Our Staff

Music director

SYMPHONIC CONDUCTOR

Michael van Dongen is a conductor, violinist, arranger, and teacher. He earned a Bachelor of Music at McMaster University in Hamilton, studying with violinist Marta Hidy. He has been working with the NYOA since 1997, has been conducting with the organization for more than 20 years and is now the Music Director of the Niagara Youth Symphonic Orchestra.

Michael currently works as a warehouse associate with Crossroads C & I. From 1994 to 2021 he taught with Niagara Elementary Instrumental Music in the District School Board of Niagara. Michael is a freelance violinist and has been a member of the Niagara Symphony since 1995, Playing in the first violin section. Michael is a member of the group Jack van Ginger, a cover band of mostly Canadiana music around the Niagara Region. He is also often found performing in some fantastic shows at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls.

George Cleland - Concert conductor UPPER STRINGS COACH

George Cleland has been a conductor of  the Niagara Youth Concert Orchestra since  2022, Brock University String Orchestra  since 2017 and the Peninsula Orchestra  since 2009.  He was a finalist in the  Timmins Symphony Orchestra Conductor  Search, conducting a concert in May 2016  and the Milton Philharmonic Orchestra conductor search, conducting a concert in February 2024.   

George plays regularly as a violinist with the Niagara Symphony, the Brantford Symphony  Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, the  Burlington New Millennium Orchestra and the World Rock Symphony Orchestra.  He was a member of the World Rock Symphony Bangkok tour of Return to Grace in 2015 and played in Toronto for the Bolshoi Ballet’s tour of North America in a production of Swan Lake in  2012.  He is the violinist for Garden City Productions, playing in Fiddler on the Roof,  Spamalot, The Addams Family Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Oliver and Brigadoon, and inRural Stages Productions, playing The Last Five Years. George was hired as a skilled extra  in the Murdoch Mysteries tv show Murder in F Major.  

George has been an upper strings instructor and assistant conductor for Niagara Youth  Orchestra, an instructor for Suzuki Niagara, and on staff at Brock University since 2003.   George has also been the orchestral strings instructor for the Niagara Symphony Summer Music Camp since 2021. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Music from the University of Akron.

LIsa donati - Concert conductor BRASS & WINDS COACH

Lisa Donati completed her Bachelor of Music Performance at Wilfrid Laurier  University, and her Masters of Music  Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England.  She  studied with international soloists Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins, and the natural and baroque horns with Andrew Clark. Lisathen continued studies in Toronto at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Artist Diploma Program. Lisa has played with the National Youth Orchestra of  Canada, the National  Academy Orchestra of Canada, the  London International Orchestra of  Academia, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra in England. 

During her time in London, Lisa performed with the London Sinfonietta at such  engagements as the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, the ReOpening of the Royal  Festival Hall broadcast live on BBC Radio, and recorded with them for EMI Records at  Abbey Road Studios.  Lisa  has also performed  with the Toronto Philharmonia, the  Niagara Symphony Orchestra, The  Windsor Symphony Orchestra,  Orchestra London, and Toronto’s  Trillium Brass Quintet. 

Lisa is the Orchestra Conductor at the Niagara Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Camp and brass faculty since 2011.  She has been the Wind and Brass coach of the Niagara YouthOrchestra since 2011, and is a regular guest Conductor and Coach of the Peninsula  Orchestra.  Lisa maintains a studio of brass students, many of whom have gone on to study music at McGill, Toronto, Laurier, and Brock Universities. 

CRAIG SNOWDEN PERCUSSION COACH

Originally from Beamsville, Ontario, Craig  began studying drums at the age of 11 with the Niagara Instrumental Music program.  Throughout high school, he was a member of the Niagara Youth Orchestra, and also  performed with several concert bands  throughout the Niagara Region. Craig  continued his percussion studies at Wilfrid Laurier  University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Music Degree in percussion performance and  then attended the Glenn Gould Professional School, where he graduated with an Artist  Diploma in  percussion performance. 

