Musical Director and Junior/Debut Director Sheila Bateman brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Snoqualmie Strings. The Snoqualmie resident grew up in Newcastle, where she began studying the violin at age 4 and later played in the Seattle Youth Symphony. She then attended Brigham Young University, where she played with the BYU Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras, and studied violin privately with Barbara Williams. She studied conducting with Paul Broomhead at BYU and Will Kesling at USU. She earned a BS from BYU in 1990 and a MS from USU in 1994, when she began teaching violin privately. She moved to Snoqualmie in 2004, and in 2009 founded the Snoqualmie Strings Youth Orchestra. She has also served as the music director for her church's regional choir and orchestra (2007-2018), as well as the Assistant Choral Conductor for the Ensign Symphony and Chorus (2013-2019), and Ensign Youth Chorus Director (2017-2019). She currently plays in the Ensign Symphony in addition to maintaining her private studio and Snoqualmie Strings.
Sheila is an avid arranger and transcriber, with over 50 pieces of music for her church choir, youth orchestra, and Ensign Chorus. Making arrangements of great classics, such as Dvorak's New World Symphony and Beethoven's 5th, to be played by all levels of Snoqualmie Strings together remains one of her favorite activities.
Youth Orchestra Director Nate Sharp is a recent graduate of Central Washington University with degrees in Upright Bass Performance and Instrumental Music Education. In addition to symphony orchestra concerts, Nate performs professionally in many other capacities including rock, country, jazz, folk, and dance/pop bands.
Despite his young age, Nate Sharp has a long resume of teaching music to students. Nate served as camp counselor at Central Washington University Jazz Camp in Ellensburg, Washington and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Muskegon, Michigan. In addition to many volunteer opportunities, Nate has coached middle and high school jazz ensembles, as well as small string ensembles in Ellensburg School District.
Nate Sharp teaches because he believes the most noble thing you can do with music is share it with others.