Will Whitehead
Director of Orchestras

Mr. William "Will" Whitehead is going into his 2nd year as the Director of Orchestras at Braden River High School, and currently serves as Principal Viola of the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra and the Bradenton Symphony Orchestra. 

Mr. Whitehead began study of music at the age of 12 years old with the pianist Andrew Whittington. Upon beginning study of viola in his freshman year at Venice High School, he was mentored by Shawn Snider, principal viola of the Venice Symphony Orchestra, and the Sun City Chamber Players as their Young Artist Chamber Music Apprentice. He has served as violist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Venice

Symphony Orchestra, and Acting Principal of the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Whitehead was a finalist in the Northwest Florida Symphony Concerto Competition in 2015 (Honorable Mention) and 2016, and was 1 of 7 finalists in the 2016 Florida State University Young Artist Competition, open to both Bachelors and Masters music students. He was a guest soloist at the 2016 ASTA National Conference as a part of the presentation "No Joke! 200 Years of Original Viola Caprices by Composer-Performers."

As a conductor and educator, Mr. Whitehead has conducted the Sarasota Youth Symphony, Tallahassee Youth Chamber Orchestra, and FSU Summer Band and Campus Orchestra. In the summer of 2016, Mr. Whitehead was a chamber music coach and theory instructor at Camp Encore/Coda in Sweden, ME. He also spent 2 years as Chamber Music Coach for the Leon High School Orchestras, where he was also guest conductor. Mr. Whitehead maintained a private string studio, "Whitehead Strings", for 3 years.

Mr. Whitehead holds the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Florida State University, where he studied viola performance and pedagogy with Dr. Pamela Ryan, string education with Dr. Kasia Bugaj, and conducting with Dr. Alex Jimenez. He is pursuing the online Master of Music in Music Education at Kent State University.

Ken Bowermeister
1st Violin Coach

Bio forthcoming!

Nikki Rinsema
2nd Violin Coach

​Bio forthcoming!

Sherry Lowe
Viola Coach

Bio forthcoming!

Lorraine English
Cello Coach

​Bio forthcoming!

John Miller
Double Bass Coach

John Miller serves as Principal Bass of the Sarasota Orchestra. He holds the Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University, and the Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory. He served as a fellow of the New World Symphony from 1990-1993.