Directors
Mrs. Shawn Morton
Shawn Morton is currently in her twenty-fifth year as an orchestra teacher in the Gwinnett County Public School System. Mrs. Morton currently teaches at North Gwinnett HS where she works with over 340 string players each day. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Shorter University.
Mrs. Morton has conducted the Gwinnett County Kendall Youth Orchestra for the last 15 years, and she serves as a clinician for school orchestras, workshops, clinics and camps around the United States. Mrs. Morton’s orchestras have performed at the Midwest Clinic (2007, 2014, 2023), the American String Teachers Association Conference (2025), the Georgia Music Educators Association In-service Conference (2011, 2021, 2022), at Lincoln Center in 2013, the Kennedy Center in 2019 and Carnegie Hall in 2026. In addition, Mrs. Morton has presented at the 2014, 2019, 2023, and 2025 GMEA In-service Conference, the 2019 Midwest Clinic, and the 2021 and 2023 National ASTA Conference.
Mrs. Morton currently serves as the immediate past president of the Georgia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and she previously served as secretary of Georgia ASTA. She is also on the K-12 committee for National ASTA where she serves as the current vice-chair. She has served as the GMEA District 13 Orchestra Chair, and she is the HS Orchestra Lead Teacher for Gwinnett County Public Schools. Mrs. Morton also served as the facilitator for the Georgia Department of Education Orchestra Community where she presented monthly instructional webinars for Georgia string educators. In addition, Mrs. Morton was the 2021-2022 Duluth High School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Morton helped develop the current Georgia Standards of Excellence for Orchestra that are the curriculum adopted by the Georgia DOE for use across the state, and she recently helped to write the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE) in Music, which is used as the assessment instrument for teacher certification in Georgia.
Mrs. Morton is a member of the American String Teachers Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and Sigma Beta Delta. She resides in Buford, GA with her husband Dale, son Hudson, and dog Aria.
Mr. Jeremy Woolstenhulme
Jeremy Woolstenhulme received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Arts degree in cello performance from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mr. Woolstenhulme previously taught at Northview High School in the Fulton County School District (Georgia). The Northview Chamber Orchestra had the honor of performing at the 2025 ASTA National Orchestra Festival and the 2022 Midwest Clinic under his direction. Mr. Woolstenhulme is also the director of the Atlanta Festival Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Festival Chamber Orchestra, both integral divisions of the Atlanta Festival Academy. As an active performer, he is the principal cellist of the Alpharetta Symphony Orchestra. Prior to 2020, Mr. Woolstenhulme was orchestra director for 17 years at Hyde Park Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada. During his tenure at Hyde Park, his award-winning orchestras performed at the Midwest Clinic and the ASTA National Conference. In 2015 and 2019, his orchestra earned first place honors at the ASTA National Orchestra Festival in the middle school division.
Mr. Woolstenhulme also traveled with his orchestras to major cities around the United States and Europe. Additionally, he founded the Las Vegas String Workshop, an innovative weeklong summer camp for string students. Woolstenhulme also conducted the Las Vegas Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. With a growing number of original and arranged works to his credit, Mr. Woolstenhulme is a commissioned and published composer, many which have been performed around the world. His works are included as J.W. Pepper Editors’ Choice selections and can be found on many state festival repertoire lists. He is co-author of String Basics Books 1, 2, and 3, and is author of curriculum supplements including Vibrato Basics, Intonation Basics, and a wealth of supplemental repertoire collections and performance literature. His specialty is to write for middle and high school orchestras where he composes to teach, challenge, and inspire. Jeremy Woolstenhulme, his wife Taryn, and their family live in Georgia and are dedicated to church activities, enjoy traveling, and love the outdoors.