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James Plondke
Music History
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James Plondke is the Music Director of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Music at Valdosta State University. Dr. Plondke also serves as the Music Director of the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra in Ocala, Florida. He was formerly the conductor the University Symphony Orchestra at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and the Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. He also taught orchestra and strings at York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois where he served as Department Chair.
Dr. Plondke received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his principal teacher was David Becker. There, he received the Richard C. Church Award in Conducting. A Bronze Tablet graduate of the University of Illinois, with degrees in Music Education and Performance, he received the Master of Music degree in Music History and Literature from Northwestern University. His formal education also includes studies in orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati and studies with leading conductors in professional workshops and master classes.
Dr. Plondke has been very active as a guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician. He has given master classes, clinics and workshops, and has conducted student festival, all-state, professional, and community orchestras in seventeen states, Italy and Ireland. In 2005, he was a guest conductor with the National Orchestra of Ireland. The concert was broadcast live nationally on RTE. He has served as Orchestra Division Chair on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Music Educators Association and as President of the Georgia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA/NSOA). On campus, he serves as the advisor for the VSU Student Chapter of ASTA. Dr. Plondke is active as a chamber music recitalist on the double bass. His research interests include conducting, string pedagogy, and the symphonies of Joseph Haydn.
Dr. Plondke is in his fourteenth year as Music Director of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. Under his leadership, the orchestra has continued its growth and significantly expanded both its audience and mission. The orchestra maintains a four-concert subscription season, a Family Experience Concert, a two-program "Special Concert" series and a Youth Concert Series which serves approximately 3000 children annually. Additionally, the orchestra tours in the region, presenting concerts sponsored by local arts organizations. The Valdosta Symphony Orchestra has been a member of the Georgia Council for the Arts Touring Roster, one of only four orchestras statewide so recognized. The orchestra regularly attracts performing artists of national and international stature to solo with the orchestra.
In addition to its highly acclaimed Youth Concert Series, the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra's educational programs include the South Georgia String Project - established by Dr. Plondke in 1994 to seed string instruction in area schools, the Valdosta Symphony Youth Orchestras, the Valdosta Symphony Children's Honor Chorus, and an introductory program for young children entitled "Tunes for Tots." Dr. Plondke has been instrumental in guiding the growth of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra Scholarship Program, which provides extensive scholarships to orchestral music students at Valdosta State University. Annually he adjudicates and administrates the VSO Student Concerto Competition and VSU Student Honors Recital. Under his leadership, the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra serves as an Associate Orchestra to the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition and contributes to that program as an international educational and performance activity. In the summer of 2004, Dr. Plondke taught in the Georgia Universities Regent's Study Abroad Program in Montepulciano, Italy. Several VSU student musicians participated in the program
In his sixth season with the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Plondke has helped to redefine the artistic and community mission of the orchestra and build its audience. The orchestra maintains a four program, eight concert subscription series and two to three "Pops" concert programs in the Ocala community. It sponsors a Young Artist's Competition attracting outstanding young musicians from across the region. Under Dr. Plondke leadership the CFSO has initiated several educational enterprises including a "Simply Symphonic" experience for young students and their parents in association with the Ocala Civic Theater, Children's Concerts presented by the CFSO, and an expansion of the annual Young Artist's Competition, including an Honors Recital to provide increased exposure for outstanding young musicians.
Professor Plondke is a strong advocate for the symphonic arts. He regularly appears as spokesperson to regional civic and arts groups and in educational settings.