Megan Kehren, Junior Orchestra
Megan Kehren has been a part of the KSYO since 1993 and has served as a student, coach, assistant and now as conductor of the Junior Orchestra. Megan earned her music education and viola performance degrees from Southern Methodist University and the University of Colorado at Boulder where she served as the teaching assistant for the viola studio.
Professionally, Megan has performed with many orchestras and was assistant principal viola of the Boulder Philharmonic (Colorado) before moving to Knoxville and joining the viola section of the Knoxville Symphony in 2012. Megan’s passion is teaching and she has an active studio of violists and violinists of all ages. Since 2020 she has been working closely with her sister, Erin Archer (Preludium conductor) in creating an online music teaching platform called Muze (learnwithmuze.com). In her spare time Megan enjoys practicing the art of ceramics, running road races as well as exploring the world and climbing its many mountains with her husband, Frank.
Cynthia Wright, Philharmonia Orchestra
Mrs. Cynthia Wright is in her twelfth season working with the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra and is currently the conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. She is the Orchestra Director at Montgomery Ridge Intermediate School in Maryville, where she teaches 4th-7th grade.
Mrs. Wright attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, both in music education. In 2004, she began her teaching career at Karns High School and West Valley Middle School. After two years teaching in Knox County, Mrs. Wright moved to Wilmington, NC where she taught Orchestra at Roland-Grise Middle School for 8 years. She returned to Knoxville and resumed teaching in Knox County Schools in 2014. She spent five years as the director at Bearden High School and West Valley Middle School.
Mrs. Wright is currently serving on the Arts Leadership Council for the TN Department of Education. During her 22 years in education, Mrs. Wright has served as a mentor teacher, clinician, presenter, and adjudicator as well as Orchestra Chair of TMEA and ETSBOA. She lives in Maryville with her husband, Wes, and their two children, Carson and Elaina.
Erin Archer, Preludium Orchestra
Erin Archer is proud to represent the KSYO in her 20th season as conductor of the Preludium orchestra. A 1997 KSYO alumna and graduate of the University of Tennessee, Ms. Archer has taught strings in the Knoxville area for 25 years and is the orchestra director for Webb School of Knoxville.
Ms. Archer has held several roles in the Knoxville area, including performing with the Knoxville Symphony and various ensembles as a freelance violinist/violist and studio musician for various recording artists. She’s also a frequent guest clinician at multiple workshops as a Suzuki violin, viola, and early childhood educator. She has extensive Suzuki teacher training in violin, viola, early childhood education, and Suzuki in the Schools. She is a Knoxville Symphony Education Advisory Council member and helps plan the annual KSO Young People’s Concerts.
Erin and her sister, fellow youth orchestra conductor Megan Kehren, teamed up and co-created a music education platform (teachwithmuze.com) specifically designed to improve the online teaching and learning experience. Erin also regularly collaborates with musician, author, and songwriter Erick Baker, performing original music to audiences of all ages. She and her husband, Carey, are parents to their 8th-grade triplets, who also participate in the KSYO.
Kathy Hart, Sinfonia Orchestra
Kathy Hart is celebrating her 30th season conducting the KSYO’s Sinfonia Orchestra. She is also the General Manager for the Youth Orchestras. During her tenure, the ensembles have grown from three orchestras serving 120 students to six orchestras serving over 375 students.
As a high school student, she was a violinist in the KSYO when her family moved to Knoxville in the 1980’s. Kathy began her music connection with the Suzuki Method in Western New York State. Her environment was filled with a great deal of love and support from family and teachers. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a concentration in Suzuki Pedagogy. Hart-Strings, her private violin studio has over 50 students ages 3-18 who perform several times in the community each year. Many Hart-Strings violinists are KSYO members. She created the youth orchestra’s annual music camp program with 15 string students and one assistant. Music Camp has served over 3900 students since 1994.
Kathy is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Tennessee where she teaches the String Methods courses and assists string education majors in field experience and observation. She has volunteered with several school string programs and was instrumental in bringing the orchestra program back to Bearden High School in 1998. Kathy has also been a guest conductor for ETSBOA, had students selected in the National Youth Orchestra of the USA and has been recognized eight times with an Outstanding Teacher Award from the state of Tennessee Governor’s School of the Arts. In 2020, she was honored as a finalist in the YWCA’s Tribute to Women.
Katie Liaw, Youth Chamber Orchestra
Conductor, clinician, and cellist, Katie Liaw graduated from The University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. She later attended The Hartt School at the University of Hartford to earn a Master of Music Education in String Pedagogy. Katie specializes in middle and high school orchestra teaching and has taught in several nearby orchestra programs. Katie maintains a small cello studio and enjoys watching her students grow in skill and confidence from year to year.
A graduate of the KSYO program, Katie became a rehearsal assistant in 2006 as an undergraduate at UTK. Over the last 19 years, she has served the organization in other capacities as rehearsal assistant, stage manager, assistant conductor, and building host for rehearsals and string camp. She is thrilled to begin her 5th season as conductor of the Youth Chamber Orchestra. In her spare time, Katie loves reading, drinking a good cup of coffee, hovering over her growing plant collection, and spending time with her family – husband, Kevin, and their two children.
James Fellenbaum, Music Director & Conductor
James Fellenbaum is the Music Director and Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra, a position he’s held since 2010. He joined the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra during the 2006- 2007 season and is currently the Resident Conductor. He serves as cover conductor for the KSO’s subscription series and conducts a variety of concerts with the KSO including Outreach and Young People’s Concerts. He is a frequent conductor on the KSO’s Pops series, and excels in Film with Live Orchestra concerts, including recent presentations of The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Home Alone, and Mary Poppins.
James is the Director of Orchestras at the University of Tennessee (UT), a position he has held since 2003. He oversees and conducts the Orchestra Program, which includes the Symphony Orchestra – winner of the 2023 American Prize in orchestra performance, large ensemble program – Chamber Orchestra, Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the Opera Orchestra.
James is the Principal Guest Conductor with the longtime symphonic show Bugs Bunny at the Symphony. He has led the show with orchestras around the world, including recent engagements with FILMhamonique in Montreal, Canada, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Canada, the San Francisco Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Australia, the l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, Switzerland, the Nashville Symphony, and the famous Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Also, the 2025-2026 season marks his eighth year as Music Director of the Brevard Philharmonic, NC. Concerts include Classical, Holiday, Pops, and Music in the Schools programs, which have been met with critical and popular acclaim.
