GRYS & CO Staff
Joel Schut
Music Director
Grand Rapids Youth Symphony
Email: jschut@grsymphony.org
Joel Schut is Music Director of the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony and Director of Orchestras at Grand Valley State University where he teaches courses in conducting, orchestral performance, and music education. He previously served on faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Crane School of Music SUNY-Potsdam, and in the Michigan public schools. He is an active clinician for all-state, regional, and honor orchestras, and a passionate advocate for school music programs throughout the country.
As a conductor, he has appeared with the Crane Symphony Orchestra, GVSU Symphony Orchestra, Michigan State Opera Theatre, Michigan State Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Colorado Boulder Symphony, Philharmonia, and Chamber Orchestras. He served as Music Director of the Livingston Symphony Orchestra, founding director of the Detroit Medical Orchestra, conductor of the Denver Young Artists Conservatory Orchestra, conductor of the St. Cecilia Music Center Philharmonic Orchestra, and organizer of the Michigan Teachers Orchestra. He has collaborated with a range of professional artists including Andrés Cárdenas and Ralph Votapek and commissioned works for string and full orchestra.
Passionate about inspiring the next generation of performers and teachers, he has conducted and performed with students in the US, China, Germany, Honduras, Tunisia, Mexico, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. A graduate of the YOA Orchestra of the Americas Global Leaders Program, he served as a program mentor connecting innovators in youth orchestra education throughout the Americas. He has presented at the Midwest Clinic, American String Teachers Association National Conference, the Modern Conducting Academy, and at state conferences including Texas TMEA, Colorado CMEA, and Michigan MMC. He is past editor of the American String Teacher Journal, and his publications have been featured in Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra (GIA), Teaching Instrumental Music (Oxford), Southwestern Musician Magazine, and the American String Teacher Journal. He received his Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from Michigan State University, Masters in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Colorado-Boulder and Bachelors in Violin Performance and Music Education from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance where he was awarded the Albert A. Stanley Medal, the school’s highest honor.
Kristen Shoup
Music Director
Classical Orchestra
Email: kshoup@grsymphony.org
Kristen Shoup has been a cornerstone of the West Michigan music community since 1992, performing as a violist with the Grand Rapids Symphony and serving as an educator and conductor since 1994. She began her teaching career at Sylvan and Oakdale Christian, and soon moved on to mentor students in other orchestra programs, including Calvin Christian, West Side Christian, and the West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts Association.
In 2001, she joined John Varineau as his assistant for the recently established Classical Orchestra.
A graduate of Western Michigan University (B.M. in Music Education) and the Eastman School of Music (M.M. in Viola Performance and Literature), she is currently in her second year as an orchestra director at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
When she isn’t on the podium or in the viola section, she lives in Grand Rapids with her husband, Ted, and their two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth. Their home is kept lively by two famously rowdy dogs, Aurora and Steve. You can usually spot her by her signature teal hair and a caffeine source never far from her hand.
Madison Roesler
Manager
Grand Rapids Youth Symphony & Classical Orchestra
Email: mroesler@grsymphony.org
Madison Roesler is the current Youth Symphony & Classical Orchestra Manager & Operations Assistant. She is a classically trained soprano with extensive experience in arts administration, program coordination, and performing arts operations. She is passionate about supporting young musicians and creating meaningful experience for students and families.
Her recent work in higher education at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music has spanned both Admissions and Student Affairs, where she has supported students and families throughout the entire student journey—from the audition and application process through orientation, campus life, and commencement. She also taught in the Pre-College program, working directly with young singers in their musical development. Madison holds both a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
In addition to her administration and teaching work, she remains active as a performer and sings locally with the West Michigan Opera Project. A proud alum of the Grand Rapids Youth Chorus, Madison is excited to return to her roots in the Grand Rapids community and support the next generation of musicians through the Youth Symphony and Classical Orchestra program.
