FENTON COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA

Andrew David Perkins, Music Director & Conductor
Conductor, composer, two-time ASCAP Plus Award recipient & GRAMMY® nominated music educator Andrew David Perkins (b.1978) holds a specialist certificate in Orchestration from the Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University.  A regular guest clinician nationally and abroad, his compositions have been nominated for The National Band Association Revelli Award & Merrill Jones Award,  The American Prize (Professional Composition Division) and the Ravel International Composition Prize. Additionally, he is the winner of the 2018 National Band Association/Alfred Publishing Young Band Composition Contest. ​Mr. Perkins has served as an adjunct professor of Film Scoring at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan and is currently the Director of Instrumental Music at Andrew G. Schmidt Middle School in Fenton, Michigan. He is a member of the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and his music is exclusively published through APOLLO STUDIOS Music Publishing. 

Since September of 2011, Perkins has had the honor to conduct the Fenton Community Orchestra.  “I have very much enjoyed the energy and excitement that this group has for making music. We’ve been able to grow as an ensemble in leaps and bounds this year, and are taking on some difficult and fantastic literature. I think that the relationship between the FHS Instrumental Music Program and the Fenton Community Orchestra is a wonderful match, each allowing the other program to expand and support one another.”  Visit his website at www.andrewdavidperkins.com

SIMPLY STRINGS ORCHESTRA

Jane Ellen Ball, Music Director and Conductor​
Mrs. Ball has been a Strings Educator since she was seventeen years old. She attended Miami University (of Ohio) where she pursued a Bachelor of Music Education with a minor in String Education. She did her Masters work in Music Education at Wright State University and Central Michigan University. Mrs. Ball enjoys the process that beginning students make – going from knowing not much of anything to being able to play a piece in 30 minutes!
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Prior to coming to Fenton, Mrs. Ball taught Strings Orchestra in the Troy, Ohio City Schools and in the Okemos Public Schools. For 26 years, while focusing on being a mom, she took part-time jobs as a music teacher or band director including the St. Joseph Catholic School and the Morrice Area Schools. She has always maintained a cello, violin and piano studios. In Michigan, she has performed in the Looking Glass String Quartet, Shiawassee Chamber Orchestra, the Owosso Community Players Pit Orchestras, the Mid Michigan Chorale Orchestra and the Livingston Symphony Orchestra.