Advisory Board

Professor Hilary Apfelstadt
Professor Apfelstadt is Director of Choral Activities and Coordinator of Graduate Conducting for the School of Music at the Ohio State University. Her areas of expertise include choral conducting and pedagogy, choral repertoire, music for women's voices, and leadership styles among conductors. Dr. Apfelstadt's collegiate choral ensembles have performed by invitation at regional and national ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) conventions as well as at other educational conferences. Active as guest conductor and clinician, Dr. Apfelstadt has conducted numerous honor choirs and all-state choruses in the U.S., Canada and Cuba. Professor Apfelstadt, who sang for several years with the Robert Shaw Institute Singers, has published more than 70 articles on choral music and education. She is a national president of ACDA and a past-president of Central Division ACDA. Dr. Apfelstadt serves on the editorial boards of three professional journals. She is also Director of Music at Linworth United Methodist Church in Columbus.

Leonid Polonsky
Violinist Leonid Polonsky joined the Columbus Symphony in 1990 and went on to become the Associate Concertmaster in 1994. A native of Moscow, Mr. Polonsky received his musical training at the Gnessin Special School for Gifted Children and the Gnessin Institute. Before coming to Columbus, Mr. Polonsky performed as Concertmaster of the Moscow State Orchestra, Assistant Concertmaster of the Moscow Philharmonic and as a soloist with the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.

Evangelia Philippidis
Evangelia Philippidis is editorial features illustrator for The Columbus Dispatch where she has spent the past 18 years presenting visual stories of humanity and hubris, technology and spirituality, passion and pathos through award winning images that reflect both her Greek heritage and modern influences. She has held solo exhibitions at the Hellenic Heritage Museum in Chicago, Illinois, The Annuciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Columbus, Ohio, the Dublin Arts Council and Gallery 853. She is adjunct instructor of Senior illustration and Professional Practices at the Columbus College of Art and Design, and a member of the Curiculum Advisory Board for the Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology.