Leadership
Conductors
Danielle A Prontka is the lead conductor of the Memorial Orchestra. This is her 19th year at Memorial. She has been the Student Council Sponsor and Color Guard instructor and is currently the Fine Arts Department Chair. Past Positions have included conductor of the Highlands Orchestra and Musical Director for the Virtuosi of Houston. She began her career playing the violin at age 5, and received a Bachelor of Arts in music performance from Northwestern State University of Louisiana.
Danielle has been a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the state of Texas. She is a member of TMEA, TODA, Mu Omicron, and has served as the Region Orchestra Division Chair, Vice President of Region 27, SBISD String Teacher Liaison, TODA Executive Board Member, and been the presenter in numerous Professional Developments throughout the state. This past summer serving as the President of TODA, she designed and planned the virtual summer convention.
Danielle is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades including conducting at Chicago’s Symphony Hall and four times in Carnegie Hall. Last spring, her Orchestra won 2nd placeHer Orchestras have consistently won Sweepstakes at UIL competition. She is a recipient of the PTA Lifetime Achievement Award and the SBISD Teacher Appreciation Award. In 2013, Danielle won the Memorial High School Teacher of the year and was names the SBISD District Teacher of the Year.
Matthew Chan, a Houston native, is a passionate violinist, conductor, and teacher. He obtained his bachelor's degrees in biology and music education at the University of Texas at Austin studying violin with Sandy Yamamoto, where he served as both a teacher and the Assistant Director of the University of Texas String Project. He obtained his master's degree in violin performance at University of Wisconsin-Madison studying violin with Soh-Hyun Altino, where he served as a teaching assistant and primary instructor for String Fundamentals classes as well as the head conductor of the All-University Strings. There, he founded and conducted the Madison Lab Orchestra, and subbed as a section violinist with local professional orchestras such as the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. He regularly teaches in summer music camps such as the Longhorn Music Camp, the Summer Music Clinic in Madison, and the Sam Houston State University Orchestra Camp. Currently, Matthew is the Assistant Orchestra Director at Memorial High School in Houston, TX.
Lead Team
Co-Presidents:
- Phillip Liou
- Andrew Cali
- Caleb Choi
- Mallesh Maharanah
- Tristan Wang
- Abhinav Sinha
Vice Presidents: (will be elected in the fall)