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President

Now in his 52nd year as a teacher of stringed instruments, President Francis Elliot has enjoyed a distinguished career in violin teaching and performing. As a retiree, he continues teaching private students at a music academy in Crossville. He also remains active as a clinician and consultant for the string programs in the public schools in Tennessee and in surrounding states.

Secretary

Secretary Melissa Allen teaches a private studio of 45 violin and viola students in Maryville, Tennessee. She serves as the Certificate Program for Strings chair for Tennessee and acts as webmaster for the state's ASTA site. A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado with additional studies at Colorado State University and with members of the Santa Fe Opera orchestra, she has played violin in a variety of orchestras in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Tennessee. She has taught middle school and high school orchestra in Greeley, Colorado and has served as faculty for music camps in Breckenridge, Colorado and Cookeville, Tennessee. Her additional interests include atmospheric acoustics and aviation.

Treasurer

Sara Johnson has been teaching Orchestra in the Metro Nashville Public Schools at the Middle School and High School levels for twenty-three years. She also teaches Strings Methods at Belmont University, and Suzuki Violin at Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music. Currently serving as Treasurer for the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, Mrs. Johnson is also a Past-President. She continues to be active in the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, and is a charter member of the Trevecca Symphony Orchestra and of the Centennial String Quartet in which she plays viola. Mrs. Johnson graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Iowa, and attained her Plus-30 from MTSU and Cumberland University. She has been listed in five editions of "Who's Who Among America's Teachers", and has been a Clinician for the Quad State Orchestra Festival, the All-West Junior High Orchestra, Metro Summer Orchestra Camp, and the UNC Asheville Summer Music Camp.

News Letter Editor

News Letter Editor David Pope teaches strings at Maryville Middle School. He completed his Master of Music Education degree at the University of South Carolina and his Bachelor of Music Education at Florida State University. At the University of South Carolina, he served as the Graduate Assistant and Conductor of the Concertino Orchestra at the USC String Project. Additionally, Mr. Pope has served as cello coach for the Tallahassee Youth Symphony and as guest clinician for the Florence All-City Orchestra during 2005 and the ETSBOA Junior Orchestra Clinic in 2008. Mr. Pope has taught at numerous summer camps in Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina and has participated in festivals in Tennessee, Florida, and Arkansas. His playing experience includes performing with orchestras in Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. An avid golfer, Mr. Pope both plays and coaches golf as opportunity allows.

Solo Competition Chair

Formerly on the music faculties of Florida International University and the Sewanee Summer Music Camp, Solo Competition Chair Wesley Baldwin currently serves as associate professor of cello at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with the Diaz Trio, the Miami String Quartet, Michael Tilson Thomas, and has appeared at the Aspen, Cazenovia, Ojai, Sandpoint, Mainly Mozart, May in Miami, Skaneateles, and Subtropics Music Festivals. Internationally he has performed in chamber concerts in Italy, France, Monte Carlo, Spain, Austria, Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and Costa Rica. As a member and principal cellist of the New World Symphony, Baldwin performed with many of the world's great conductors, and toured Japan, Scotland, England, Argentina, and Brazil. An enthusiast for education and cello playing, he has conducted workshops and master classes throughout the U.S. He is the founder and director of the Tennessee Cello Workshop, an annual three-day seminar for young cellists. In the summer he performs and teaches at the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts, the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival, and at the Wintergreen Festival, where he serves as associate principal cello. He is featured as cellist on several CD labels and has won numerous awards for both teaching and performance.

President-Elect

Conductor of the University Orchestra and the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, President-Elect Dan Allcott serves as assistant professor of cello and director of orchestras at Tennessee Tech University. Mr. Allcott holds cello performance degrees from Indiana University and Drake University and has recently undergone formal conducting studies with veteran opera conductor Imre Pallo at Indiana University, where he has completed his coursework towards his Doctorate in Music. Mr. Allcott has received numerous national and international awards for his conducting, and he has conducted in master classes with Michael Tilson Thomas and Gunther Schuller with the American Symphony Orchestra League and the Conductors' Guild. As Music Director with Atlanta Ballet he conducted over 150 performances. His commitment to string education is evident in his involvement in many educational initiatives. As Associate Conductor/Director of Education for the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and Music Director of the Columbus Youth Orchestra, Allcott also nurtured a start-up after school string program into a string ensemble and Youth Orchestra including students from a 3 county area. He also led the "Phil's Family Jam" pre-concert program for families and conducted the "Adventure Concert" series for 3rd and 4th graders, which grew its participation to include a 5 county area in South Central Indiana.

Past Presidents

We are now maintaining an online archive of past presidents of Tennessee ASTA. If you can help complete the archive, please send additions to: webmaster@tnasta.org