Chase Chang   

Chase Chang holds an M. M. in Conducting from Brigham Young University, a B.A. and B.M. in Music Education from the University of Washington, and is a National Board certified teacher. 

He studied with former Associate Concert Master of the Seattle Symphony and String Professor, Walter Schwede, studied oboe with Alex Klein (Chicago Symphony/Calgary Symphony), and studied conducting with Kory Katseanes. 

Chase Chang is currently board President of the North Idaho Youth Symphony. He was Principal Symphony Conductor of the Seattle Ensign Symphony and Chorus, and led performances at Seattle's Benaroya Hall. He recorded with Jennifer Thomas and her award-winning music album, “The Fire Within”. Mr. Chang appeared in her music video; now viewable on YouTube. *Click Here to see the music video!*

Mr. Chang was elected as the Orchestra Curriculum Officer for the Washington Music Educator's Association from 2018-2020. Additionally, he managed All-State and All-Northwest Orchestras for ten years.

Mr. Chang worked with nationally known composer, Richard Meyer, and premiered "A Keltic Feast" with his middle school orchestra in 2008.  "A Keltic Feast" is now a published piece performed by many orchestras around the nation.  Mr. Chang and his orchestra worked with composer, Austin Schlichting, to premiere a commission piece, “From Brother, To Brother” at the 2023 WMEA Conference.

Chase Chang held positions as Artistic Director and principal conductor of the Issaquah Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2024 he was the Violin/Viola specialist for the Washington State University Cougar Music Camp and will be for 2026. Mr. Chang conducted the Academy Orchestra in the Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia (SOGO). He coached winds and strings for the Tacoma Youth Symphony, Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia, and Everett Youth Symphony. 

Mr. Chang taught orchestra, band, and choir in the public schools since 1998. He is sought as a clinician, judge, and guest conductor around the Puget Sound, Eastern Washington, and North Idaho areas.

He taught in the Bellevue School District for 15 years, bolstering the orchestra programs at Tyee Middle School, Bellevue High School, and Odle Middle School. Chase Chang currently teaches orchestra at two middle schools in the Spokane School District.

Christi Chang’s Carnegie Hall performance was aired on Seattle’s Classical King FM 98.1 on March 6, 2020. Click here to listen!

Click here for a short video clip of Christi Chang’s rehearsal.

Christi Chang   

Christi Chang is the cofounder of Summer String Academy. She holds an M.A. and a B.A. in Music Education from Central Washington University and is a Nationally Board Certified orchestra teacher. Mrs. Chang is interim conductor for the Intermezzo orchestra in the North Idaho Youth Symphony (NIYS) and coaches violins.

Mrs. Chang currently teaches high school and middle school orchestra in the East Valley School District (Spokane Valley, WA). Voted by her peers, she received the honor of Northeast Music Educators’ Association’s “2025 Music Educator of the Year”. In June 2025, she was awarded the “Barry Manilow Music Project” Award. Mrs. Chang personally received a $10,000.00 check from Mr. Manilow to purchase instruments and bolster the district’s music program.

During her 24 years of teaching, Christi Chang taught orchestra grades 5-12. She started over a thousand beginning string players and nurtured thousands of middle school players. She taught in the Bellevue School District for 12 years. Mrs. Chang taught at Bellevue High School and subsequently at Chinook Middle School. Her orchestra program yielded over 150 orchestra students each year.

Christi Chang learned through the Suzuki method before becoming a private Suzuki teacher herself. She went on to perform in the US, Germany, Africa and Central Asia before her first high school and elementary orchestra position in the Renton School District.

As Hazen High School’s orchestra director (Renton, WA), Christi Chang was recognized by the news media for her achievement in founding a program that provided private instrument lessons to underprivileged elementary students. Mrs. Chang trained high school students to tutor elementary orchestra students. The program saw over 100 students each year and Mrs. Chang was recognized for her outstanding success. Christi Chang was invited to the American String Teachers Association’s conference in Atlanta, where she presented her thriving tutoring program.

At Bellevue High School Mrs. Chang’s groups regularly received high marks at contest. A highlight of her career was going through a selective audition process to conduct her orchestra at New York’s Carnegie Hall. A recording of her performance was later aired on Seattle’s Classical King 98.1 FM.

Listen to Christi Chang’s orchestra at Carnegie Hall - King 98.1 FM Broadcast

In addition to her teaching, Mrs. Chang particpates or adjudicates in Idaho Music Educators’ Association (IMEA) and Washington Music Eductors’ (WMEA) activities, Solo & Ensemble contests, and Orchestra Large Group festivals. She is active in the music education community; having served as Washington Music Education Association’s (WMEA) region’s secretary, treasurer, and well as managing the several WMEA All-State Orchestras.

Christi Chang worked with former Seattle Symphony conductor Gerard Schwarz, former New Jersey Symphony conductor, Jeff Grogan, and international conductor of the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and Fabio Pirola. As a friend and colleague, Mrs. Chang worked with Terry Shade, author of the well-known “String Basics” orchestra method book.

Mrs. Chang lives in Idaho with her husband and three children. You can see the Chang family at Summer String Academy each year!

David Drassal

David Drassal earned his Master’s and Bachelor’s in Music Music education at Central Washington University. He served as appointed conductor in the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestras since 2010, but began his service from 2007 to 2010 as a professional violin coach.

