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Omaha Area Youth Orchestras

The OAYO Team

For over 65 years, OAYO has built a musical community that fosters artistry and friendship that would not be possible without talented individuals who value music education that lasts a lifetime. OAYO is grateful to its staff, volunteers and parents who work together to build a pipeline of performances and music lovers in our community.

OAYO Administrative Staff Contact

Cassie Fritch, Manager of Youth Music Programs and Operations (cfritch@unomaha.edu)

Contact me for all questions and inquiries! 

Team
OAYO Artistic Staff
Matthew J. Brooks, D.M.A.

Conductor of Youth Symphony

 Matthew Brooks is Associate Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities in Music & Medicine at University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) where he leads the University Orchestra and teaches graduate conducting. As part of a collaboration between the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the UNO School of Music, Dr. Brooks was critical in creating the Nebraska Medical Orchestra in 2018, for which he is the founding music director and conductor. He serves on the UNO Medical Humanities faculty and is a courtesy faculty member in UNMC’s College of Medicine, where he coordinates Music & Medicine activities in partnership with UNMC Campus Wellness. His work at UNMC was recognized by the University awarding him the Valor in Educational Service Award – one of eight Impact in Education Awards.


 

As an academic conductor, Dr. Brooks previously served on the music faculties of Shasta College and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Highlights from his academic conducting include leading annual youth concerts as part of Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program and collaborations with Broadway legend Patti Lupone, New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang, American bassist Edgar Meyer, celebrated opera singer Samuel Ramey, and the late composer Peter Schickele—also known as P.D.Q. Bach.


Dr. Brooks maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. He regularly guest conducts the Omaha Symphony Music Mentors program, and numerous middle school and high school honor orchestras. He frequently presents at state, national, and international conferences and his peer-reviewed research has been published in the American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics and the Journal of Wellness. Dr. Brooks co-founded the National Association of Medical Orchestras in 2021, is the President-Elect of the College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA) North Central Region, the Assistant Editor for the CODA Journal, and serves on the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National College Committee.
 

He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education, a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting, Pedagogy, and Literature. Dr. Brooks is currently completing the requirements for a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, as he remains interested in pursuing greater intersectionality between music and wellness as well as encouraging positive mental health within the academic and professional music communities.

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Debbie Martinez

Conductor of Youth Philharmonic

Debbie Martinez is a 1995 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she received her Bachelor of Music Education.  She earned her Masters Degree in Music Education with an emphasis in String Education from Florida State University in 2001, where she studied with Dr. Michael Allen, Dr. Clifford K. Madsen, and Dr. Pamela Ryan.  

 

In 2006 and 2020, she was recognized as Outstanding School Orchestra Teacher by the Nebraska chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and was named Nebraska’s National Federation of State High School Association’s (NFHS) 2018-19 Outstanding Music Educator of the Year.  She was also honored by the BYU Alumni Association with the 2019 Golden Apple
Award, and the Caryl and Katherine Brown Award for Excellence in High School Teaching 2019, awarded by the Millard Public Schools Foundation.

 

Currently, she is a Performing Arts Department Head at Millard North High School, which was recognized as the 2019 Exemplary
Music Program by the Nebraska Music Education Association. Mrs. Martinez directs 4
orchestras that serve over 200 string players, and teaches a music production course and
adaptive music appreciation course.  Besides enjoying her 23rd year in Millard, she loves
performing with the MAHR String Quartet, serving as President for the Nebraska Music
Education Association and most of all, spending time with her incredibly supportive husband
Bob, their two children, and their silly pets Bodhi and Houdini.

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Patricia Ritchie

Assistant Conductor and Prelude Strings Coordinator
 

Patricia Ritchie, Assistant Conductor with the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras has immersed herself in our wonderful musical ecosystem, as a private cello teacher, freelance musician, and Chamber Music Coach, and through Nebraska String Teachers’ projects. She earned her Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and her Master of Music Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Denver, Lamont School of Music.
 

She taught Orchestra in the Omaha and Millard Public Schools for 36 years, and for over thirty years she was a member of the Omaha Symphony. She has performed in summer music festivals at Bear Valley, California, and Shreveport Summer Festival, and has taught on staff at the Michigan ASTA Summer Workshop, and the Omaha Conservatory of Music “Sound Waves” Institute. 


She recently wrote and illustrated The Dunehaven Council, a children’s book which champions children’s involvement in ecology solutions. Her “Peace of Sky” artwork has been featured with the Burkholder Project in Lincoln, NE, and the Courtyard Gallery in New Buffalo, MI. Midwest Summer Art Fairs also beckon.

