Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts (Tampa, Fla.) has announced the appointment of GREGORY RUFFER and STEPHEN P. BROWN as artistic director and principal conductor, respectively, of the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra. Ruffer was formerly director of choral activities and applied voice at the College of Central Florida. From 2002 to 2010 he was music director of the Orlando (Fla.) Chorale. He spent nine years teaching instrumental and vocal music in schools in Ohio and Washington, D.C. Ruffer holds bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and is currently pursuing an Ed.D. degree from Columbia University Teachers College. Brown, originally from Rochester, England, has conducted orchestras in Europe, Africa, and North America, and has served as an associate student conductor for the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He is a graduate of the U.K.’s Trinity College of Music.
Posted June 21, 2011
