Conductors

Andrea Bell

Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra

Born in Winnipeg, Andrea Bell holds Bachelor Degrees in Music and Education from the University of Manitoba and a Masters Degree in Cello Performance from the University of British Columbia. Andrea is the founding member and cellist of the Rembrandt String Quartet. A passionate music educator, Ms. Bell is the Director of the String Orchestra Program at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate. She maintains a large and vibrant private cello studio and is the Director of the “Mini-Rosie” program at the Rosamunde Summer Music Academy. Andrea has taught cello, conducted youth and adult amateur orchestras and adjudicated music festivals across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and in Australia. Andrea is also Conductor of the Winnipeg Mennonite Community Orchestra. She conducted the Youth Concert Orchestra from 1997-2022 and has conducted the Youth Symphony Orchestra since the fall of 2021.

Chris Byman

Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra

Born and raised on the Manitoban prairies, Canadian clarinetist, clinician, and composer Chris Byman obtained B.Mus and M.Mus degrees from Brandon University, where he studied clarinet performance and literature. As a freelance artist, Chris has collaborated with musicians across Canada and abroad and has performed locally as a sessional musician with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Royal Canadian Air Force Band, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Winnipeg, the Canadian Bacon Wind Quintet, and the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival. As a clinician, Chris has taught private lessons out of his home-based music studio for the past decade and continues to be in-demand as a clarinet educator for music programs in Winnipeg and the surrounding areas.

As a composer and arranger, Chris enjoys writing for orchestras, concert bands and chamber groups of all levels and has had the privilege of working with various ensembles, including the Brandon Community Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, clarinet-percussion duo Viđarneisti, and the Bros. Landreth. In 2020, Chris was awarded the Canadian Band Association’s Howard Cable Memorial Prize in Composition for his work, Autumn Down a Maple Lane, and in 2024 was a participant in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s “Explore the Score” program for his orchestral work, Intermezzo at Harry’s Beach.

Chris has studied with clarinetists Sharon Atkinson, Micah Heilbrunn, Catherine Wood, and Guy Yehuda, composers T. Patrick Carrabré and Peter Meechan, and conductor Wendy Zander. Chris is excited to now join the Winnipeg Youth Orchestra as conductor of the Youth Concert Orchestra.

Cathy Lee

Winnipeg Youth Strings

Cathy Lee was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She moved to Eastern Europe in Bulgaria to study violin when she was 19 years old. Cathy studied at Sofia Music school and, during that time, also learned the Bulgarian language! She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree of Music Performance for violin from Sofia Music National Academy, completing in 2011. During her music studies she also completed the exam for the Bulgarian National License to be an interpreter, which then led to work as an interpreter in the Korean Embassy of Bulgaria. She also worked with the Sofia Youth Orchestra where she has fond memories of having performed the Max Burch Violin Concerto in G-Minor with Orchestra. She eventually met her husband, who was a missionary in Korea, and moved to Canada where she is today.

Cathy has been with the Sistema Winnipeg program teaching violin for 7 years. The program is very special to her because in the 6 years that she has been employed she has met a lot of students and parents, and learned about many different cultures! Cathy has been conducting the Youth Strings Orchestra since 2022.

Past Conductors

Year	Conductor	Orchestra
2025 – present	Chris Byman	Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra
2022 – present	Jiyoung (Cathy) Lee	Winnipeg Youth Strings
2021 – present	Andrea Bell	Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra
2024 – 2025	Michelle Mourre	Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra
2022 – 2024	Keith Dyrda	Winnipeg Concert Strings
2019 – 2022	Keith Dyrda	Winnipeg Youth Strings
2005 – 2021	Daniel Scholz	Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra
2003 – 2019	Karin Klassen	Winnipeg Youth Strings
2002 – 2005	Mark Rudoff	Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra
1999 – 2002	Michael Hall	Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra
1997 – 2022	Andrea Bell	Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra
1991 – 2003	Louise Faurschou	Winnipeg Youth Orchestra Junior Strings
1989 – 1996	Annette Hay	Winnipeg Youth Intermediate Orchestra Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra
1988 – 1991	Cindy Raxter	Winnipeg Youth Orchestra Junior Strings
1987 – 1988	Annette Hay	Winnipeg Youth Orchestra Junior Strings
1987 – 1989	Christine Longhurst	Winnipeg Youth Intermediate Orchestra
1986 – 1987	Lois Bassim	Winnipeg Youth Orchestra Junior Strings
1982 – 1987	Marena Smith	Winnipeg Youth Intermediate Orchestra
1982 – 1986	Cindy Raxter	Winnipeg Youth Orchestra Junior Strings
1979 – 1999	Carlisle Wilson	Greater Winnipeg Schools Youth Orchestra Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra
1979 – 1982	John Klassen	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior North Orchestra
1977 – 1979	Carlisle Wilson	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior South Orchestra
1974 – 1979	Richard Seaborn	Greater Winnipeg Schools Youth Orchestra
1974 – 1975	Forbes George	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior North Orchestra
1972 – 1974	Joel Ferren	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior North Orchestra
1972 – 1974	Rubin Gurevich	Greater Winnipeg Schools Youth Orchestra
1969 – 1977	John Klassen	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior South Orchestra
1969 – 1972	Blakeman Welch	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior North Orchestra
1968 – 1969	William Gordon	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior South Orchestra
1968 – 1969	Erika Bennedik	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior North Orchestra
1966 – 1972	Arthur Polson	Greater Winnipeg Schools Symphony Orchestra
1966 – 1968	Peter Hardwick	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior Orchestra
1965 – 1966	Lea Foli	Greater Winnipeg Schools Symphony Orchestra
1964 – 1966	Victor Davies	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior Orchestra
1964 – 1965	Leonard Isaacs	Greater Winnipeg Schools Symphony Orchestra
1963 – 1974	Muriel Milgrom	Greater Winnipeg Schools Senior Orchestra
1963 – 1964	Glen Dixon	Greater Winnipeg Schools Junior Orchestra
1961 – 1963	Muriel Milgrom	Manitoba Schools Senior Orchestra
1959 – 1961	Albert Rudansky	Manitoba Schools Junior Orchestra
1956 – 1963	Arthur Buss	Manitoba Schools Intermediate Orchestra
1956 – 1959	Verna Whitley	Manitoba Schools Junior Orchestra
1956 – 1964	Frances Port	Manitoba Schools Senior Orchestra
1955 – 1956	E.G. Adams	Manitoba Schools Senior Orchestra
1953 – 1955	Glen Pierce	Manitoba Schools Senior Orchestra
1949 – 1955	Frances Port	Manitoba Schools Junior South Orchestra
1949 – 1952	Richard Grymonpre	Manitoba Schools Junior North Orchestra
1949 – 1950	Lloyd Backman	Manitoba Schools Junior Orchestra
1949	Arthur Fraser	Manitoba Schools Junior Orchestra
1941 – 1943	Filmer Hubble	Manitoba Schools Senior Orchestra
1938 – 1953	Ronald Gibson	Manitoba Schools Orchestra
1923 – 1938	P.G. Padwick	Lord Roberts Orchestra Kelvin School Orchestra Winnipeg Junior Symphony Orchestra Manitoba High Schools Orchestra Western Canada High Schools Orchestra

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