We are very excited to bring our first guest with an orchestral background onto the show! Mrs. Allison King is the orchestra director at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas. Allison brings a variety of insight for directors finding their first gigs, teaching string orchestra, and coordinating with other directors to create a full orchestra experience for students.
Check out the L.D. Bell Orchestra's website: https://www.ldbellorchestra.com/
Follow the L.D. Bell Orchestra on Social Media!
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKMBibiEDH8IqrZ4-O1wy-Q
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ldbellhsorchestra
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ldbhsorchestra
Mrs. King became the director of orchestras at L.D. Bell High School in 2010. In her first year, she led the L.D. Bell Symphony Orchestra to its first sweepstakes performance as a varsity string organization at the UIL concert and sight reading competition and founded the L.D. Bell Full Symphony Orchestra. Since taking over the L.D. Bell Orchestra program, the program has tripled in size, and the varsity Symphony Orchestra has earned consistent sweepstakes ratings at the UIL Concert and Sight reading competition. The Symphony Orchestra has performed with many world-renowned artists, and the varsity full and varsity string orchestras have been commended and national winners of the Mark of Excellence National Orchestra Honors competition five times in the past five years. In 2017, the varsity full orchestra made its debut performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2019, the Symphony string orchestra made the finals of the TMEA Honor Orchestra competition.
Mrs. King is now in her twenty second year of teaching. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Southern California where she studied with Ronald Leonard, the former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also holds a Master of Music in Music Education and a Certificate in Cello Performance from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she studied with Dr. Elizabeth Morrow. She has also had the privilege of studying with Ira Lehn, former principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pamela Frame of the Eastman School, and in her early years was the stand-in soloist for Yo-Yo Ma with the World Youth Symphony where she also appeared on "60 Minutes" with Yo-Yo Ma. In 2005, Mrs. King was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honor Society. She has been a member of the American String Teachers Association for over 25 years, and is currently a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, and the Texas Orchestra Directors Association. She is also the orchestra chair for TMEA Region 31.
Want a free piece of music for your ensemble to perform? Join Christian's mailing list!
https://www.christianfortnermusic.com/mailings