Theresa Francesconi is a pianist turned percussionist. She played both instruments all through middle school and high school and started pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Southern Methodist University. After her first semester she realized where her heart truly belongs and graduated from SMU in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education with an emphasis in percussion. Since graduating, Theresa has worked with drumlines and taught private lessons for Midlothian ISD, Arlington ISD, and most recently and currently Garland ISD. She is now working on her Master of Music in Music Education at SMU, and would like to someday teach middle school band. Along with her passion for music, Theresa also enjoys mountain biking, camping, and knitting.

Michael Plotkin originally from New York State received his Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Michael won the Blair’s annual concerto competition to perform Darius Milhaud’s Concerto pour Batterie et Petite Orchestre with the Vanderbilt Orchestra. In 2003, Michael received his Masters of Music degree in percussion from SMU. An active freelance percussionist in the Dallas area, Michael has performed locally with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Los Colinas Symphony Orchestra, and the MusicFest’s Rockwall Philharmonica, as well as theatre companies such as Lyric Stage and Garland Summer Musicals. In 2005, Mike spent the summer performing with the Lyrique en Mer Opera Festival in Belle Ille, France.