Wendy Stuart – Philharmonia Orchestra
Wendy 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.
Wendy Stuart is honored to serve as the conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, one of the four ensembles that comprise the Oakland Youth Orchestras. She has been with OYO since 2011.
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 Master 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.