Dr. Rachel Dirks
Dr. Rachel Dirks, Director of Orchestral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Kansas State University, is an active conductor, clinician, and educator. Dr. Dirks holds cello performance degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Bethel College, and a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Kansas. As a guest conductor, she has conducted all-state and regional honor orchestras throughout the United States, including recent appearances in New York, Georgia, Nevada, Kentucky, Oregon, Illinois, and Kansas.
As a featured clinician, she has been invited to present conference research and clinic sessions for the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the National Association for Music Education, and the state music education conferences of Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Kansas. She has also made numerous written contributions to journals, books, and online resources, including her most recent publications in the String Research Journal and the upcoming Oxford Handbook on Care in Music Education.
Dr. Dirks currently serves as chair of the ASTA Health and Wellness committee where she works to further the discussion surrounding mental health and wellbeing in the music classroom. Throughout all of her work, her fundamental goal is to encourage musicians to seek and create community through music.
Dr. Madeleine Jansen
Versatile violinist Madeleine Jansen enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performer, arts advocate, and educator, and has been praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for her interpretation of composers from Dvořák to Brubeck. As the newly appointed Instructor of Violin and Viola, Jansen teaches violin, viola, chamber music, and string pedagogy at K-State.
As a soloist with orchestra, Jansen has performed in Carnegie Hall, the United Nations Headquarters (NYC), Capitol Hill’s performance hall, St. Peters Church (NYC) and Flushing Town Hall (NYC). Her solo and chamber music recital appearances have taken her around North America and Europe, and she has collaborated with many of today’s leading concert artists. Recent performance highlights include performing Ralph Vaughn Williams’ The Lark Ascending with orchestra in Baltimore, a solo recital at the Arts Club of Washington, and a world premiere of an unaccompanied work for violin which she commissioned from Kurdish-Canadian composer Rizgar Ismael. As an arts leader, Jansen co-founded Arco in 2021, an un-conducted orchestra project dedicated to forging creative connections with audiences through meaningful community engagement.
Jansen is a passionate teacher who is committed to mentoring the next generation of musicians, and her students have earned acceptance to the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard pre-college divisions as well as the violin performance programs at San Francisco Conservatory, University of Michigan, Boston University, NYU, University of Maryland, Vanderbilt University, and others. Jansen’s students have won numerous competitions and awards and have participated in festivals including Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the NYU Summer Strings Intensive, to name a few.
Currently, Jansen serves as Violin Faculty, String Department Chair, and Chamber Music Coordinator at Luzerne Music Center (NY), a summer music festival for talented pre-college level students. Prior to that, she taught at Interlochen Arts Camp.
Jansen studied at Boston University, Royal College of Music (London), and UMass Amherst, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland.
Dr. Blair Williams
Dr. Blair Williams is Director of Professional Development for the American String Teachers Association. She has served our string teaching community in public school, higher education, civic and youth symphonies, and in the string studio for over 20 years. She is a published author in research & practitioner journals as well as book and online publications. A frequent guest conductor, clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator, she has recently led and adjudicated ensembles in Utah, Texas, Nevada, Alaska, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. She is the co-founder of the Lubbock (TX) Civic Orchestra and currently serves as Executive Director and on the conducting staff of the Manhattan (KS) Youth Symphony. Dr. Williams enjoys working with and learning from teachers, musicians, and students across the country.
Alison Mayes
Alison Mayes earned her BME (2006) and MME (2016) from the University of Colorado (Boulder), and taught in Colorado schools from 2007-2021. After relocating to eastern Kansas, she now teaches Strings in Blue Valley School District at Timber Creek Elementary, Aubry Bend Middle School, and Blue Valley Southwest High School. Alison was recently named Assistant Chair of the Kansas High School All State Full Orchestra, and she serves on the Kansas ASTA Chapter Board as Webmaster.
