Michele Senger recently retired from her position as an Orchestra Director at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School and Valley High School, a position she had held since 1998. Michele is currently a member of the Des Moines Symphony and conducts the Des Moines Symphony Youth Philharmonic. She maintains a private cello studio as well as teaching at Drake. She directed the intermediate and advanced orchestras for the Des Moines Area Suzuki Institute (DASI) from 2000-2009.
Prior to moving to Des Moines, Michele taught in the Amphitheater Public Schools and Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. She was also a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Arizona Opera Orchestra and performed regularly with “Go for Baroque” and the Marelle String Quartet. She has a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance from the University of Arizona and a Master of Music from Ohio University. During her years in Ohio she performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (now the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra) and the Huntington Chamber Orchestra. Her major professors included Gordon Epperson, Leighton Conkling, and George Sopkin.
