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 “Teacher of the Year” Award in 2004 and he is currently the immediate Past- President. Most recently, Mr. Reed has just received the “National String Educator’s Award” from the American String Teachers Association, named the Elizabeth Green Award after the well known University of Michigan string educator.  This award was presented to Mr. Reed at the National ASTA Conference on March 21, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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 and three at the high school, including 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 Coordinator of Music for the Citadel Dance and Music Center and professional cellist.  Their son Jonathan (23) is a senior at Michigan State University majoring in String Bass performance and is Assistant Principal Bass of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, as a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony, and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.  Their second son Alex (21) played cello all the way through high school and is now the lead guitarist in a Tallahassee, Florida band known as “Go Radio”.

Originally from the Chicago area, Rachel G. Cabanilla began her musical studies at age five, playing piano nd violin. Ms. Cabanilla earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish at Andrews University.  In 2007 she completed a Masters Degree in String Pedagogy and Music Education from Northwestern University. Ms. Cabanilla has served as a clinician at several MSBOA Mid-level Clinics and also teaches regularly at MASTA Summer String Camp. Currently she works for Saint Joseph Public Schools, teaching Orchestra and General Music at Upton Middle School. Ms. Cabanilla plays violin and viola professionally and maintains a small studio through the Citadel Dance and Music Center. She is married to Sean Sinnett, a professional violinist and local violin/viola instructor through Andrews University and the Citadel Dance and Music Center.

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 Orchestra and LaPorte County Orchestra.  She is currently teaching in the Saint Joseph Public School orchestra program as Artist in Residence for high strings, as well as teaching privately through the Citadel Dance and 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.