott has performed with the U of MN Wind Ensemble, the U of MN Opera, the St. Louis Musical Theater Company, the St. Louis Conservatory Orchestra, the Rochester Orchestra and Chorale and the Alaska-Anchorage Symphony. Currently he coaches drumlines at Rochester Century High School and Chatfield, while maintaining a studio of fifty students.