Instrument/Department: Music Director of Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra
Additional Position(s) at Hochstein: Conducting
Joined Hochstein Faculty in: 2003
Casey Springstead, Director earned two degrees from the Eastman School of Music and he is a music educator with the West Irondequoit Schools since 1999. As a guest conductor, he has worked with area ensembles including Cordancia, the Nazareth College Concert Band, Irondequoit Concert Band, Brighton Symphony Orchestra, Rochester’s New Horizons Band, and junior high and senior high All-County bands in Western New York.
A faculty member at The Hochstein School since 2003 and the 2017 recipient of the Faculty Service Award, Mr. Springstead is the Director of the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has led the HYSO on tours of France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Czech Republic, and in 2014, the orchestra participated in a live-via-satellite exchange concert with a youth orchestra from one of Rochester’s sister cities in Lithuania. Previous appointments at Hochstein include Director of the Youth Wind Symphony and Junior Wind Symphony, and Assistant Director of Philharmonia. For several years, he also conducted ensemble.twenty.21, a contemporary music ensemble comprised of faculty from Hochstein, Nazareth College, and Roberts Wesleyan College as well as musicians from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Performances included a live broadcast on WXXI-FM’s “Live from Hochstein” series.
Mr. Springstead is a hornist with the Penfield Symphony Orchestra since 1999 and has performed with several area ensembles, including Mercury Opera, the Gregory Kunde Chorale, Ad Hoc, Cordancia, and as a member of many pit orchestras and ceremonial brass quintets. He is also active as a collaborative pianist, accompanying Rochester-area high school and college musicians for recitals and auditions. Originally from Hammondsport, NY, he lives in Webster with his wife and fellow musician/educator, Kirsta Rodean, and their two children, Orson and Malin.
Photo: Brooke Nance Photography
2017 Faculty Service Award
The Faculty Service Award was first given in 1990 to recognize the contributions of outstanding faculty members to the work of the Hochstein School. Nominations are solicited from the entire faculty, from a list of those who have completed at least five years of teaching at Hochstein. Hochstein presented the 2017 Faculty Service Award to the faculty member whose dedicated work at Hochstein deserves special recognition - Casey Springstead.
Hochstein President & Executive Director Margaret Quackenbush said, “As a longtime member of our ensembles faculty, Casey has been an incredibly thoughtful, dedicated, inspiring musician and educator, giving all the students who've had the good fortune to play under his baton the finest musical leadership I can imagine.” Congratulations, Casey!
More About Casey Springstead
Hometown: Hammondsport, NY
What inspires me: Young people who aspire to be better musicians
Why the arts matter: The arts help us to find our sense of humanity and they give us opportunities to build connections with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Favorite things to do in Rochester area: hiking/eating/kayaking with my family
When I'm not at Hochstein, you can find me: teaching in West Irondequoit Schools or trying to tire out my active kids!
My favorite local restaurants: Good Luck, Salena's
Favorite places to travel: England, France, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Yosemite National Park
Favorite movies: most of the Star Wars movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
What people would be surprised to know about me: I have no memory for song lyrics, but I could probably sing many of the guitar or sax solos from the pop/rock hits of the 1980s.