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Eugene Power is the newly appointed Music Director and Conductor of
the McHenry County Youth Orchestras. He also serves as a Graduate
Teaching Assistant at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
where he has conducted the University of Illinois Symphony
Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia, and Illini Strings. In
addition to his conducting duties, Mr. Power supervises future music
educators during their professional semester. He has also served as
a section coach for the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra and as
an ensemble coach at The Chamber Music Symposium at Allerton Park.
Mr. Power holds a bachelor's degree in music education from the
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he was the winner of the
first annual UWEC Bands Conducting Competition in 2002. Before
coming to Illinois, Mr. Power taught middle school and high school
band in Wisconsin and Minnesota for eight years - most recently
serving as Director of Bands at North High School in Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. During that time he was also appointed as Music Director
and Conductor of the Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony, a position he
held for four years. In addition to his duties as an educator, Mr.
Power served as assistant conductor for the Chippewa Valley Symphony
for six years and in that time made numerous guest appearances on
the podium with the orchestra. He also conducted Broadway musicals
for the Eau Claire Children's Theater and the Chippewa Valley
Theater Guild. Mr. Power was also a freelance musician in Wisconsin
and Minnesota where made with appearances with, among other groups,
the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and Five by Design.
Mr. Power is a member of the Conductor's Guild and has participated
in festivals and workshops in the United States and Europe. Most
recently he attended the International Conducting Workshop and
Festival in the Czech Republic with Larry Rachleff and Donald
Schleicher and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic. He has also
participated in the Donald Thulean Conductors Workshop with Michael
Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, the Conductors Retreat at
Medomak with Kenneth Kiesler and the Portland Symphony Orchestra,
and the Texas Tech Summer Conductor's Workshop with Andrew George.
Mr. Power is a masters student in orchestral conducting and will
begin work on his doctoral degree next year at the University of
Illinois.
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Each
Fall, the Symphony Orchestra musicians attend the Orchestra
Overnight, held at beautiful Conference Point, at William's Bay,
Wisconsin. There is plenty of rehearsal time and musical fun and
games.
Other activities
include a Tour and the winner of the
Concerto Competition performs with the Symphony Orchestra at the
Spring Concert.
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