Board of Directors 2024-2025

Stephanie Petzold served as a public school orchestra teacher for ten years in Fairfax County. She is the mother of three young musicians, two of whom have participated in Triangle Youth Music ensembles. She has served the organization as the Triangle Youth Symphony Ensemble Coordinator and photographer. She is also active in supporting the band programs at her children’s schools.

Kim Bentley is a Private Voice Teacher, Singer, Coach and Vocal Health Educator in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas as well as a member of National Association of Teachers of Singers (NATS). Along with being a board member for Triangle Youth Music, she serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Board for the International Young Artists Project (IYAP) and was a founder and board member of the Sunday Evening Concert Series at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in NYC, where she lived and performed for many years. Kim has performed in operas, recitals and orchestral concerts both nationally and internationally, and has won numerous awards including being a NY District winner and regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She received her B.A. in Music from Valparaiso University, her M.M. from Meredith College and her Professional Studies Diploma in Opera Performance from Mannes College of Music. Kim is passionate about musical education and development in our young people as well as in our society at large.

Bio Coming Soon!

Pamela Bash, a native New Yorker, graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, MA with a B.A in Art History. Her love for the arts began at an early age when her parents took her and her sister to plays, ballets and concert performances around NYC. She also grew up listening to her father playing piano and her aunt, a Julliard educated opera singer. Pam is also an avid traveler and has also lived and worked abroad teaching English as a Second Language in Turkey, Russia and Morocco. When Pam returned to New York in 2011, she restarted her fundraising career as the Corporate Relations Manager for the New York Philharmonic, and eventually moved to North Carolina to become the Assistant Vice President of Philanthropy at the North Carolina Symphony. In 2020, Pam joined Code The Dream, a nonprofit focussed on educating and uplifting the voices of underrepresented populations in tech.

Zoila Airall once read “having a passion in life may be important in the pursuit of happiness, but it may be best to have multiple passions.” It is in this way that she would describe her life’s journey. After forty years of having an impact on the lives of young adults, she retired from Duke University as a senior administrator and adjunct professor. During her career as an educator, however, she always found time for the other passion that she dearly loves, music. Zoila provided piano pedagogy to children, served as a church organist, and performed as a violinist in community orchestras. Music, shall we say, provided the proverbial wind beneath her wings. Now, in semi-retirement, she serves as a substitute church organist in the Triangle and is studying the cello, a newly discovered joy. She says that it is difficult to imagine a day without creating music.

Joel Duquene is a Senior Software Engineer at IBM and inventor with over 18 patents granted. He is a resident of North Carolina for 18 years and earned a M.S. Telecommunications from Pace University. He grew up in a family where music played a very important part of life. His Mother was school principal and introduced music classes as part of the curriculum. Many uncles were also music teachers. During Middle and High School, Joel played the French Horn, and later the Barytone for the town band, and the Tuba for the College band. He has one daughter who plays the piano and Viola, and was a member of the 2018-19 TYS orchestra.

Tiffany Haddock Born into an artistic family, Tiffany’s affinity for music was nurtured early on while learning to play the cello, alto saxophone and flute during primary and secondary schools.That exposure would remain with her and further her aspiration to participate in and support the arts. With nearly two decades of professional experience in business administration and operations, Tiffany realizes that her career longevity and hard-won achievements have been due in part to a relentless drive coupled with a perpetual pursuit of the things she is most passionate about. Those qualities easily extend themselves to Triangle Youth Music where she desires to utilize the skills she’s acquired in the workplace and world-space to enhance the lives of youth musicians and artists.

Kelli Partin was the Concertmaster for the Raleigh Youth Symphony Orchestra during Hugh Partridge’s entire tenure as Conductor. She is currently a violin teacher and active freelancer in the local community. Kelli is also on the Board of the Oakwood Waits and performs with them as a singer. She supports underprivileged youth by teaching Music Theatre at Community Music School of Raleigh.

Christopher Short is an emerging musician from the Raleigh, North Carolina area. Christopher graduated Magna Cum Laude from the East Carolina University School of Music as a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Theory/Composition in May 2019, when he received the ECU School of Music’s Award for being the “Most Outstanding Graduating Senior” in the area of Music Theory, Composition, and Musicology. Christopher has traveled internationally as a choral musician, performed regionally in a variety of operatic and oratorio performances, is an award-winning composer, and enjoys regularly performing as a singer/songwriter in the Triangle area. Christopher currently holds staff singing positions at Duke Chapel and Christ Church on Capitol Square and performs with the Raleigh Bach Soloists and in the Duke Bach Cantata Series. In addition to his music career, he is currently working in the box office for the North Carolina Symphony, where he previously interned in the philanthropy department.

Stephanie Swisher is a local violin teacher who played in the Raleigh Youth Symphony Orchestra when Hugh Partridge was the conductor. For many years she was the Assistant Director for the Duke String School.