OSTA Board & Committee Chairs

Gretchen Zunic teaches orchestra students in grades 4-12 in the Upper Arlington School District.  She has a BM from B.G.S.U. and an MA from the Ohio State University.  She has worked as a director at both the O.S.T.A. Middle School and B.G.S.U. String Camps.  She has served as Mini-Conference Chair, Middle School Orchestra Festival Co-Chair and Journal Editor for O.S.T.A.  She is also currently an active adjudicator for O.M.E.A.

Email: gzunic@uaschools.org

Dr. David Pope is associate professor of music education and chair of the professional studies department at the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. In addition, he serves as an education clinician for Alfred Music and as the American String Teachers Association’s national conference chair.

Prior to joining the faculty of Baldwin Wallace, Pope taught middle- and high-school orchestra for 11 years in Tennessee, Florida and Ohio. He also conducted the Camerata Orchestra at Case Western Reserve University, taught string pedagogy courses at the VanderCook College of Music and served as conductor and executive director of multiple youth orchestra programs.

As an active adjudicator and clinician, Pope has conducted numerous all-state orchestras, regional honor orchestras and university summer camps throughout the United States. He has presented string pedagogy clinics and his research at state, regional, national and international conferences.

Pope's work has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, String Research Journal, Research Perspectives in Music Education, Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, American String Teacher and Florida Music Director. He currently serves on the review committees for Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, String Research Journal and Research Perspectives in Music Education.

He received the Distinguished Music Educator Award from the Yale Symposium for Music in Schools and is recipient of the Outstanding Young Music Educator Award for the state of Tennessee. Pope was the recipient of the String Researcher Award from the American String Teachers Association at their national conference in March 2020.

Email: dpope@bw.edu

Felipe Morales-Torres is an award winning orchestra teacher, conductor, clinician, and researcher working to further equity and liberation in music education. He is the Assistant Director of the Bornoff Foundation, using his 10+ years of experience leading public school and community-based orchestra programs to support fellow teachers. In addition, Felipe has served as a conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestras since 2015, earning various conference performances and national recognitions for his diverse and progressive programming. He also conducts students in festival performances, including region and all-state orchestras, across the US and Latin America. Felipe was recently elected to the Ohio String Teachers Association executive board and authored a chapter in Sandy Goldie's "Rehearsing the Full Orchestra." He also serves on the American String Teachers Association’s national committees for Mentorship and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Kathleen Schnerer teaches seventh and eighth grade orchestra at Perrysburg Junior High School in Perrysburg, Ohio. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she conducts the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestra Concert Strings. Kathleen is actively involved as a member of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and was awarded the Ohio String Teachers Association New Teacher of the Year in January 2020. She is actively involved as a member of the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) as an adjudicator and District 1 Junior High Honors Orchestra chair. Kathleen was published in the February 2021 edition of the American String Teacher Journal and has presented at OMEA, ASTA and Michigan Music Conferences. Kathleen is actively involved as a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA), having completed her Suzuki training with Edward Kreitman. A violinist since age three, Kathleen performs regularly in the Northwest Ohio region, including with her band Freight Street. Kathleen holds degrees in Music Education from Bowling Green State University and University of Michigan.

James Ledbetter, Southern Ohio native, is the director of the Butler Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, in

addition to serving as the Strings Coordinator for Fairfield City Schools. Having worked for 25 years in

public music education, James has been an active member of the Ohio Music Education Association

serving as All-State Orchestra chair and chair of the Southwest Region.

Additionally, James currently serves as a board member for the Ohio String Teachers Association. His

principal teachers include: Donald Compton, Mark Morton, Jim McCutcheon, and Douglas Neidt. A

Conducting Fellow at the University of South Carolina, James studied with Paul Vermel, Donald Portnoy,

Peter Jaffe, and Victoria Bond. A double bassist, his performance credits include: The Springfield

Symphony, Middletown Symphony, Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra, Wright State University

Chamber and Community Orchestras, as well as the Wright State University Department of Theatre and

Motion Pictures. James had the honor of conducting the Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra on

their American Masters Concert, with composer Mark Dal Porto in attendance. A favorite memory of

James’ is the opportunity to play in rehearsal for Stephen Schwartz. He resides in Fairfield, Ohio with his wife, Jennifer, and three children: Kyle, Cadence, and Kyndle.

