Our Board

The Really Terrible Orchestra of Pennsylvania is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation that is governed by its Board of Directors.

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Conductor

Librarian

Members at Large

Emeritus

Ursula Merriman

Joanne Fekete

Mardi Metzger

John Walker

Carol Kelly

Colleen Schoneveld

Laurie Hartzell, Erin Hayes, and Ken Starace

Carol Galvelis

Carol Kelly started her musical journey at the age of 10 by taking piano lessons. In high school she played the glockenspiel, bass clarinet, and baritone. After a successful career as a special education teacher and administrator, she decided to return to her musical roots and to add to it. Prior to retiring, she began bass lessons in Arizona so that she would be able to join community orchestras when she returned to the Lehigh Valley. She also recently started playing the cello.

Currently, she is the Conductor of the RTO and Assistant Conductor of the Reading Philharmonic Orchestra. She plays the bass in the Moravian University Orchestra and the Lehigh Valley Pops; she is on the keyboard for Swing Fever Dance Band.

Ursula Merriman started her musical journey in elementary school, taking violin lessons. She played in school orchestras through college, playing in the Moravian College Community orchestra. After college she focused on her career as a clinical research scientist. After not playing for several decades she realized how much she missed playing in a group when her daughter started taking music lessons. She joined the RTO about 13 years ago and hasn’t stopped since. She has played in a number of chamber music work shops and has taken advantage of other music playing opportunities when she finds them. Ursula enjoys a wide variety of music genres; from classical to jazz to rock/pop.

Joanne Fekete started playing with RTO in January 2016 on guitar, then on soprano recorder. She then picked up oboe in the spirit of RTO (playing really terribly!). Her previous musical experience included tenor saxophone in high school marching and concert band, rhythm guitar in jazz band, and singing in choir. She sang for a season at Fernwood in the Poconos. After stepping away from music for a number of years, Joanne rediscovered her passion for playing guitar. Joanne served in her former church as music director for a decade where she directed choir, provided music time for Sunday school, and started a praise band. Joanne plays guitar monthly at Christ Lutheran Freemansburg and she recently participated on oboe in the Bangor 150th Celebration Band.

Mardi Metzger, RTO Board Secretary: I began playing the cello on my 12th birthday and am still playing. I justify playing the cello in RTO because I haven’t yet learned everything about the cello. The conductor of the RTO and some of the other cellists are or have been my students. After graduating from Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, I taught the Yamaha Music program for 4 and 5-year-olds, taught privately, and played in several orchestras. I received a Master of Arts in Music from University of Wyoming. After I taught public school strings in Austin, Texas, for a few years, I decided to become a reading specialist. With an M. Ed. In reading from Lehigh University, I taught reading in the Allentown School District for 20 years while playing in the Allentown Symphony and other performing groups. Now retired from the Allentown Schools and the Allentown Symphony, I continue to enjoy playing and teaching cello. My most exciting experiences playing cello were the many summer workshops I attended. One workshop enabled me to tour China for 16 days with The New York Chamber Orchestra.

John Walker is on the RTO-PA’s board and serves as their treasurer. He recently retired as professor of finance from Kutztown University and, after a nearly 45-year layoff from playing the violin, tuned up his instrument and joined RTO-PA. When asked about his future goals, John said that “making music with RTO-PA is a joy and my goals are simple—keep practicing to improve…but most important, have fun!”

Colleen Schoneveld is the Founder of the RTO-PA and is the orchestra music librarian. She grew up in a home totally devoid of music. Her family was into horses, sports and Art….but not music. Colleen started making costumes for theaters and Ballet companies about 1980. It was costuming that led to listening to music. She would play the current show/ballet music for inspiration as she worked. Eventually discovering that the music was really pretty nice! (Go Figure). It happened on one day she played a CD by a wonderful violinist and In an instant her world changed completely. The story of her change is written as “The Founding of The RTO-PA”

Colleen now (Surprisingly) plays 1st violin in the RTO; 2nd violin with The Lehigh Valley Pops Orchestra; and, now, the “Soprano Viola” in RTSO! Colleen has been featured in an article in String Magazine (June 2010).

She is on the cover of the book Making Time for Making Music: How to bring Music into Your Busy Life by Amy Nathan. She played at the Town Hall in NYC with (The Original) “ Really Terrible Orchestra” (Scotland) to a full house! From that she created a book, The RTO Takes Manhattan! Twice she played with Baltimore Symphony ‘Rusty Musicians’. And she also played twice with Allentown Symphony, once in a special concert, and once in a concert of chamber music.