ZELJKO MILICEVIC – SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Zeljko Milicevic earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Violin Performance from Wayne State University and his Master of Music in Education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 2007, he completed the Certificate in Orchestral Studies from Wayne State University with an emphasis in Conducting and Violin Performance.

A sought-after clinician and adjudicator, Milicevic began his service in public education in 1990 and has taught music to students at all grade levels. He has led orchestra programs in Royal Oak Neighborhood Schools, Utica Community Schools, and Farmington Public Schools. He retired from Oxford Community Schools in 2015 where he was Director of Orchestras and District String Coordinator, grades K-12. Additionally, he has been Adjunct Professor of String Pedagogy at Oakland University in Rochester, MI since 2005.

A member of the Flint Symphony Orchestra since 1987, Milicevic was appointed to the position of Associate Concertmaster in 2011. His role as Concertmaster of the Bijou Orchestra, a select 13-member salon theatre orchestra located in Bay City, MI, has afforded him numerous memorable performances in the mid-Michigan area including the revival of silent movies set to live music, performing as soloist, and presenting period reviews in concert specializing in music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. He has also performed with many of Michigan’s regional orchestras including the Michigan Opera Theatre, Saginaw-Bay Orchestra and The Midland Symphony Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, his career includes engagements with numerous ensembles. He performs with the Ivybrooke Strings where he engages in a variety of chamber music settings including trios and quartets and specializing in violin and piano duo. The duo enjoys performing recitals and performing for community groups in the Rochester area. Milicevic is also a violinist with the Classic Impressions String Quartet comprised of principals of the Flint Symphony Orchestra. His most recent recording projects include a musical portrayal based on the book Einstein’s Dreams with the Bijou Orchestra, and the piano trios of Mendelssohn and Haydn recorded with the Ivybrooke Strings. As an outreach of the Flint Symphony Orchestra, he is a violinist with the Troubadours ensemble.

Milicevic has previously directed the Lake St. Clair Symphony and Symphony of the Lakes. Presently, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra; the Detroit Medical Orchestra at the Medical School at Wayne State University, and the Oakland University Chamber Orchestra. Milicevic has been a part of the OYO family since 1994, serving as Senior Conductor with the Oakland Youth Orchestras directing the Symphony Orchestra.

WENDY STUART – PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA

Wendy Stuart is honored to serve as the conductor the Philharmonia Orchestra and has been with OYO since 2011.

Ms. Stuart is the Orchestra Director at Troy High School. Under her direction, Troy High Orchestras have been featured at the Michigan Music Conference, received the highest ratings at adjudicated festivals in Michigan and Florida, and have performed nationally and internationally. Before her move to Troy in fall of 2021, she taught for 21 years in the Clarkston Community Schools, where she developed the then newer Orchestra program from its third year of existence (with only three grade levels) to the current program that features three high school Orchestras and multiple middle school/junior high orchestras. Under her direction, the Clarkston Orchestra program was featured at the Michigan Music Conference, traveled extensively, and performed at consistently high levels at MSBOA Festivals. Prior to joining the music faculty in Clarkston and Troy, she spent a year beginning a new string program in a district east of Cincinnati, OH.

Ms. Stuart is an advocate for music education in Michigan. In addition to her school program and youth orchestra, she works with many levels of Orchestras as a clinician; from day long workshops/Honors Orchestras to pre-festival clinics. She enjoys giving presentations at conferences for music educators and mentoring student teachers. She is also an adjudicator for MSBOA Solo and Ensemble festivals throughout the state, where she can use her experience gained from more than twenty years as a cello teacher. She has taught at many summer music camps, including conducting at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Masterworks Orchestra, Troy Sound Power Camp and serves as music director for the MASTA String Camp, Session III since 2023.

Ms. Stuart earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Cello Performance from Eastern Michigan University and her teaching certification and Masters of Music in Music Education from the University of Michigan. In addition to her degrees, she studied orchestral conducting while attending the ASTA International Workshops in Norway and France. Ms. Stuart was the Director of the MASTA String Camp, Session III, for six years and was an Adjunct Professor of String Methods for four years at Concordia University in Ann Arbor. She was MSBOA District IV’s Orchestra Teacher of the Year in 2014 and 2021. In January, 2025, Ms. Stuart was named Teacher of the Year for the Michigan Chapter of the American String Teacher Association.

Ms. Stuart is committed to continuing her own ability, growth and experience as a musician and regularly brings new ideas from her own performing to student orchestra rehearsals. She is the principal cellist for the Oakland and Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestras, and performs with other orchestras and ensembles throughout the year.  

JOHN KENNEDY – STRING ORCHESTRA

John Kennedy has been conductor of the String Orchestra here at OYO since 2002. He had a 30-year career in public school music education, directing orchestras in the Farmington Public Schools, Detroit Public Schools, and in Iowa City, Iowa. He now is an active clinician in schools throughout the area, and is instructor of Bass, Pedagogy, and Chamber Music at Oakland University.

John is internationally recognized as a bassist, clinician and teacher of young string bassists. He is Past-President of the International Society of Bassists, the largest worldwide organization dedicated to the upright bass. He is also a veteran clinician at the Univ. of Michigan Bass Bash, the Golden Gate Bass Camp, the Richard Davis Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin, the Michigan Bass Fest, the Oberlin Bass Workshop and the Milt Hinton Bass Workshop. Mr. Kennedy is a regular performer with many local and regional orchestras. He was formerly Associate Principal Bass of the Honolulu Symphony, and has performed with the Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Toledo, Kalamazoo, New Mexico, and Cedar Rapids symphonies.

As a composer and arranger, John has written dozens of works, both arrangements and original compositions, for youth orchestras and for young bassists. He holds his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in String Bass Performance from the University of Michigan.

NICK KARPINSKY – STUDIO STRING ORCHESTRA

Nick Karpinsky has been a conductor with OYO since 2009 directing the Studio String Orchestra. Nick graduated from Wayne State University in 2009 receiving a Bachelor’s degree in instrumental music education. In 2015 he received his Master’s Degree from Marygrove College in education with a focus in curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

Nick Karpinsky is the Director of Orchestras at North Hills Middle School, Way Elementary, and Eastover Elementary schools in the Bloomfield Hills School District (2023 – present). Previously he was the Director of Orchestras for Seaholm High School and Derby Middle School with the Birmingham Public Schools (2018 – 2023), Director of Orchestras for Waterford Mott High School with the Waterford School District (2011 – 2018), and taught general music in the Warren Consolidated School District (2009 – 2011).

Nick has studied with various violinists including Geoffrey Applegate and Jim Waring. As a violinist, Nick performs with several community orchestras in the metro Detroit area. He has also performed with artists including; Il Divo, Mannheim Steamroller, Aretha Franklin, and Eddie Daniels at venues such as the Fox Theater, Orchestra Hall, and Pine Knob Music Theater.

In addition to performing, Nick enjoys composing and arranging music. He has arranged several pieces for small chamber groups to large, combined works for full orchestra and choir. Nick also enjoys conducting and performing in pit orchestras for musicals. Nick is part of the Rochester Community Schools Musical Directors Teams acting as the pit orchestra conductor for the Summer Music Theater (SMT) program (2022-present) and the Rochester Adams High School spring musicals (2024-present).