Jeffrey Phelps is in his first year as Orchestra Director at the Governor’s School for the Arts. His recent conducting appearances include debuts with the Virginia Symphony, the Artemis Chamber Orchestra and the Williamsburg Youth Orchestra as their Music Director from 2003-2007. For three years, Jeff was sponsored by the Switzerland-based Foundation Thyll-Durr, enabling him to travel to Elba, Italy to further study conducting and teach chamber music. As a cellist, Jeff has been as part of the Tarab Cello Ensemble and the sections of several regional and festival orchestras for performances in halls including Severance Hall and the Kennedy Center. His most treasured musical experiences have included playing Beethoven quartets in Carnegie Hall with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, sharing a stand with Yo-Yo Ma for Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 and every time he has had the honor of standing on the podium in front of the talented and dedicated young professionals at the Governor's School. The Cleveland Institute of Music awarded Jeff with undergraduate and graduate degrees in cello performance, eurhythmics (minor) and orchestral conducting. His most influential teachers have included Raymond Pancarowicz (as a Governor's School student from 1993-1995), Leslie Frittelli, Richard Aaron, Alan Harris, Joseph Gifford, every member of the Cleveland Orchestra and every soul that is brave enough to write music. His primary interests include silence, travel, Carlos Kleiber, expensive meals, hiking and the outdoors, tension, patterns, moderation, extremes, inconsistency, mirror neurons, the attitude of late-sixties garage bands, courage, and lunacy.