Meet Our Concertmasters and Artistic Team

Dr. Mark Liu

Music Director
Conductor, Symphony Orchestras

Dr. Mark Liu began teaching in 2002 as a member of the Indian Prairie School District music staff. During his tenure in the district, the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation has recognized him as a Most Influential Educator. Additionally, he has been recognized as an Outstanding Educator by Boston College (2009), Illinois Institute of Technology (2007), Western Illinois University (2008), and MIT (2017). Additionally, Dr. Liu received the Music Inspiration Award from Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (2018) and the Distinguished Secondary Teacher Award from Northwestern University (2018). Dr. Liu received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Wheaton College (2001), Master of Music with orchestral conducting emphasis from Northwestern University (2006), Master of Arts in educational leadership from Aurora University (2008), and Doctor of Musical Arts in music education from Boston University (2016), with quantitative research that focused on the impact of psychological needs fulfillment and music motivation.

Dr. Liu was the Wheaton College-Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition winner, and he performed the Elgar Cello Concerto with the conservatory’s symphony orchestra in 2001. His conducting mentors include Dan Sommerville (Wheaton College), Mallory Thompson (Northwestern University), Victor Yampolsky (Northwestern University), Donald Schleicher (University of Illinois), and Ho Chung Yeh (former Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). Before his current position as the orchestra director at Metea Valley High School, Dr. Liu served as the symphony orchestra director at Chicago Merit School of Music, Maine East High School, and Waubonsie Valley High School. He is also currently the music director of Youth Symphony of DuPage (YSDP), which has collaborated with noted artists such as Mr. Robert Chen (Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and world-renowned violin soloist, Rachel Barton Pine. Dr. Liu is also the orchestra director at the College of DuPage.

Dr. Liu has presented at ILMEA state conferences on string pedagogy and rehearsal methods and served frequently as an honors festival clinician and conductor. He is a member of NAfME (National Association for Music Education), ASTA (American String Teachers Association), and the Conductors Guild. He has served as the ILMEA (Illinois Music Educators Association) District IX Orchestra Chair and the ILMEA All-State Orchestra chairperson. Dr. Liu is currently the ILMEA Orchestra Division State President.

 

Carrie Provost

Conductor, Concert Orchestra

Carrie Provost earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois and a Master’s Degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University. Mrs. Provost is a retired member of the string faculty in Wheaton-Warrenville School District 200, teaching at Franklin Middle School for thirty years. She served as the co-director of the Naperville Youth Symphony Orchestra from its inception, growing the program to 150 musicians over three years. Mrs. Provost occasionally teaches summer graduate classes in String Pedagogy at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. Mrs. Provost was a finalist for the Golden Apple Excellence in Teaching Award in 1999, was awarded the Illinois ASTA School Teacher of the year in 2010, and was named a Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator from Quinlan & Fabish Music Company in 2016. Mrs. Provost is a frequent adjudicator at contests, as well as a guest conductor for orchestra festivals, and is a violinist in the DuPage Symphony Orchestra. She is a certified yoga teacher and teaches yoga classes at the Wheaton Sport Center. She is married to Bob, a retired orchestra teacher, and they have three daughters and three grandchildren. They share a passion for active travel and have been bicycled in nine countries.

 

Daryl Silberman

Conductor, Philharmonia Strings, Sinfonia Strings

Ms. Daryl Silberman is a professional violinist/violist and an orchestra director at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, IL, District 204. “Ms. S ” studied viola at the University of Colorado at Boulder, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and University of Southern California. She has been a private studio teacher, high school orchestra director, youth orchestra director and freelance violist and violinist in Salem, Oregon, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area performing with regional orchestras, rock bands, movie studio orchestras, chamber groups, and baroque ensembles. Daryl has collaborated with husband Danny Seidenberg in their baroque violin duo DuettoDS2 and contemporary group UnBande and she was the violinist of the local Krizalido Piano Trio. She has served as a guest conductor and clinician for middle and high school orchestras all around the country and has presented at many national and state educator conferences. She was named as one of “50 Directors Who Make a Difference” in 2011 by School Band and Orchestra magazine. In her free time, she is an avid yogi and proud mom of two college students. www.daryls.com.

Jiwon Kim

String Chamber Ensembles Coach

Jiwon Kim has been with YSDP as a chamber ensemble coach since 2019. Ms. Kim is very happy to be able to share her passion for playing and teaching chamber music with students at YSDP. She studied Viola at a graduate school with Rami Solomonov at DePaul University (Chicago) and earned a Bachelor’s degree when she studied with Mr. Sydney Curtis at Temple University (Philadelphia) and Atar Arad at Indiana University (Bloomington). She studied at Seoul Arts High School in Seoul, South Korea. She debuted as a soloist with New Seoul Philharmonic Orchestras when she was a sophomore in college and also performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras in Korea and performed in Philadelphia, Haddonfield, N.J., WI, Elmhurst, Chicago, as a solo Violist, a chamber musician, and a freelance Violist.
She was a church music director for five years in Des Plaines, Illinois. She has been a private studio teacher throughout Naperville and the surrounding suburban areas. She is a mom of two children and lives in Naperville.


 

Harris Jordan

Wood Winds Brass Chamber Ensembles Coach

Harris has earned both a BA and MM in Horn Performance from North Central College and Northern Illinois, respectively. Harris is an active performer and is a regular member of the DuPage Symphony, the Fox Valley Orchestra, the Naperville Municipal Band, and was a founding member of the Molten Brass Quintet. In addition to performing, Harris maintains a private studio in the Aurora and Oswego areas and teaches lessons to begin band students through high school graduates. Harris’s goal as a teacher is to help students of all ages develop confidence in their instruments and enjoy making music. Outside of performing and teaching, Harris is a brass repair technician at PM Music Center and enjoys time off with his wife and their poodle Oscar.

 

Ken Kazin

Percussion Coordinator

Ken Kazin is pleased to join the YSDP artistic team! Ken has been the director of bands at Evergreen Park Community High School for nearly 40 years. His responsibilities include Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, Marching Band, and Percussion Performance Class, as well as teaching “Rock Band” and A.P. Music Theory. Mr. Kazin, received degrees from Vander Cook College of Music. He has completed additional coursework at ISU, Eastern and DePaul. Conducting credits include numerous concerts and contests, including a number of Super State appearances with the EPCHS Bands at the Krannert Center in Urbana. He has served as Guest Conductor / Clinician /Judge/Performer for ILMEA, SWIC, SCC, IHSA, SPC, Little Seven and SICA. He has conducted and performed shows at many Chicago venues, including The Court Theatre, The Park West, and Stage 773, as well as community theatres such as the Oak Lawn Park District, The Beverly Theatre Guild, and The Drama Group. As a musician, Ken currently serves as the principal percussionist for the Southwest Symphony Orchestra and if regularly hired as a jobbing percussionist. He recently has performed three European tours with SDG, including two studio recordings. Other recording credits include Minor Annoyance, Dash Red, The Ambassadors, and TRIX. Mr. Kazin has served on the Illinois Arts Council, and is a member of NAFME, NAJE, and PAS,and is a member of good standing with the Chicago Federation of Musicians. Ken is supported by his talented wife, Amy, and their 3 awesome children, Jason, MacKenzie and Keaton.