Conductors, Management & Staff

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ROGER SAMUEL


Roger Samuel, co-founder and principal conductor of the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra and the Claremont Young Musicians Intermezzo Orchestra from 1989 - 2015, was a public school music educator and coordinator of music in the Azusa Unified School District for 38 years. A native of Los Angeles, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music and Master of Arts in School Administration from California State University at Los Angeles. Mr. Samuel studied conducting at the International Workshop for Conductors in Zlin, Czech Republic, and conducted the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra on four successful European tours. He conducted and coached honor orchestras throughout California and was a staff member and conductor of the cello orchestra for the National Cello Institute. He was a respected trombone instructor and clinician as well as an active performer throughout Southern California. Mr. Samuel passed away in August of 2015, after 26 years as conductor of the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR


Janet Samuel, co-founder and executive director of the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra and the Intermezzo Orchestra for the past 35 years, earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from California State University at Los Angeles as a piano performance and education major. She was an accompanist for the National Cello Institute for ten years and has also accompanied at the Walker Competition, Pasadena Instrumental Competition, Bronislaw Kaper Competition, American String Teachers Association preliminary and final competitions, the National Cello Congress, University of Southern California, and numerous Suzuki recitals and showcases. She was an elementary instrumental music teacher in the Pomona Unified School District for 24 years. Janet, with her husband Roger, planned and led the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra on four successful European tours performing in Rome, Paris, Tours, Meiringen, Prague, Bechnye, Salzburg, Oberammergau, Assisi, Munich, Norcia, Vienna, Padua and Montecatini.

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DAVID CUBEK. CYMO CONDUCTOR, JUNE 02, 2024 CONCERT


DAVID CUBEK is equally at home leading professional, youth, university, and community orchestras. He has been the director of the Claremont Concert Orchestra of Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges since 2010. He was recently appointed to be the music director and conductor of the Peninsula Symphony in Palos Verdes, California. Mr. Cubek also served as assistant conductor of the Pasadena Symphony and conductor of the PYSO Philharmonic from 2016 until 2022.

In addition to being passionate about conducting and teaching, he is a firm believer in the power of music to foster social change. Mr. Cubek has conducted various ensembles from Venezuela’s admired program known as El Sistema, including the internationally recognized Teresa Carreño and Simón Bolívar symphony orchestras. In the United States, he has collaborated with several El Sistema inspired programs and served as the conducting instructor of the MAT Program of the Longy School of Music of Bard College, which provided training for professional musicians aspiring to become agents of social change.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Mr. Cubek began private piano and composition lessons at the age of 7 before entering the Simón Bolívar Conservatory. In 1999, he moved to Montreal to continue his music education at McGill University and the Conservatory of Montreal. At the latter institution, he was awarded First Prize with Great Distinction in orchestral conducting. Mr. Cubek completed his doctoral studies in orchestral conducting at Northwestern University, where he served as assistant and guest conductor of the opera program, and the Chamber and Symphony Orchestras. He was music director of the University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra and a lecturer in music theory at both Northwestern and McGill. In addition, Mr. Cubek has led ensembles in Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Italy, Mexico, and Ukraine. In California, recent engagements include guest appearances with the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and the Eastern Sierra Symphony.

A double recipient of Scripps College’s Mary W. Johnson Award for excellence in teaching, Mr. Cubek is an enthusiastic advocate of new music. At the Claremont Colleges, he has taught classes based on 20th- and 21st-century repertoires. As conductor of Fonema Consort, he has sustained an active international concert schedule focused on premiering new compositions.

GREG SAMUEL, INTERMEZZO ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR


Greg Samuel, now in his 9th season as conductor of the Claremont Young Musicians Intermezzo Orchestra, is the string teacher at Paul Revere Middle School in Brentwood where he works with six orchestras and over 250 students. A former student of Rodney Oakes and Ashley Alexander, he received his Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from USC where he studied with Terry Cravens. He has taught elementary, junior high and high school band, orchestra, and jazz band in the Azusa and Los Angeles Unified School Districts for the past 25 years, and has served as a clinician and/or section coach for the All-Southern California Jazz Bands, Canoga Park High School, the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra, the California Music Academy, and El Toro High School. Currently a busy freelance trombonist in the L.A. area, he has also toured Europe and Cuba, been featured with Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl, and worked as a musician at Disneyland. He has performed at many of LA's top venues as both a performer and band leader. His Eagle Rock High Jazz band was selected to play at the Jazz Bakery, the Roxy Theater, the Playboy Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

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CYMO VIOLIN COACH


Wendy Waggener, CYMO violin coach, is a performing violinist and teacher as well as an Alexander Technique teacher. She graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory, and earned her Masters in Violin Performance from New England Conservatory. She performs with the San Bernardino Symphony and Redlands Symphony , as well as maintaining a large private studio. Wendy has taught workshops and private lessons in Alexander Work at The Colburn School, LaSierra University, Meadowmount School of Music, and Montecito International Music Festival.

OPERATIONS ASSISTANT


Jeff Brown, operations assistant, is a percussionist and music educator, teaching and performing in Southern California. He has taught high school band and orchestra in Los Angeles and currently teaches band and orchestra at El Roble Middle School in Claremont. Jeff studied percussion at CSU Long Beach and received a Bachelor of Arts in music. Currently, he is a Masters candidate at Colorado State University, studying conducting. Jeff is an alumnus of the CYMO and serves as percussion coach and operations assistant for the CYMO and Intermezzo Orchestra.