Dr. Johannes Dietrich, Newton and Adelaide Burgner Endowed Professor of Music and director of the LVC Symphony Orchestra, recently conducted the PMEA District 7 Orchestra. More than 100 high school students from southcentral Pennsylvania participated in the festival which was hosted by Eastern York High School and Amanda Fortney ’02, M’14, orchestra director. The program included the Pennsylvania premiere of Stella Sung’s “The Phoenix Rising” and Steven Amundson’s “Longing for Your Return.”  

Dr. Johannes Dietrich, Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professor in Instrumental Music and conductor of the LVC Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, earned third place in The American Prize in Orchestral Programming contest, the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award, 2017–2018. The national competition included finalists Cornell University, Davidson College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Washington. According to their release, The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, national competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles, and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.