Hattiesburg Youth Orchestras,
Artistic Director
Dr. Jorge Gonzalez
Jorge Iván González is Associate Professor of Music (Violin and Orchestra) at William Carey University where he serves as the coordinator of string activities and conductor of the university orchestra. Mr. González was the finalist of the “Canadian Music Competition Incorporated”; winner of the 1999 Collegiate Artist Strings State Competition in Mississippi; winner of the 2001 “William T. Gower Concerto Competition” at USM; and awarded 2001 “New Young Artist” of the Victoria Bach Festival. With the Austin,TX based Conspirare Ensemble, Jorge González has toured and recorded a CD, “Threshold of Night”, nominated for two GRAMMY Awards. Mr. Gonzalez has given solo and chamber music performances in Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, and in the U.S. and has had the opportunity to work with great artists such as Jean-Pierre Rampal, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Alexandre Brussilovsky, Sir James Galway, Glenn Dicterow, Placido Domingo, Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Midori, Keith Lockhart and Leonard Slatkin. Gonzalez has guest conducted the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, the FestivalSouth Chamber Orchestra, and has been invited numerous times to conduct the Mississippi All-State Orchestra. In the summer of 2019, Gonzalez conducted the Nuevo Mundo Camerata on a tour through five different cities of Ecuador and Colombia where he had the privilege of conducting the world premiere of multiple compositions written for the ensemble. He is also the concertmaster of the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra; principal second violin of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra; supervisor of the Hattiesburg Public Schools’ string program; and is the founder and artistic director of the Hattiesburg Youth Orchestra since 2005 and of the Hattiesburg Orchestral Academy (formerly known as the FestivalSouth Orchestral Academy) since 2010.
Mr. Gonzalez is on the faculty at Music Mountain's Harlem String Quartet Summer Music Festival in Connecticut and has taught and performed at the Ibague International Music Festival in Colombia and at the Guaranda International Music Festival in Ecuador.
The Gonzalez
Happily married for 21 years. They have 2 beautiful children: Ian Alexander, 13 years old and Alison Victoria, 10 years old. Jorge and Gladys' love for music brought them together and now they are sharing their love and passion for music with the greater Hattiesburg community.
Hattiesburg Kids Orchestras,
Music Director
Gladys Gonzalez
Gladys Gonzalez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, holds a Bachelor in Business Administration degree from Universidad Mexicana del Noreste in Monterrey, Mexico; a Bachelor in Music Education degree from Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey and a Master in Music Education degree from The University of Southern Mississippi. As a violinist, she has performed in orchestras with such renowned soloists as Itzhak Perlman and Placido Domingo.
Mrs. Gonzalez is a Suzuki Method Certified string teacher. She is also the author of a string method book entitled Yes I Can Read! Music Reading Method for Violin, Viola, Cello, and Bass. She previously served as Secretary–Treasurer and later as Vice President of the Mississippi Orchestra Teachers Association. She received the Orchestra Teacher of the Year 2005 Award by MOTA.
Mrs. Gonzalez is a National Board Certified Teacher and currently serves as Director of the Hattiesburg Kids Orchestra, has a Private Violin Studio and has been teaching in the strings program at the Hattiesburg Public Schools District for the last 23 years