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Sophia Potter
Director of Chamber Music Ensemble Programming 

A native of Lincoln, NE, Sophia Potter began her cello studies at the age of 10 with Carol Work. She holds degrees in Cello Performance from Oberlin College where she studied with Peter Rejto, Hans Jorgen Jensen, and Amir Eldan, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she studied with Gregory Beaver and the Chiara String Quartet. Her primary musical expertise is in chamber music performance and chamber music education, which she has spent over a decade doing. Sophia directs and performs with the Rangbrook Ensemble, a professional trio, serves as the Chamber Music Director for the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras, the Strings Coach for the Lincoln Youth Symphony, and recently finished several years as the chair of the Artist Selection Committee for the Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music series.

 

Sophia enjoys spending her free time doing solo cello educational outreach, gardening, traveling, and hiking with her husband, luthier Dirk Henry, and relaxing with their cat.  She performs on a 2008 William Whedbee cello.

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OAYO Operations Staff
Cassie Fritch

Manager of Youth Music Programs and Operations
cfritch@unomaha.edu
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Cassie makes sure  OAYO rehearsals run smoothly!

 

She is an OAYO alumna (flute/piccolo) from Papillion. She attended Creighton University, earning a BS in Biochemistry in 2017 and a MS in Clinical Anatomy in 2018. While at Creighton, she was in the university wind ensemble and orchestra on flute and piccolo, and also was in a jazz combo group on bass guitar. 

 

Cassie started working for OAYO as a Rehearsal Manager in the 2015-16 season. making the 2024-25 season her TENTH season with OAYO! She has served as the Programs and Operations Director for OAYO, and is continuing the role as the Manager of Youth Music Programs and Operations for the UNO School of Music.

Aside from music and science, she  enjoys sewing, woodworking, baking, and spending time with her  "assistants," Oliver (cat), Punkin (cat), and Susie (dog).

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Julissa Ramirez
 
Head Operations Assistant
(and coordinator of people)

Julissa is a graduate of UNO with a degree in music entrepreneurship, She has played bass for 12 years and percussion for 3. Raised in Grand Island, NE, Julissa came to Omaha in 2016. When not at OAYO, you’ll find her at Family Learning and Childcare. In her free time, she enjoys napping, watching Marvel films and collecting stickers

Molly Young
Operations Assistant and Librarian

Bio coming soon!

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Myra Coveney
Operations Assistant

Myra Coveney has completed her bachelor’s degree in clarinet performance at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, studying with Dr. Season Cowley. In her undergrad, Myra has played as principal clarinetist of the Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra for all four years of her degree, as well as principal clarinetist of the UNO Symphonic Wind Ensemble for the past three years. Recently Myra has been a member of the lab orchestra fellowship for The Conducting Institute in Ft. Worth, TX as both principal and second clarinetist, as well as the first academy student selected to perform with the Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival.

Faith Howe

Librarian

Bio coming soon!

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Oliver "Buddy" Fritch
Assistant Librarian
Operations Staff
No email because he can't read

Oliver is from Papillion, NE and is a sweet boy. He doesn't know how to read music (or read at all), but he thinks he's good at his job! He loves to "help" our Director of Programs sort music.  When he's not "working," he spends his nights hunting ghosts, and his days are kept busy with cuddling with his co-workers, sleeping in sunny spots, and talking to the neighborhood birds.

Miss Punkin 
Assistant Librarian

Operations Staff
No email because she can't read

Miss Punkin is originally from Iowa, but now lives in Bellevue, NE. She loves to "give a hand" while our Director of Programs is writing emails and making schedules. Don't let the stern expression fool you, she'll follow you everywhere at chats constantly!

OAYO Past Staff

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Aviva Segall
Music Director Emerita

For 25 years, Aviva Segall had held her “dream job” as Music Director and Principal Conductor for the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras.  Ms. Segall works nationally as a guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician with a variety of professional orchestras, national conferences, all state and festival ensembles.  A small sample of groups she recently worked with include the Omaha Symphony, ASTA national conference, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Wisconsin middle level All State Orchestra and school districts throughout the country. She served on the Board of Directors for the American Symphony Orchestra League- Youth Orchestra Division, the Nebraska Music Education Association and on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ms. Segall served as Conducting Apprentice with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and was concurrently on the conducting staff of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Ms. Segall studied at Wellesley College, the University of Southern California and Northwestern University as well as training at the Aspen Music Festival. Her Thomas J. Watson Fellowship studied rehearsal techniques in Europe. Ms. Segall's principal conducting mentors include Victor Yampolsky, Daniel Lewis, Murry Sidlin, and James De Priest. 


Omaha Area Youth Orchestras

UNO School of Music

6001 Dodge St.

Omaha, NE 68182

531.350.0180

For all inquiries, email cfritch@unomaha.edu 

© 2019 by Omaha Area Youth Orchestras

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