Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 3:00pm

DeWitt Auditorium, Zeeland East High School

Holland Area Junior Strings

Kyle Nester, Music Director and Conductor
Tori Zokoe, General Manager
Katie Rae Hayduk, Rehearsal Manager

Holland Area Concert Strings

Holland Area Youth Orchestra

Ticket price is $10 for adults and $5 for kids age 6-college; 6 and under are free.

Tickets can be purchased during the dress rehearsal on Saturday, 11/12 from 9:00am-noon and at the door prior to the concert (starting at 2:00pm).

Kyle Nester

Kyle Nester graduated from Alma College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree.  While in college, he participated in orchestra, marching band, jazz band, percussion ensemble, and choir.  Mr. Nester spent a term in Vienna, Austria and studied violin with Maeve Auer from the Universitat fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst.  After college, he was a soloist in the Baroque on Beaver Music Festival and performed with Josh Groban a few times.  After a long-term substitute teacher position in Fremont, Michigan, he taught 5th - 12th grade orchestra at Chippewa Hills School District for seven years.  After his wife Andrea finished her law degree at Michigan State University, the couple moved to West Michigan. He started teaching at Holland Christian in 2012 and Andrea was employed in a law firm in downtown Grand Rapids.  Recently, Mr. Nester has been interested in fiddling and started the Michigan Academy of Folk Music with Nate Roberts from Hope College.  

Mr. Nester enjoys running races, enjoying nature, playing music, and traveling.  They have three “interesting” cats and a planted freshwater fish tank.  

Christopher H. Fashun

Christopher H. Fashun is an incredibly diverse and versatile conductor, performer, and educator. He brings over two decades of experience as a music educator leading middle school, high school and collegiate band and orchestra programs in addition to directing jazz and percussion ensembles.

A 2018 recipient of a U.S. Postdoctoral Fulbright Award in All Disciplines, Dr. Fashun will be living and researching Afro-Brazilian music in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil during the summer of 2019.  His project will focus on the dissemination of Afro-Brazilian music and culture in the city of Salvador. 

An Assistant Professor of Music at Hope College, he serves as the Director of Orchestras, the founder and Music Director of the Brazilian Drumming Ensemble, teaches applied percussion, world music, and is an Instructor of Instrumental Music Education.

An accomplished percussionist and violist, he has several years of orchestral and chamber music experience and has enjoyed success in both areas as a soloist by winning three concerto competitions, one on viola and two on marimba.

Dr. Fashun is an active guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and percussionist.  He is a frequent presenter at music education conferences and is a highly sought after clinician and conductor.  Notable engagements include the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra, Holland Symphony Orchestra, Elkhart Symphony Orchestra, St. Ambrose University Community Symphony Orchestra, the University of Iowa Philharmonia and All-University Orchestras.  Dr. Fashun has conducted the Symphony String Orchestra at the Iowa IMEA Conference for the All-State Iowa Junior Honors String Orchestra Festival Concert and the Midwest Mennonite Festival Orchestra and Concert Band.  He has served on the music faculties at St. Ambrose University and Goshen College. 

His research in conducting combines developing musicianship from the podium and health and wellness for music educators. 

When he’s not making music, he is either cycling, paddle boarding, or practicing Pilates and enjoying the fabulous beaches in Holland (in the summer, of course) with his wife and daughter.