Our Conductors
Mr. Elijah G. Wirth is the Music Director of the Frederick Regional Youth Orchestra and the Director of Music at Carroll Community College in Westminster MD. In 2005 he co-founded of the Westminster Symphony Orchestra, which he directed until 2008. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Tuba Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. He continued his studies at the Peabody Conservatory, earning Master’s Degrees in Wind Conducting and Music Education in 2002. Mr. Wirth is head of the music theory department at the Peabody Institute’s preparatory school and tuba Instructor at McDaniel College. Major teachers include David Fedderly in tuba and Harlan Parker in conducting.
Mr. Tom Mitchell Mr. Thomas Mitchell, Conductor for the Symphonia and Concert Strings, is currently a string teacher for Frederick County at Urbana Middle School. He also teaches private cello lessons. He is principal cellist with The Frederick Symphony Orchestra and the Fredericktowne String Quartet, and has composed several pieces for string orchestra that have been performed locally. Mr. Mitchell earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Education from Indiana University, where he studied cello with Helga Winold, and a Master of Arts degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. He is currently working on a Master of Music Education at Shepherd University. He and his wife Cathy reside in Ijamsville with their five children.
Mr. Nicholas Marini is in his third season as the conductor of the FRYO Wind Ensemble and his first season with the Symphonia. He holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from Towson University as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where he studied trombone and Euphonium performance and Music Education. His instructors include Brenda Leach, Dana Rothlisberger, David Fedderly, James Olin, Steve Kellner, David Fetter, Harlan Parker, and Peter Landgren.
Mr. Marini has performed extensively throughout the Baltimore/Washington area with the Kennedy Center Theater Lab Orchestra, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, the Charm City Brass Quintet, the Peabody Wind Ensemble and the Symphony Orchestra and the Trombody Peabones Trombone Choir. He has performed with renowned conductors Leonard Slatkin, Gustav Meier, Leon Fleischer, Harlan Parker, Edward Polochick, and Teri Murai. While attending the Peabody Conservatory, he was a member of the Peabody Community Outreach Program which is designed to present and advocate classical music and all other musical arts to underprivileged children. He was a graduate conducting student of Dr. Dana Rothlisberger and in October 2006, Mr. Marini served as guest conductor of the Towson University Symphonic Band at the annual Maryland Music Educators Association fall in-service held in Columbia, Maryland. Currently Mr. Marini is the Assistant Director of Instrumental Music at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, Maryland.