While at the Glenn Gould School, Craig was a member of the Royal Conservatory Orchestraunder the direction of world class conductors and was also actively involved in chamber  music. Craig continues to be an active freelance artist in Ontario. He has performed with theNiagara Symphony, Windsor Symphony, Talisker Players, Kingston Symphony, Toronto  Sinfonietta, ERGO Projects, ESPRIT Orchestra, KitchenerWaterloo Symphony, Thunder Bay  Symphony, Brantford Symphony, London Sinfonia, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra,  Chorus Niagara, Orpheus Choir, National Academy Orchestra, and the National Youth  Orchestra of Canada. He has also performed in musical theatre with The Shaw Festival, Drayton Entertainment and Theatre Aquarius. 

ROB WOLANSKI LOWER STRINGS COACH

Rob Wolanski is Principal Bass of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and regularly plays section bass for the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and many other ensembles. In the summer months, Rob plays in several music festivals including the Brott Music Festival and the Westben Festival. Rob is also active as an electric bass player performing with several groups in the Rock, Folk and Country genres including the Scottish Country Dance band, Scotch Mist and Canadian Country music artists including Brad James, Ryan Langdon, Tim Hebert and others. 

Gordon cleland LOWER STRINGS COACH

Principal cellist of the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, Gordon Cleland has performed across North America. He has appeared as a soloist with the Niagara Symphony (Schumann Concerto in A minor and Vivaldi Double Concerto in G minor with cellist Gisela Depkat) and for the Debut Series in Montreal. He has extensive experience as a chamber musician, notably as a member of Trio Surgite with Erika Reiman on piano and fellow Niagara Symphony member Vera Alekseeva on violin. He is a regularly featured artist for the Encore! Series at Brock University. Gordon has broadcast frequently for CBC FM Radio and has performed on TV5, the international French television network. His strong interest in contemporary and Canadian music is reflected in the repertoire he performs. In addition to his activities as a performer, Gordon has made a strong commitment to music education. He teaches cello at Brock University and is an instructor with Suzuki Niagara and the Niagara Youth Orchestra. He has been a featured performer for the Concertino Program of Jeunesses musicales, whose artists are carefully chosen for their pedagogical skills and their ability to communicate with young people. Gordon has adjudicated music festivals across Canada and runs a private studio in the Niagara region. Gordon started his musical training in London, Ontario, and completed his studies with a Master of Music degree from Boston University. His principal teachers were George Neikrug, Walter Joachim, and Gisela Depkat.

Zack Ziyi Guo Training Strings coach

Started playing the violin at the age of 16 and viola at 17, Zack Guo is currently a student in Master of Viola Performance at Western University studying with Professor Sharon Wei. He began playing the violin while a Laura Secord Secondary School student and started taking private lessons in grade 11. In Zack’s final year in high school, he received the 2018 string award, two first prizes at the St. Catharines Kiwanis Music Festival, performed at the Stars of the Festival performance and advanced to the final of the Ontario Provincial Music Competition.Zack began his music studies at Brock in 2018 with a Concentration in Performance. Being the principal violist and librarian of the Brock String Orchestra, he performed a solo part in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with the string orchestra and received the St. Catharines, Peter D’Achille Aspiring Artist Award. First year at Western, Zack was one of the music students to play alongside the New Orford String Quartet, The Light of East Ensemble, and performed in the opera Hansel and Gretel. Outside of school, Zack is a long-term invited violist with Chorus Hamilton and has performed choral work, Considering Matthew Shepard. As a violist in the Niagara region, Zack holds a teacher certification from Suzuki Ontario, as well as an invited performer with the Niagara Folk Arts Festival. Zack is one of the Niagara Symphony Summer Camp string teachers and is currently the training strings instructor and upper string coach of the Niagara Youth Orchestra.

michael rosenberger training brass & winds coach

Michael Rosenberger holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Master of Music in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Michelle Reed Baker, former 2nd Horn of the Metropolitan Opera.

He won a position with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada three times, highlighted by performing Principal Horn in Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis in Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. A two-time member of Boris Brott’s National Academy Orchestra, he was the recipient of the Players’ Choice Award. While in New York, he performed with the Chelsea Opera, DiCapo Opera, and the Ensemble du Monde Chamber Orchestra.

Overseas, he has played in the Opera Ischia Festival Orchestra, and taught and performed at the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno/Sterzing, Italy. Michael is an active freelancer, playing with the Masterworks of Oakville, Niagara Symphony Orchestra, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Concert Orchestra, and Windsor Symphony Orchestra.

He coaches with the Niagara Youth Orchestra, with whom he is an alumnus, maintains a private teaching studio, and is an avid music arranger.