DIRECTORS
Thomas Chen, Director of Orchestras
Thomas Chen is Director of Orchestras at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana, and Associate Conductor with the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra’s Symphony Orchestra. Under his direction, the Carmel High School Symphony Orchestra has earned regular appearances at the Indiana State School Music Association State High School Concert Finals, produced a recording of Dvorak Symphony No. 9, and performed at The Midwest Clinic in December 2019. Chen previously held the position of Assistant Director at Dobie High School in Houston, Texas, where he helped lead five orchestras to earn Superior ratings at UIL Concert and Sight Reading.
Chen earned his Bachelor of Music Education from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he studied viola with Dr. Nicole Brockmann. While completing his studies, he earned opportunities to perform in masterclasses with the American String Quartet and Joan Tower. He was also selected as a winner of the DePauw University Band Conducting Competition.
While in Houston, Chen performed as substitute principal violist in the Pasadena Philharmonic Orchestra and Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he performed free chamber ensemble community concerts as a member of the Clear Lake Chamber Ensemble.
Chen is a proud member of the American String Teachers Association and National Association for Music Education. He currently serves as Orchestra Division Chair with the Indiana Music Education Association.
Nicole DeGuire, Associate Director of Orchestras
Nicole DeGuire is Associate Director of Orchestras at Carmel High School, and an avid free-lance violinist with numerous orchestras across the state of Indiana.
Earning her B.M. in Violin Performance with Honors at Butler University, she went on to complete her M.M. in Violin Performance and Literature, as well as an Orchestral Studies Diploma from The Eastman School of Music. Teachers include, Charles Castleman, Ilya Kaler, Lisa Brooks, Davis Brooks, Larry Shapiro, Geoffrey Applegate and Paul Kantor.
As Director of Orchestras at Fishers High School, her groups have earned gold ratings at ISSMA District Festival and gold ratings along with "With Distinction" at ISSMA State Qualifications. The FHS Symphony Orchestra was an ISSMA State Finalist in 2017 and 2019. The FHS Orchestras have performed at the IMEA Conference, Disneyworld, Chicago and New York City.
Nicole has extensive orchestral experience performing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic. Other professional orchestral experience includes Rochester Philharmonic, Erie Philharmonic, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and South Bend Symphony Orchestra. She has also played with many local symphony orchestras, such as Muncie, Anderson, and Lafayette Symphony Orchestras. In addition to her orchestral performances, Nicole also loves playing chamber music, whenever possible.
She maintains an active private violin/viola/piano studio, serves as a guest clinician/coach for middle and high school orchestras, has been an adjudicator for the Middle Tennessee State Band and Orchestra Concert Performance Assessment, and the Anderson University Concerto and Aria Competition. Ms. DeGuire is the Indiana ASTA All-State Orchestra Coordinator, violin faculty for the Music For All National Festival and Summer Symposium, a member of the ISSMA State Board, and was the 2020 Indiana ASTA High School Orchestra Teacher of the Year.
Margaret Hite, Associate Director of Orchestras
Margaret Hite is an Associate Director of Orchestras at Carmel High School. She has been recognized by the Indiana chapter of the American String Teachers Association as the 2013-2014 New Teacher of the Year. Originally from Anderson, IN, Ms. Hite attended the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she completed a Bachelor of Music Education. Ms. Hite studied string pedagogy with Dr. Brenda Brenner and Mimi Zweig. While living in Bloomington, Ms. Hite was able to coach violin sectionals as part of the Musical Arts Youth Orchestra and volunteer as an instructor for the Fairview Violin Project, a pilot musical outreach program providing violin instruction to elementary school students.
As a violinist, Ms. Hite has played with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and held a leadership position with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. In the Indiana University orchestras, she enjoyed working with such renowned musicians as Leonard Slatkin, David Effron, Cliff Colnot, and Arthur Fagen. She’s currently the principal second violinist in the Fishers’ Chamber Orchestra and enjoys playing violin around the Carmel and Indianapolis communities.
Ms. Hite’s violin teachers include Sherry Kloss, former teaching assistant of Jascha Heifetz, Federico Agostini, formerly of Indiana University, and early violin studies with Ms. Beverly Scott.