OSTA Board & Committee Chairs

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.

Dr. Heather Lofdahl is Assistant Professor of Music Education at The Ohio State University, where she directs the string education program. In addition, she serves as Music Director of the Newark-Granville Youth Symphony and music education specialist for Play Us Forward, a community partnership aimed at increasing access to string instruction for underserved students. Dr. Lofdahl is the recipient of the 2025 Ohio State School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.

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 (ASTA) and the National Association for Music Education. Through these organizations as well as the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the International Society for Music Education, Dr. Lofdahl has presented research and pedagogy sessions at the Symposium for Music Teacher Education; International Society for Music Education Conference (Glasgow, Scotland and Helsinki, Finland); American String Teachers Association National Conference; and various state conferences. Her research is focused on equity and access in music education, best practices of outstanding string teachers, and practice behaviors of string players. In addition, Dr. Lofdahl serves on the ASTA Content Committee and is President-Elect of the Ohio String Teachers Association.

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 and abroad.

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.

Abigail is the orchestra director at Eversole Run Middle School in Dublin City Schools. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baldwin Wallace University in 2019. Before joining Dublin, Abigail taught 5th–12th grade orchestra in Perrysburg Schools in Perrysburg, Ohio, where her ensembles consistently earned superior ratings at OMEA Large Group contests. Her groups also performed at the OMEA State Professional Development Conference and the 2024 National Orchestra Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, as part of the ASTA National Convention. 

In addition to her work in the classroom, Abigail is an active performer and conductor. She has conducted the Baldwin Wallace University Middle School Strings Camp and actively performs her cello throughout the state of Ohio. Abigail is passionate about providing inclusive, high-quality music education and fostering a lifelong love of music in her students.

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.  

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.

Vince Huzicka currently serves as one of the Orchestra Directors in the Upper Arlington City

School. He is also the Assistant Conductor and Operations Coordinator for the Columbus

Symphony Youth Orchestra- Chamber Strings, Associated Faculty for Chamber Music

Connection, and Teaching Faculty for The Ohio State University Summer Strings Workshop.

An active member of the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) and the American String

Teachers Association (ASTA), Huzicka served as OMEA’s All-State Orchestra Chair for the

2023–2024 school year and was elected to be OMEA’s South-Central Region Chair-Elect in 2024.

In 2025, he was elected as a Board Member of the Ohio String Teachers Association (OSTA).

Vince is an OMEA adjudicator, as well as an adjudicator and clinician for various orchestra

programs throughout Ohio. Most recently, Mr. Huzicka received the 2026 OMEA Outstanding

Young Music Educator Award.

When he is not teaching, Mr. Huzicka stays active as a freelance violist with regional orchestras

in Ohio. Prior to teaching in Upper Arlington, Mr. Huzicka taught in Lakewood City Schools. Mr.

Huzicka holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from The Ohio State University under Dr.

Robert Gillespie and a Master’s Degree in Music Education under Dr. Heather Lofdahl. Vince is a

native of Boardman, Ohio, where he first began playing the viola in the Boardman Orchestra

program.

Mathew Kinnear is an orchestra director in Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools in the Central Ohio area. He primarily teaches at Middle Schools South, but also regularly assists at Middle Schools East and West, and at Lincoln High School. 

Prior to teaching in Gahanna, Mathew taught at Olentangy Orange Middle School, and assisted at Orange High School.

Since 2020, Mathew has been an administrator at the Ohio State University Summer String Teaching Workshop. There, Mathew runs the logistics of the workshop, as well as executes the planning process with the other administrators. At the workshop, Mathew regularly presents as a clinician. 

Mathew regularly performs in the Columbus music scene as well. Mathew’s niche is as a strings pit musician in professional regional theatre in downtown Columbus. Mathew is a regular violin/viola/cello call with CAPA (Marquee Awards, PNC Broadway in Columbus substitute), Short North Stage (Nine, Into the Woods, Sondheim on Sondheim), Contemporary Theatre of Ohio (Alice by Heart, The Last Five Years, Big Fish, Indecent), and CCT Columbus (Cabaret, Guys & Dolls, Next to Normal, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ragtime, SpongeBob, Newsies). As an orchestral musician, Mathew regularly performs with the Newark-Granville Symphony, and the Westerville Symphony.

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 has also been 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 of the OMEA South-Central Regional Orchestra, co-chair of the Central Ohio String Festival, and vice-chair for the American String Teachers Association National Conference. 

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. 

Audrey John Melzer is the orchestra director at Westwood Middle School for Elyria City

Schools. Prior to joining Elyria’s teaching staff, she was the Director of Orchestras for Oberlin

City Schools. Audrey earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Baldwin Wallace University,

and is pursuing graduate studies. Mrs. John Melzer serves as the President of the Board of

Trustees for the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras based in Lorain County. She was awarded

Oberlin City Schools Community Teacher of the Year in 2017 for her music education

collaborations and equity work, and strives to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in

school orchestra programs. Audrey has presented sessions at the Midwest Clinic, and Ohio

Music Education Association (OMEA) and Ohio String Teachers’ Association (OSTA)

conferences.

Audrey served as a faculty member at the Community Music School in Oberlin, Ohio. She

also served as faculty for the Suzuki Program at The Music Settlement and the El Sistema

Program at the Rainey Institute; both in Cleveland, Ohio. She was a faculty member for the

Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass at the Oberlin Conservatory and has conducted for the

Baldwin Wallace University String Camp. Audrey has worked in public school systems in the

U.S. and abroad. During her time in the U.S. Virgin Islands, she served as Director of

Educational Outreach Programming for the St. Croix Landmarks Historical Society.

Allison Siekmann is an orchestra teacher at Beachwood City Schools, where she began her career in 2022. Allison teaches 6th-8th Grade orchestra at Beachwood Middle School and directs the Beachwood High School Orchestra. She earned her undergraduate degree in music education from Case Western Reserve University and is currently completing her graduate degree in music education from Kent State University. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Allison performs regularly with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Heights Chamber Orchestra, and other ensembles around the Cleveland area. Allison is honored to be a part of the OSTA Board and is excited to serve the teaching community in this role.