About the GSO
The Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra is the Northfield, Illinois District 225 Orchestra, combining students from both Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools. Members of both schools first joined forces in 1980, under the direction of Mr. Frank Winkler. In 1981, Mr. Carl J. Meyer became the Director of Orchestras and founded the "Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra" in 1994. Dedicated to bringing large-scale orchestral works to high school students and members of the community, the GSO performs two major concerts each year. Along with the fall and spring concerts, the GSO performs at school assemblies and other events. The top three soloists from the annual GSO Concerto Competition perform in the spring concert. Auditions for the orchestra are held each August and rehearsals are held on Wednesday nights during the school year. The GSO has toured throughout the United States and Europe, and has performed at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. the United Nations and Lincoln Center in New York City, The Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, Disneyland, Disneyworld, San Marco Basilica in Venice, Italy, The Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria, The Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy and Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center in Chicago. Through an international exchange program with the CAVMS music school in Wales, the orchestra has also performed at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff. In 2008, the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra was the first high school orchestra to be featured on WFMT/98.7's radio program, Introductions, and is included on The Best of Introductions CD.
Kristin Meyer,
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Mrs. Kristin Meyer is the Director of Orchestras with the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra and has been a part of the orchestra programs at both Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools since 2006. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Miami, Florida where she received her Bachelor of Music Education degree. Upon graduation from UM, she began her teaching career directing instrumental music at the middle school level. Having lived in Europe for three years prior to joining the Glenbrooks, Mrs. Meyer has performed with the Schöneck Ensemble of Koblenz, Trier Sinfonietta, and the Munich Philharmonic's Blechschaden. While living in Germany, she taught music in the public school system and was a string program instructor in the Stadt Musikschule. In 2010, she was selected as a conducting fellow at The Juilliard School in New York City, and subsequently participated in a summer conducting workshop with faculty from The Juilliard School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Curtis Institute of Music.
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Aaron Kaplan,
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Mr. Aaron Kaplan is the Assistant Director of Orchestras with the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra. An alum of Glenbrook North, Mr. Kaplan received his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the tutelage of Donald Schleicher. He received his Bachelor's degrees from University of Illinois as a high honors graduate in cello performance and music education where he studied with Brandon Vamos of the Pacifica Quartet. Mr. Kaplan recently completed a year as the interim conductor for the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestras in the Quad Cities and was previously the music director/conductor for the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony in Springfield, Illinois. As an active conductor of musical theatre, Mr. Kaplan has conducted over 60 musicals including Les Miserables, West Side Story, The Producers and the premiere amateur production of Memphis (2013) and Sweeney Todd (2017) at the Illinois All-State High School Theatre Festival. Mr. Kaplan has served as a guest cello and conductor clinician at the Chicago Suzuki Institute, Allerton Chamber Music Symposium and created the Cello Camp at Illinois Summer Youth Music. An active cellist, Mr. Kaplan also performs with the Heartland Festival Orchestra and Sinfonia da Camera. He is also on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago.
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