Erin Broadhurst has taught orchestra in public schools for over twenty years, primarily Hilliard City Schools near Columbus, Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Baldwin-Wallace College, and Master’s Degrees in both Viola Performance and String Pedagogy from the Ohio State University. She has earned Master Teacher status as designated by the State of Ohio and in April of 2016 received a Baldwin-Wallace Outstanding Educator Award. In 2003 she was chosen as the Ohio String Teachers’ Association's Young Teacher of the Year and in 2022 was designated as the OSTA Orchestra Teacher of the Year. Erin has served as a presenter for the American String Teachers’ Association (ASTA) and Ohio Music Education Association conferences, and is a member of the Executive Board for the Ohio chapter of ASTA.  Erin’s performance experience includes membership in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Newark-Granville Symphony and Sorg Opera Orchestra. Her previous teaching background includes serving as the director of the Newark-Granville Chamber Strings and Middletown Youth Symphony.  She is a regular technology clinician for the Ohio State String Teacher's Workshop each summer.  

Lisa Goldman served the Beachwood City Schools for 24 years as orchestra director (founder), as the district Fine Arts Subject Coordinator for 13 years and most recently, Fine Arts Resource Specialist. Lisa is currently a supervisor for music education students at Baldwin Wallace University, maintaining a private studio and is working with the Cleveland Center for Suzuki Studies. 

Lisa has degrees from Cincinnati Conservatory, Suzuki Training from the Cleveland Institute of Music and graduate studies in Viola/Eurhythmics from Carnegie Mellon University. Lisa previously taught in the Suzuki programs in at the Cleveland Institute of Music and was directed the preparatory orchestras. Lisa was director of the Suzuki program at the Fairmount Fine Arts Center, taught at the Cleveland School of the Arts, String Pedagogy and Violin Classes at Case Western Reserve University (Music Education) and has taught and/or conducted at numerous workshops and clinics. Lisa enjoys performing with a wide variety of venues and has been a violinist with the Cleveland POPS orchestra since 1999.

Lisa has been a clinician, adjudicator and/or speaker at workshops and meetings on a local to national level including ASTA, SAA, The International Suzuki Festival, and OMEA. The 2017 OSTA Teacher of the Year, she has served as an orchestra mentor for MENC and has published over a dozen articles in the area of positive motivation in the American Suzuki Journal.  A certified adjudicator for ASATACAP Lisa has served as a judge for solo/ensemble contests, large groups and a variety of additional events. Lisa has mentored numerous student teachers from area Universities and has consulted to the Cleveland POPS Orchestra Education program. Lisa lives in NE Ohio with her husband and 2 cats. She enjoys painting, gardening, and visiting her 3 grown children, a conservationist, musician and an engineer.

BettyAnne Gottlieb is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she teaches courses focused on string pedagogy and teacher preparation. She also conducts the Cincinnati New Horizons Orchestra – a program that provides beginning and intermediate string instruction to adults.

Gottlieb is an active orchestral musician, Suzuki teacher, and clinician and has held leadership positions in the American String Teachers Association and the Ohio Music Education Association. Gottlieb has over 20 years of experience teaching in the public schools and university-affiliated music programs and holds degrees in music education from Case Western Reserve University, VanderCook College of Music, and Michigan State University.

Christopher Lape is an orchestra director at Upper Arlington High School in the Central Ohio area. He previously taught orchestra at UA Jones Middle School where he also served as the music department chair. Mr. Lape was recognized as the 2020 Ohio String Teacher of the Year by the Ohio String Teachers Association and was a recipient of the Upper Arlington Civic Association’s Golden Apple Award in 2022. 

Prior to teaching in Upper Arlington, Mr. Lape was the orchestra director at Dublin Sells Middle School and the Director of Orchestras for the Newark City School District. From 2014-2021, he was the Music Director of the Newark-Granville Chamber Strings. He has also been an orchestra director at the Ohio State Morning String Student Workshop. 