Maestro Drassal began his teaching career in the Bellevue School District at Highland Middle School and Sammamish High School. He taught at Tyee Middle School since 2013. He was the recipient of the PTSA Outstanding Educator Award at both Highland and Tyee Middle School. String player enrollment at Tyee exponentially increased from 140 string students to over 230 string players within a couple of years and continues to be a very stable and strong music program to this day. At contests and festivals, Mr. Drassal’s ensembles consistently place in the top three ranks and regularly receives invitations to play at prestigious venues. Tyee’s latest appearance was at the Washington Music Educators Conference in 2016. David Drassal’s orchestra students feed into the Award-Winning Newport High School orchestra program.

As a freelance violinist, David Drassal performed with many chamber groups, string quartets, and performed with Federal Way and Sammamish Symphony. He spends some of his time adjudicating orchestra festivals and guest conducting around the Puget Sound. David Drassal resides in Tacoma, Washington.

Christiano Rodrigues

Christiano Rodrigues is the Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Washington State University. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at Nicholls State University, where he studied violin with James Alexander. Rodrigues holds the distinction of being the first graduate of the String Program at this institution. Additionally, he holds the degree of Master of Music from Rice University, where he was a student of Paul Kantor at the Shepherd School of Music. In 2019, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Arizona State University under the guidance of Jonathan Swartz and holds the honor of being the recipient of the Outstanding Graduating Student Award from this institution. He received chamber music training from the Cavani String Quartet at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has since received further training from members of the Tokyo, Cleveland, Ying, and St. Lawrence String Quartets.

Since 2016, he has been on the Artist/Faculty of the Round Top Festival Institute where he has helped inspire dozens of young artists, many of which now enjoy thriving musical careers in the United States and abroad. Additionally, he has served as concertmaster of the Round Top Festival Orchestra and collaborated in numerous chamber music performances. He has also served as concertmaster of the Walla Walla Symphony, MusicaNova Orchestra, and was the founder and leader of MusicaNova Chamber Players in Arizona. Additionaly, he was a guest artist in residence with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra in Croatia, the Mercury Chamber Orchestra in Houston, and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. He has performed as soloist with several orchestras in the United States and abroad, including world-premieres of concerti by Rodney Rogers with the MusicaNova Chamber Players and James Nyoraku Schlefer with the Round Top Festival Orchestra.

A firm advocate of inclusion, diversity, equity, and equality within the arts, he devotes a significant amount of time supporting the music education of children and developing young artists from underserved communities. He continues to be a partner of the Harmony Project in Phoenix and holds frequent masterclasses and lessons throughout the year to social projects in Brazil.

He has performed extensively with pianist Karen Nguyen as a member of the Rodrigues-Nguyen Duo. As a member of duo, he has premiered and recorded music by Rodney Rogers, and maintains a concert series called “in Focus” (formerly “The Duo Project”). Through this series, the duo has championed new music for violin and piano, presented the complete works of Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart, and curated imaginative programs in collaboration with world-class artists, bringing the collective power of the arts to hundreds of new audience members.

A native from Brazil, he first learned the violin from his aunt Ana Elizabeth, receiving further guidance from violinists Leopoldo Nogueira and Hermes Cuzzuol Alvarenga. In Brazil, he enjoyed his solo debut performing the Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 5 with the Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia (OSBA). As a young professional, He also served as the principal second violinist of the Orquestra de Câmera da Cidade de João Pessoa, and enjoyed played alongside his mother, violist Maria Celina, at the Orquestra Sinfônica da Paraiba.

Ruth Boden

Dr. Ruth Boden is a Professor in the School of Music at Washington State University where she teaches cello, bass, music theory and coordinates the chamber music program. Dr. Boden holds a B.M. and M.M. in cello performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a D.M.A. from the University of Alabama.

Dr. Boden is an active performer and has appeared as a guest artist with the Mid-Columbia Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, Coeur D’ Alene Symphony, and gave the premier performance of Philip Wharton’s Concerto for Violin and Cello with the Rendezvous Orchestra in Moscow, Idaho. She has also been a member of numerous orchestras throughout the Southeast and Northwest, including the Pensacola Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, and Spokane Symphony. Additionally, Dr. Boden worked with several notable chamber artists including the Vermeer, Juilliard, Miami, Cavani String Quartets, and the Diaz Trio.

In 2023, North Idaho Youth Symphony appointed Dr. Boden as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. She directs Philharmonia, the top-level orchestra of the organization.

Dr. Boden served as Principal conductor and Artistic Director of the North Idaho Youth Symphony. She was interim conductor for the Washington State University Symphony Orchestra from 2009-2011, interim Artistic Director and conductor for the Spokane Youth Symphony during the 2013-2014 season, and has served as guest conductor and clinician for festivals throughout the Northwest.

Dr. Boden is a supporter of new and contemporary music. She released her first solo CD Off the Cuff in July of 2014 which features eclectic contemporary music for solo cello. As an avid hiker and lover of the outdoors, Dr. Boden spends parts of her summers backpacking with her cello and performing new works commissioned for her project Music Outside Four Walls.

Dave Burfeind

Hey! I’m Dave, and I’ve been the director at Lazy F Camp and Retreat Center for 25+ years. I love to see the positive changes in the campers and guests who visit Lazy F and the improvements in the facilities and grounds through the years. I grew up in Minnesota and am an avid fan of all sports teams from that area. I keep waiting for that elusive Viking Super Bowl victory. . .

I am married to Heather and we have two wonderful kids who are both mature adults. I am also known as the Ringmaster!

Fun fact: My twin brother the Rinkmaster helps in the winter to keep our ice skating rink in good shape.