DEBRA
SHORT SEFTEL
Music Director
Suzuki Program Conductor
Intermediate Orchestra Conductor
Debra Short Seftel joined the Lakeland Youth Symphony in 1982. Originally, a conductor for the Junior Orchestra, Debra has conducted the Intermediate Orchestra since 1983 and developed the Modified Suzuki Program that same year. In 1998, Debra became the Music Director for Lakeland and, as such, oversees the four orchestras, the Modified Suzuki Program, and the many concerts, outreach and enrichment programs that make Lakeland a unique educational experience. It is Debra’s goal to take music beyond the classroom or the stage and explore how it affects our everyday lives, our history, and our future.
Music Director
Suzuki Program Conductor
Intermediate Orchestra Conductor
Debra Short Seftel joined the Lakeland Youth Symphony in 1982. Originally, a conductor for the Junior Orchestra, Debra has conducted the Intermediate Orchestra since 1983 and developed the Modified Suzuki Program that same year. In 1998, Debra became the Music Director for Lakeland and, as such, oversees the four orchestras, the Modified Suzuki Program, and the many concerts, outreach and enrichment programs that make Lakeland a unique educational experience. It is Debra’s goal to take music beyond the classroom or the stage and explore how it affects our everyday lives, our history, and our future.
“It is my goal to take music beyond the classroom or the stage and explore how it affects our everyday lives, our history, and our future.”
Debra holds a
Bachelor of Education from Ithaca College where she
studied the Suzuki Method at the Talent Education
Institute. She has taught publicly in Roseland and
Essex Fells. Debra enjoys playing professionally
often with her three children, all of whom played
with Lakeland from the Suzuki program through the
Senior Orchestra.