Mr. Lape is an active adjudicator, clinician, and guest artist. He has presented at the professional conferences of the American String Teachers Association and the Ohio Music Education Association, with whom he maintains active memberships. Mr. Lape is also a clinician and the lead administrator for the Ohio State String Teacher Workshop. He currently serves on the board of the Ohio String Teachers Association, chair-elect of the OMEA South-Central Regional Orchestra, co-chair of the OSTA District 15 Middle School Honors Orchestra, and co-chair of the Central Ohio String Festival. 

As a professional musician, Mr. Lape performs regularly around Central Ohio. He is a founding member of the Bryden String Quartet and performs with other area chamber ensembles. He frequently performs with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and is principal violist of the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra. 

Mr. Lape received undergraduate degrees in violin performance and music education from The Ohio State University. He earned his Master’s degree in viola performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with additional studies as a fellowship student at the Aspen Music Festival and School. 

Email: cblape@uaschools.org

Violinist, Julian Ross, is an uncommonly versatile artist. Ross has appeared as soloist with orchestras and wind ensembles in performances ranging from Baroque and Romantic concerti to premieres of newly commissioned works. His chamber music collaborations have kindled insightful interpretations of traditional and new repertoire, championed neglected works by underrepresented composers, and uncovered forgotten gems such as those by Amanda Maier, Ethel Smyth, and Jazz great, Joe Venuti. As member of Baldwin Wallace Conservatory’s resident ensembles, the Elysian Trio and Lyceum2, Ross performed over 125 varied programs. For 18 years, Ross served as concertmaster for the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, in collaboration with Maestro Dwight Oltman. Ross has toured the U.S. and abroad with the Arcadia Trio, the Boston Musical Arts Consortium, the Music from Yellow Barn Tours, and the Memphis Piano Quartet. He was honored to appear as soloist, recitalist, and lecturer for the “Violins of Hope” exhibition in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Ross has had opportunities to perform numerous solo and chamber works under the supervision of their composers. Among these are compositions by Don Freund, Stefan Freund, William Bolcom, John Cage, Chen Yi, John Harbison, Krzysztof Penderecki, Robert Patterson, Philip Glass, Loris Chobanian, John Corigliano, Joseph Schwantner, Christopher Theofanidis, and Charles Wuorinen. In addition, Ross’s own original compositions and arrangements have been received warmly by audiences and his pedagogic materials are increasingly being adopted by teachers.

A devoted teacher, Ross has composed etudes addressing tenacious violinistic problems (Four Knotty Violin Studies), a melodically reinforced approach to scale studies (Connecting Some Dots), and a systematic approach to beginning scales (Right from the Start). Through four decades of performing and teaching chamber music, he has gained unique expertise in teamwork, problem solving, and communication which he enjoys sharing with students and audiences. He served as Professor of Violin and Chair of the String Department at Baldwin Wallace University for 26 years. Other faculty appointments included Memphis State University and Florida State University. Ross participated in the Yellow Barn Festival for 11 years, and was on the faculties of Brevard, Aria International, Tennessee Governor’s School, and the Blue Mountain Festival.  Ross’s students have won competitions, earned leadership positions in professional orchestras, and established themselves on teaching faculties at high schools and universities. Ross is a past President of the Tennessee String Teachers’ Association. He earned degrees from Rutgers University, the Eastman School of Music, and the Cincinnati College Conservatory, and he did additional studies at the New England Conservatory. His teachers and mentors have included Arnold Steinhardt, Sylvia Rosenberg, Eric Rosenblith, Jens Ellermann, Fryderyk Sadowski, Gladys Lang, and Isadore Grossman.  

Ed Zunic is currently a graduate student at Case Western Reserve University. He is a veteran teacher with over thirty years of public school teaching experience. Mr. Zunic served as the OSTA Middle School Camp Director. He is a member of the Columbus String Quartet, and his original works and arrangements for strings and string orchestra can be found at Alfred/Highland Etling and Hal Leonard, as well as at Pepper Music.