Orchestra Faculty
Jessica Morel
Artistic Director & Conductor. Musicopia String Orchestra
Jessica recently joined Musicopia in 2024 as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Musicopia String Orchestra. As conductor for both MSO ensembles, her role includes shaping the musical journey of young students and enhancing the cultural vibrancy of the community through dynamic orchestral performances.
Jessica brings to Musicopia a passion for music education and for developing student musical talent. An experienced youth orchestra conductor, she has served as the Music Director of the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra, the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras Program, and as a conductor for the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras Program. Her previous leadership experience with youth orchestras includes a proven track record of successful program development and increasing student enrollment.
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Alongside her position at Musicopia, Jessica teaches as a Music Lecturer at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. In addition to her experience as a music educator, Jessica served as the Assistant Conductor for the Winston-Salem Symphony for three seasons, and as a guest conductor for the Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte Ballet, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Amarillo Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic, and the Rock Hill Symphony. She also served as the Visiting Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Evansville. A Los Angeles native, Jessica holds degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the University of North Texas (DMA), the University of Nevada Las Vegas (MM), and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Indiana University.
Lorenzo Raval
Coach
Praised for his "beautiful tone" and "exceptional quality of nobility in his playing," Filipino violinist and violist Lorenzo Raval is acclaimed for his versatility and dedication to the numerous aspects of his instruments - as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. Recently Lorenzo was violinist for the Philadelphia and Baltimore shows of Stevie Wonder’s 2024 US Tour. Lorenzo’s playing can be heard on the 2018 GRAMMY Winning recording of Lansing McCloskey's Zealot Canticles with Donald Nally and The Crossing, and in the Netflix movie Candy Jar. Lorenzo is an active performer in the Philadelphia region, regularly playing both violin and viola with the Bay Atlantic Symphony, Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey, and Bucks County Symphony Orchestra. Lorenzo is also a violinist for musical productions with the Arden Theatre Company.
Born and raised in Quezon City, Philippines, Lorenzo received his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Master of Music degree in Viola Performance from the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. He also attended the University of the Phillipines as a violin and music education major, and was a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts. His teachers include violinists Alfonso Bolipata, Helen Kwalwasser and Odin Rathnam, and violist Che-Hung Chen. His chamber music coaches have included Charles Abramovic, Alfonso Bolipata, Rhonda Rider, Jeffrey Solow, Valissa Willwerth and Lambert Orkis, and he has performed at the masterclasses of violinists Pamela Frank, Oscar Yatco, Alexandru Tomescu, Thanos Adamopoulos and Takako Nishizaki, violist Kim Kashkashian, and the Emerson, Alexander, St. Lawrence and Ying Quartets.
A dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, Lorenzo joined Musicopia String Orchestra’s violin faculty in 2024. He was was a faculty member at Community Music School in Trappe, and the Leopold Mozart Academy in Elkins Park. Lorenzo was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Temple University's Community Music Scholars Program, and was Resident Artist at Casa San Miguel in Zambales, Philippines, where he taught violin and viola, and coached and conducted the Pundaquit Virtuosi, an ensemble composed of the best young string players from the Zambales community.
Lorenzo plays on a fine contemporary violin modeled after the 1740 Ysaÿe Guarneri del Gesu, made for him in 2020 by R. Alex Wilson of Salt Lake City. He lives in South Philadelphia where he maintains a small studio of dedicated students and, along with his wife, takes care of their adorable border terrier Zoey.
Daniel Stern is a multi-instrumentalist and music educator based in West Philly. He studied classical violin with Charles Sherba in the Applied Music Program at Brown University, and played in the Brown Orchestra and Chamber Music program. Since 2014, he has been teaching instrumental music and performing on both violin and trumpet, specializing in folk music traditions from Eastern Europe and the Balkans. He performs with the West Philadelphia Orchestra, Zlatne Uste Brass Band, Novi Hitovi Brass Band, Di Katzen-muzik, and the Kol Tzedek Simcha Band. In addition to his work with Musicopia string students, Daniel teaches instrumental music with Play on Philly and has a private violin and trumpet studio.
Daniel Stern
Coach
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Ashley Vines
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Ashley Vines started her music studies in elementary school and began studying viola in high school. Ashley completed her Bachelors in Music Performance from Temple University’s Boyer College in 2014 and studied with Renard Edwards. Since graduating, she has worked as a freelance musician, teaching artist for Musicopia, Tune Up Philly, and conductor through Temple University’s Community Music Scholars Program. Ashley recently won the IRIS Orchestra Artist Fellowship audition and moved to Memphis, TN in August of 2016 to become an IRIS Artist Fellow. She works as a music mentor to the students at Caldwell-Guthrie Elementary and is the violist in IRIS Orchestra’s newest chamber ensemble C3Strings. Ashley plays on a 2011 Robert Brode viola.
Coach
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Andrea Weber
Coach
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​Cellist Andrea Weber has been living and working in the Philadelphia region as a teacher and performer since 2005. Ms. Weber holds a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from Temple University, which led to her work in the area; she also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Cello Performance from the Eastman School of Music where she studied with cellist David Ying of the Ying Quartet. Other cellists with whom she has studied include Gloria DePasquale, Jeffrey Solow, Andres Diaz, and Luis Garcia Renart.
Ms. Weber currently teaches for the Musicopia String Orchestra, various ensembles of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra organization including Prysm Young Artists and Tune Up Philly, and directs her own private cello studio. In 2013 Ms. Weber was named the Lower School String Ensemble Specialist at Friends Select School, where she directs the 3rd Grade and 4th Grade string orchestras.
Ms. Weber is a diverse cellist who performs both classical and alternative music throughout the region. She has performed in the Lancaster Symphony, Symphony in C, The Great Hall Chamber Orchestra, the Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and is a founding member of the Elysium String Quartet. Her improvisation and part writing work as an alternative cellist has led her to perform at nationally acclaimed venues such as World Café Live in Philadelphia, The Queen in Wilmington, the Painted Bride, the Tin Angel, the Bethlehem MusikFest, the Dewey Beach Music Fest, and Philadelphia FolkFest. Her collaborations with local songwriters, composers, and bands have been aired on local, national, and international radio; her current discography includes records from 20 original local artists.