Katarina Weir
Executive Director

Katarina Weir was born in Nairobi, Kenya to British and Austrian parents. After primary schooling in Geneva, Switzerland, she attended boarding school at The King’s School Canterbury, England. Katarina has an MA from Edinburgh University, Scotland, specializing in Human Resources Management. She then went on to work as a Human Resources Assistant at Strategic Investment Group, in Arlington, VA before becoming a member of YOA staff in early 2006. Katarina is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hampton Roads Chamber Players and Traveling Notes.

Mark Gillespie
General & Artistic Manager

Mark Gillespie has led projects with Valery Gergiev, Joshua Bell, Philip Glass, Gabriela Montero, Paquito D'Rivera, Helmuth Rilling, Julian Rachlin, Matt Haimovitz, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Benjamin Zander, Ilya Gringolts, Mariachi Vargas, Philippe Quint, Jue Wang, and other world-class artists throughout the Americas, Europe, and China. In 2010 Mark co-founded Filarmónica Joven de Colombia with a 10 million USD commitment from Sociedades Bolívar, representing the largest private-sector music initiative in the history of Colombia.

Mark previously worked in the popular music industry as a record producer and songwriter. He spent a year producing alongside American hit-maker Rodney Jerkins at Darkchild Studios, whose songs have sold more than 300 million copies with production credits ranging from Britney Spears to Michael Jackson. Mark has also collaborated with members of rock groups ranging from Lifehouse to Vampire Weekend, and worked on projects internationally at Rainbow Studios in Oslo, Norway, and Victor Studios in Montreal, Canada.

An alumnus of Laval, Stavanger, McGill, and Bishops Univeristies in Europe and Canada, Mark has presented in conferences and courses at University of Oslo, New York University, University of Toronto, Universita di Roma, Harvard University, The Swedish Cultural Institute of Paris, the Organization of American States, Carleton University, and Saint John’s University Newfoundland, among other institutions. Mark is a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar, serving as a member of the Faculty in 2011. He has published articles in Music Theory Review, Music Theory Spectrum, Journal of the Art of Record Production, and elsewhere. Mark has appeared in television, radio, and newspaper articles throughout Latin America.

Julia Ernst
Development & Educational Programs Officer

Julia Ernst was raised in Orchard Park, New York and was exposed at a very early age to music and the arts. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in History of Art from Williams College and École du Louvre, Paris. Julia spent the first 15 years of her career in the contemporary art world, with positions in New York, London and Los Angeles. In 2000, she began her fundraising career in Washington, DC with gala events for the National Symphony Orchestra and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that led to a position at Washington National Opera. In 2004, she was invited to join Youth Orchestra of the Americas as Director of Development. Julia credits her experience gained in educating and stewarding art collectors as the biggest influence on her thoughtful and long-term fundraising initiatives. Her lifelong involvement in nurturing and promoting rising, often struggling, young artists translates naturally into her work promoting young musicians and Youth Orchestra of the Americas.

Emma Moores
Development and Marketing Officer

Emma grew up outside of Seattle, Washington and was surrounded by music at an early age, studying piano and trombone, and performing with community bands led by her father.  Her parents, both teachers, instilled in her the importance of civic responsibility and personal dedication, which led her to excel in academics (as high school valedictorian), music (reaching State competitions in both trombone and piano), and athletics (making State in Cross Country).

Emma continued studying trombone at the University of Washington (UW) with Don Immel (principal, Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkeste, Denmark), Philip Brown (Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester, Denmark), and Ko-ichiro Yamamoto (principal, Seattle Symphony, United States). Her performance opportunities have led her all over the world - performing with the Husky Marching Band throughout the United States and in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Japan, and a second Japan tour with the UW Wind Ensemble. As section leader of UW's Husky Marching Band, Emma fonldy remembers her half-time performance where she soloed on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" for 70,000 cheering football fans. After graduating cum laude from UW in 2008 with a Bachelor of Music in orchestral performance, she moved with her husband to Virginia to attend graduate school at George Mason University, where she received her Master of Arts in Arts Management.  Emma is a fan of the band Radiohead, the videogame Portal, the movie WALL-E, and the author J.R.R. Tolkien.

Samuel Robles
Project Manager

Samuel Robles — born in Panama City, Panama on June, 1974—is one of his country’s most active conductors and composers. He began music studies at age 10, and took his first lessons in Composition and Conducting from Aristides Valderrama and Dino Nugent in his late teens. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from the Catholic University of Panama, Robles was awarded with a Fulbright Masters Scholarship to study at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. There, he studied composition with Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Joel Hoffman and Allen Otte and Conducting with Mark Babbitt and Rodney Winther.

After completing an MMus degree at Cincinnati, Robles received a fellowship to study at the University of Chicago, earning an MA degree in musicology under Anne Robertson. He is now a doctoral candidate from North-West University, South Africa, where he studied with Johannes Taljaard.

Samuel’s compositions have been performed in several countries and by prominent musicians such as violinist Eddy Marcano, Dr. Stuart Gerber, clarinetist Ana Catalina Ramírez, eighth blackbird’s Michael Macaferri, the Pacifica String Quartet, the Joven Orquesta y Coro de Centroamérica, the José Artigas National Symphony of Uruguay, the Orquesta Juvenil del Estado de Veracruz, the National Symphony of Panama and Percussionist Jonathan Bisesi, who performed his ballet “Tian-Ho” at the Tanglewood Festival. As conductor, Robles has led ensembles in México, Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Cincinnati, Chicago, Kentucky, Colombia and Costa Rica as well as in his native Panama. Samuel held the position of Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Istmeña before joining the staff of YOA. He has participated in various masterclasses and courses, such as the London Masterclass with Benjamin Zander, who has called Robles a “wonderfully engaging” conductor.

Samuel is also a published and prize-winning poet and short story writer.

Photo credit:  Ricardo Fuentes