Steven L. Reed has been teaching instrumental music in the St. Joseph Public Schools since 1978. Starting out teaching band only, he began teaching strings in 1982 and is now the Conductor of Orchestras and chairman of the Fine Arts Department. He also conducts the Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra program sponsored by the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Reed holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree- cum laude- from Western Michigan University and Graduate credits from the University of Michigan. Mr. Reed was elected "Michigan Orchestra Teacher of the Year" in 1997 by the membership of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA). He has served on the Executive Boards of MSBOA as Vice President of Orchestral Activities and as President of District VI for two terms. The Michigan American String Teachers Association (MASTA) honored Mr. Reed with the MASTA and is presently the President-Elect. He has also been nominated for "Who's Who Among America's Teachers".

Under Mr. Reed's direction, the St. Joseph Orchestras have received top ratings at Michigan School Band and Orchestra Festivals for the past 23 years in a row, and have performed four times at the Midwest Conference on School Vocal and Instrumental Music in Ann Arbor. In the fall of 2004, the St. Joseph High School Symphony Strings were one of two orchestras from Michigan invited to perform at the Western Michigan University Invitational String Festival in Kalamazoo. The St. Joseph High School Symphony Orchestra has participated in the International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna, Austria in 1994, touring Austria, Germany and Switzerland for two weeks after the festival. The St. Joseph Orchestra has also toured Canada performing in concert venues and cathedrals in Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City in 1998 and 2002. And in the summer of 2006, the Orchestra traveled to four major cities in Italy and Austria on a concert tour celebrating Mozart's 250th anniversary.

The St. Joseph Public Schools Orchestra program has grown from a little more than 50 students grades 5-12 to over 350 in the past 23 years. There are now three orchestras at the middle school including an after school Symphony Orchestra with 7th & 8th grade winds and percussion, and three at the high school, a grades 9-12 string orchestra, a grades 10-12 Symphony Orchestra, and an advanced 22 member Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Reed remains active as a professional musician with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Brass Quintet, and the Renaissance String Quartet. He lives in St. Joseph with his wife Susan, the Fine Arts and Education Director for the Salvation Army and professional cellist. Their son Jonathan (20) is a sophomore at Michigan State University majoring in String Bass performance. Jonathan has recently been named Assistant Principal Bass of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Their second son Alex (18) played cello all the way through high school and is now the lead singer and guitarist in a local band known as the "Useful Sound".

Rachel Cabanilla is a graduate of Andrews University, where she earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and has recently received her Masters of Arts Degree from Northwestern University in Chicago.  Born and raised in the Chicago-land area, Ms. Cabanilla started playing piano at age five and violin at seven.  In 1997, she was a finalist in the AU Young Artist Competition and performed as a soloist with the AU Symphony Orchestra.  In 2002, she soloed with the AU Chamber Players.  Ms. Cabanilla was recently awarded a scholarship to attend the International String workshop in Biarritz, France.  Currently, she teaches strings and vocal music for the St. Joseph Public Schools.

 Beth Oeseburg was born and raised in  Kalamazoo, where she began studying violin at age seven.  She went on to study music at Western Michigan University where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree, specializing in violin performance.  Since then, she has performed in the Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and South Bend symphony orchestras, as well as the Southwest Michigan Symphony and LaPorte County Orchestra.  She is currently teaching in the Saint Joseph school orchestra program as Artist in Residence for high strings, as well as teaching privately through the Salvation Army music program on both violin and viola.  Beth currently performs in the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra as assistant concertmaster, and in the LaPorte Symphony as associate concertmaster.