EL SISTEMA LEHIGH VALLEY

Amanda Haag

Program Manager | Choral Director

Amanda Haag studied at Northeastern University in Boston, MA where she majored in Music and minored in Psychology and Health Science. At Northeastern, Amanda served as Musical Director, Band Director, Producer, Private Vocal Instructor, and Private Musical Theatre Coach for several musical theatre productions and other performance groups. It was through this involvement that Amanda discovered her passion for teaching and music directing. Amanda also spent six months living in Barcelona, Spain where she taught daily music and ESL classes to young children. During her education, Amanda began a career in music production as a sound and recording engineer, recording and producing with hundreds of musicians in the Boston area. As a professional vocalist, Amanda has performed as a soloist and ensemble member in renowned venues across Europe and the United States including multiple concerts at New York City’s Carnegie Hall and The Alice Tully Hall. Amanda now resides in Macungie, PA and absolutely loves working with the team of talented teaching artists and students at El Sistema Lehigh Valley!

Margaret Medina

Operations Coordinator | Violin Teaching Artist

Margaret Jackson is a native of Lancaster PA, where she has been performing as a violinist for over a decade. She is a recent graduate of Muhlenberg College, where she earned a degree in Music with a Concentration in Violin Performance. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and was the recipient of the Seena Marcus Art Award, as well as the winner of the Class of 1969 Competition for her performance of J.S. Bach’s C Major Violin Sonata. Margaret also plays viola and piano. She is passionate about teaching and loves working with young children. She also works as a teacher for SWAN4kids, a nonprofit in her hometown of Lancaster, where she is the primary strings teacher. Margaret plans to continue working both as a teacher and performer in the future, and is looking forward to her fourth year with El Sistema Lehigh Valley.

Daniel Stevens

Violin Teaching Artist

Daniel Stevens is a classically trained Violinist who studied at Kutztown University. Daniel has performed with numerous orchestras across the United States. In 2007, he performed with the European Concert Tour performing in many countries across Europe for several months. Daniel also writes and performs various styles of music. This is Daniel’s sixth year with El Sistema Lehigh Valley.

Michael Wu

Violin Teaching Artist

Michael Wu is a violinist whose approach to technical growth is built from the Juilliard school of Ivan Galamain and Dorothy DeLay, combined with the Russian school of Mikhail Kopelman. Michael has won numerous awards and performed in many renowned locations including the Mann Center as well as the Kimmel Center. he has won or placed in several competitions, including the Voorhees Concerto Competition, the Schadt Summer Strings Competition, and The Young Classical Virtuosos of Tomorrow Competition. Michael has been mentored by and worked with many leading musicians in the United States including concertmasters of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as professors from Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, Peabody Conservatory, and the Eastman School of Music. Michael holds a BA Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music and a MM Violin Performance from the Peabody Conservatory.

Samuel Higgins

Low Strings Teaching Artist

Samuel Higgins studied music education and double bass at Ithaca College and is from Kingston New York. He has been playing bass for almost 15 years and also plays cello, violin, and viola. Sam loves working teaching and with children. Sam enjoys playing a variety of styles including classical and folk. When not playing bass Sam enjoys sports, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.