Updates for YMMC

Youth Music Monterey County congratulates Daniel Brier, our recent Music Director, on his new position as Director of Orchestral Studies for the Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis. We cherish the time Maestro Brier spent with our YMMC students. Let us all join in wishing him and his family well as he takes on his new position. Daniel Fung, our former Executive Director, has left YMMC also. We appreciate the positive impacts he made on our organization and wish him well in his future endeavors. As we bid Daniel Brier and Daniel Fung farewell, we proudly welcome Alan Truong, our new Music Director.

Alan Truong is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and holds a Masters Degree in Conducting from the Julliard School. Among his professional experiences, Alan has worked extensively with youth orchestras such as the Julliard Pre-College Orchestra, the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras, and the Rochester Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Alan is the first YMMC alum to take on the Music Director role. Thus, he brings a unique relationship to our young musicians. In addition, we applaud Candis Badgley Carlson for recently taking on the role of YMMC Programs Director. She originally joined the Staff in fall, 2024 as Program Assistant. Candis received her Bachelor of Music from Wichita State University and her Masters of Music from California State University Northridge. Prior to joining YMMC, she had been the Woodwinds Teaching Artist at Youth Orchestra Salinas and a faculty member, teaching clarinet and chamber music, at California State University Northridge. She fits well in her new YMMC position with a multi-faceted career as an educator, arts administrator, freelancer, and sought after chamber clarinetist.

Please join us for the 2025-2026 season, which promises to be inspiring. The Junior Youth and Honors Orchestra concerts are on Sundays, 3:00 pm at Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea on November 16, 2025, March 1, 2026, and May 10, 2026. In addition, our Orchestra in the Schools program will perform concerts on Thursdays, December 11, 2025 and May 14, 2026. Place and times to be announced.  Our South County Strings students get an opportunity to perform at the end of each semester in their five elementary schools in Soledad.

For further information, please go to our Website: youthmusicmonterey.org, or call the YMMC Office: 831-375-1992. Thank you for all your incredible support! Looking forward to seeing you soon!

YMMC Board of Directors Acting President , Peter Meckel, Secretary ,Mari Rondeli, Acting Treasurer, Edward Gavrin, Board Members Amelia Maaske, Cynthia Schroeder, and Lisa Barca Hall.