The Scottsdale Philharmonic Symphony Staff
The staff of the Scottsdale Philharmonic volunteer their time to work collaboratively to manage the responsibilities and provide the services necessary for the seamless operation of a high quality orchestra comprised of volunteer, professionally trained musicians.
Joy Partridge, CPA
President of the Board and CEO
As the co-founder of the Scottsdale Philharmonic, Joy has realized her dream of creating a symphony orchestra in Scottsdale comprised of professional musicians who provide the highest quality of classical symphony music. As all concerts are free, everyone, young and old, can enjoy the beauty of classical music.
Ms. Partridge’s expertise owning a Certified Public Accounting firm and serving over 25 years actively on Valley symphony boards provides her with a solid foundation for the establishment, organization and operation of the Scottsdale Philharmonic. Joy is the primary publicity contact, fundraiser, community liaison, and donor connection for the Philharmonic. She works with many civic organizations promoting the mission and vision of the orchestra. She oversees and coordinates the activities of key staff members to ensure all aspects of orchestra operations are well managed.
For over 30 years Joy has performed as a violist in various valley orchestras and continues her performing tradition with the Scottsdale Philharmonic.
Carl R. Reiter
Music Director and Trustee
Carl Reiter is the co-founder of the Scottsdale Philharmonic and brings his broad experience and expertise to the organization both as a musician and an entrepreneur. His doctoral studies were done at Northern Arizona University. As our Director of Music, Carl is responsible for all the behind the scenes musical preparations for the concert seasons, auditions for musicians and establishing the program of music for each season, identifying and negotiating with concert soloists, obtaining music and managing all licensing commitments.
Carl also performs in the first violin section in our symphony. His experience as a violinist and violist began with his first professional engagement at the age of 11. While Carl is currently playing 1st violin with the Scottsdale Philharmonic, he has been a performing member of the Phoenix Symphony, Tempe Symphony, Phoenix String Quartet, Tucson Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Mesa Symphony, Scottsdale Symphony, and is the concert master, Phoenix First Assembly.
Four summers were spent working with Hidden Valley Music Seminars in Carmel Valley under the Assistant Director of the New York Philharmonic. His business experience was sharpened while performing public relations and instrument repair at the Reiter String Shop, a family owned business for 30 years in Phoenix. He also served as the Executive Director for the Arizona School of Fine Arts and Science, and taught music on the faculty of Grand Canyon University.
Ajay R. Patel
Conductor, Scottsdale Philharmonic
Ajay R. Patel has been a music educator in Arizona since 2001. His first three years were as the Director of Orchestras at Mountain Pointe High School, and then Basha High School in the Chandler district from 2006-2016. From 2016 to the present, he serves as the Orchestra Director at Desert Ridge High School in the Gilbert district. Mr. Patel earned his Bachelor of Music Education from Arizona State University (ASU), and a Master of Music in Cello Performance from Arizona State University.
Mr. Patel is an active member of organizations that support Arizona music education. He has served positions for the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association as Southwest Region Orchestra Chair, and Southwest Region Governor. He is also a current member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). Mr. Patel served as the Symphony Orchestra conductor for the East Valley Youth Symphony since its inaugural year in 2006. He also established the Chandler Academy for the Performing Arts (CAPA) in 2009, a three week summer music program for orchestra, band, choir and theatre serving the students of the Chandler Unified School District and the local southeast valley community.
An accomplished cellist, Mr. Patel has performed with many of the community and professional orchestras in Arizona. He has served as a substitute section cellist for the Arizona Opera, Guest Principal cellist for the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, and the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Arizona Pro Arte Orchestra. He has also performed with the Symphony of the Southwest, MusicaNova Orchestra, as well as the Scottsdale Philharmonic. In the winter of 2011, Mr. Patel was the principal cellist of the American Festival Orchestra under the direction of Lawrence Golan. The American Festival Orchestra toured 14 cities in China over a span of two weeks as part of an international cultural exchange.