Alison received the 2015 Outstanding String Teacher Award from Colorado ASTA, and was the 2020 recipient of the Elizabeth A.H. Green School Educator Award from National ASTA. She has been on staff with Camp Con Brio, String Camp of the Rockies, since 2001; and became Director in 2015. Two of Alison’s ensembles have been selected to perform at the Kansas Music Educators Association annual conference: the Aubry Bend Eighth Grade Orchestra (2023) and the Blue Valley Southwest Orchestra (2024). In addition, the Southwest Orchestra was also invited to perform as part of ASTA’s National Orchestra Festival in March 2024. This is Alison’s second ensemble to receive this honor.
Aside from school teaching, Alison enjoys instructing viola lessons, playing in the Lawrence Community Orchestra, throwing chamber music parties, trying new recipes, playing video games, going to concerts of all genres, listening to Led Zeppelin, spoiling her nephews, traveling with her husband Jason, and spending time with their five beloved dogs
Russell Clark
Russell Clark, Graduate Teaching Assistant with the Kansas State University Symphony Orchestra, is currently working towards his M.M. with an emphasis in orchestral conducting. He holds a B.M.E. from the University of Kansas, and his area of specialty is string pedagogy in both the classical and jazz settings. Prior to attending K-State, Russell worked as the Assistant Director of High School Orchestras in the Lawrence public school district from 2017-2022. During his time in Lawrence he was named the NEKMEA Outstanding Young Music Educator for Orchestra in 2019-2020.
Russell served as director of the Lawrence Youth Symphony from 2018-2023. Russell continues to stay active in the musical community at large by maintaining a small studio of private students on violin and bass, working Summer Camps including the K-State String Leadership Institute, and playing in community ensembles such as the Lawrence Community Orchestra and the Topeka Jazz Workshop Big Band.
Amie Smit
Amie Smit studied Suzuki violin from the age of six with Francis Kohl and Jan Klien and continued studying with Ray Sidoti, John Thompson, and Frank Spinosa while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in violin performance and pedagogy from Dordt University. Amie also holds a Master of Music degree focused in orchestral music education from Kansas State University. Amie began teaching private violin lessons in her hometown of Orange City, Iowa at the age of fifteen and has maintained string studios while living in Iowa, Arizona, and Washington. She taught grades 5-12 orchestra and grades 5-6 general music at Lynden Christian Schools in Lynden, Washington and currently serves as the Director of Orchestras at Western Christian High School in Hull, Iowa, Hull Christian School, and Rock Valley Christian School. Additionally, she teaches string pedagogy as an adjunct instructor at Dordt University. Amie enjoys performing regularly with local symphonies and community orchestras. She served as principal second violinist with the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra and is currently the associate second violinist for Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra and section violinist for Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. Amie lives in Sioux Center, Iowa with her husband Ryan. They are the proud parents of two grown children, Caleb and Emilyn.
Kristen Toll
Kristen Toll has been involved in string education in Manhattan since beginning her teaching career in 2015. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Special Music Education from Wichita State University in 2015, and has since earned her full certification in the Kodaly Teaching Philosophy, as well as partial Suzuki Teacher Certification.
Kristen taught general music and beginning orchestra in the Manhattan-area Public Schools from 2015-2021, spending most of that time at Bluemont Elementary. While teaching at Bluemont, Kristen was nominated as the school’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. In 2016 Kristen took over leadership of the Manhattan Youth Symphony Silver Orchestra and has enjoyed many successful seasons with the ensemble.
Kristen enjoys performing whenever possible, in and around Manhattan. She served as assistant principal cello of the Salina Symphony in 2019-2020, and returns to play with the symphony annually on their sunset concert.
Having grown up in the Manhattan musical community as a student herself, Kristen is enthusiastic about furthering quality music education in the area for students today. She has been an invited conductor at KSU’s annual String Fling Event on multiple occasions and has sent several students of her own to the state-wide festival. She maintains a private cello studio and enjoys watching the dedication of her students pay off as they grow into skilled and passionate musicians.
In 2016 Kristen took over leadership of the Silver Orchestra and has conducted it each year since, with the exception of the 2021 season. She firmly believes in the mission and the values of the program and is eager to promote the growth of the organization as it enters a new era of development.