Mr. Patel studied cello with Takayori Atsumi and Thomas Landschoot, at Arizona State University. His conducting studies were guided by Dr. Timothy Russell and Dr. Gary Hill at Arizona State University.
John Massaro
Resident Conductor
John Massaro is the Principal Conductor for Phoenix Opera and the Southwest Vocal Competition where he has conducted main stage opera productions as well as Galas with world renowned opera superstars Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Jonas Kaufmann. Mr. Massaro served as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein during the creation of his opera A Quiet Place and to Zubin Mehta for the Israel Philharmonic’s production of Madama Butterfly. He worked extensively with the great German soprano, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, with whom he coached both Opera and Art Song repertoire. Mr. Massaro made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Mozart Requiem which led to a distinguished European tour to Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Salzburg and Vienna, where he conducted several additional Mozart masterpieces in a 250th anniversary celebration of the composer’s birth. He debuted with the Phoenix Symphony in 2002, conducting a 9/11 memorial concert, which included his own arrangement of the National Anthem.
Carol Skjaerris
Advisory Board
Executive Director
Joining the Scottsdale Philharmonic in 2017, Carol brings decades of experience in marketing, advertising, and event planning to her role in supporting the Scottsdale Philharmonic and its patrons. One of the most rewarding parts of her career path and her work as Executive Director is bringing teams of people together developing an exciting, dynamic work environment for them to be part of in creating a high quality orchestra.
Vickie Thai
Concertmaster, Scottsdale Philharmonic
Vickie Thai holds degrees in church music from the Moody Bible Institute, violin performance from the American Conservatory of Music, and music education from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. For five seasons, as a member, principal second, and assistant concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training program of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Vickie had the honor of performing under the direction of Sir Georg Solti, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Claudio Abbado, Margaret Hillis and Gordon Peters. Here in the Valley, Vickie played with the Mesa Symphony for 20 years, serving as concertmaster for the 2004-2005 season. She was the assistant concertmaster of the Scottsdale Musical Arts Symphony and also played in the West Valley Symphony, the Phoenix Praise Orchestra, and the Palmcroft Church orchestra.
Since she was 18-years-old, Vickie has had the privilege of teaching music in public schools and home school groups. Currently, Vickie maintains a private studio at Harmony House Music Academy. For 8 years Vickie was a member of String Sounds, an organization providing inter-disciplinary arts programs in public schools. As a partner of the Allegro Quartet, Vickie helps brides plan the perfect music for their wedding, and leads the quartet performing for their special day. Currently serving as the orchestra’s Concertmaster, Vicki has performed with the Scottsdale Philharmonic since its inception.
Charlie Bullen
Advisory Board
Database Coordinator
Charlie manages data collection, integration and analysis of the orchestra’s database. He also performs as a cellist with the Scottsdale Philharmonic. Prior to retirement, Charlie worked for a hotel property management software company, where he was responsible for maintaining, upgrading and repairing both the physical computing and networking infrastructure of hotels as well as the software and databases they utilize.
Mary Kelly
Music Librarian
As the Music Librarian, Mary assures that every musician has a complete folder of music for every concert. She maintains the organization and cataloging of the orchestra library and assures all rental music is properly managed. Mary has been playing string bass since she was 11-years-old. She has played in Arizona orchestras since 1972 and is proud to play bass with the Scottsdale Philharmonic. Mary is a retired Special Education teacher.
Daniel Atwood
Youth Orchestra Conductor
Dr. Daniel Atwood is a dynamic performer who has played across the United States and Europe including appearances in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany. Currently, he is a member of the Scottsdale Philharmonic and the Taneycomo Festival Orchestra (MO). He has previously held positions with the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra (VA), Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra (VA), Panama City Pops (FL), and Sinfonia Gulf Coast (FL). Dr. Atwood enjoys volunteering in the community by providing free piano lessons at Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Foundation and giving free masterclasses to public schools in the Phoenix area.