Conductors

Andrew Samlal

Described as a “fine and quite serious musician, with excellent technical command”, Trinidadian conductor and pianist Andrew Samlal has appeared as associate conductor and coach with the Des Moines Metro Opera and Guest Conductor with the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Samlal was also music director of the Delaware Valley Opera Company’s Le nozze di Figaro, assistant conductor of the Prague Summer Festival’s Le nozze di Figaro and also conductor for Independent Sounds Festival’s La Traviata and Le nozze di Figaro. Praised for his “skilled technique at the keyboard but also for his acute sense of the classical and baroque period styles” Samlal was also an apprentice conductor and school pianist with the Philadelphia Ballet and served on faculty as a conductor and pianist at Temple University. 

Samlal has worked as Music Director of The University of Maryland’s University Orchestra and Assistant Conductor with the Maryland Opera Studio (MOS) where he assisted with MOS’s productions of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Otto Nikolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Samlal has a Master's Degree in Collaborative Piano and Opera Coaching from Temple University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in orchestral studies at The University of Maryland where he is a student of David Neely. Some artists Samlal has worked with include Markand Thakar, Beatrice Affron, Lambert Orkis, Sara Davis Buechner and Joyce Lindorff. 

Julie Huang Tucker

JULIE HUANG TUCKER (conductor, keyboard artist, and educator) is Director of Choral Activities at the George Washington University and Music Director at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington.  She has directed the University of Maryland’s University Orchestra, University Chorale, and Maryland Opera Studio’s Chorus and has helped prepare the UMD Concert Choir in major works by Beethoven, Ravel, Scriabin and Handel with the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and UMD Symphony Orchestra.  Additionally, she has taken to the podium at SHIFT Festival of American Orchestras' Workshop, Chorus America’s Choral-Orchestral Academy, and Yale’s Norkolk Chamber Music Festival.  

An award-winning organist, Huang Tucker has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Choral Arts Society of Washington, and Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Hall, and National Cathedral.  She has had the distinction of being the first female Associate Conductor and Collaborative Keyboard Artist for Washington Men’s Camerata, and was on the inaugural artistic team of the Washington Douglass Chorale, a choir celebrating racial diversity.  While serving as Collaborative Keyboard Artist for the Arlington Chorale, the group garnered the 2024 Ovation Award in Exemplary Community Engagement, and during her tenure as pianist for QuinTango, the internationally-touring quintet received the 2023 Wammie Music Award for best Latin Group.  She has also played with the Washington Sinfonietta, Tysons McLean Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Georgetown Chorale, and Children’s Chorus of Washington.  

Huang Tucker enjoys teaching beyond traditional learning environments, and her belief that classical music should be accessible has sparked initiatives like leading youth orchestras in Mexico, working with township youth and prison ensembles in South Africa, mentoring girls at Holton-Arms School, guiding elderly singers in Encore Chorale of Glen Echo, and coaching young artists at Bel Canto Tuscany Opera Festival.  Additionally, she has shared the same love and knowledge of music more widely as a host on WETA, Washington’s classical music radio station.

Huang Tucker holds a B.A. from Cornell University in musicology, and a M.M. in Organ Performance from the University of Oklahoma.  She is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting at the University of Maryland, where she studies with Jason Max Ferdinand and David Neely. 

J. Bradley Baker

American conductor, coach, pianist and administrator J. Bradley Baker currently serves as Director of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland; Principal Coach on the Music Staff of The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York; and Co-Founding Executive & Music Director of Music On Site in Wichita, Kansas.

In addition to his ongoing work with Maryland Opera Studio, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Music On Site, Baker has worked on operatic productions with Opera Naples, Wichita Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Orange County, Opera Arlington, Landlocked Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, Opera Seme, Natchez Festival of Music, Opera Birmingham, LOLA-Austin, Franco-American Vocal Academy, Tabor College Opera, and the University of Alabama Opera Theatre.

Dedicated to training the next generation of opera artists and bringing opera to new audiences, Baker is the Executive and Music Director of Music On Site, Inc. (MOSI), in Wichita, Kansas, one of the largest opera festivals in the country. MOSI’s mission is to increase the accessibility of opera by producing engaging performances at low or no cost for underserved communities and providing high quality training and opportunities for promising emerging and early-career opera artists.

An avid scholar and academic, Dr. Baker currently serves as Mid-Atlantic Regional Governor for the National Opera Association. He has presented his research multiple times at the national conference of the National Opera Association, NATS Winter Workshop, and Collabfest, in addition to having coauthored articles featured in the NATS Journal of Singing and NOA Now. Dr. Baker joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Music in 2025.

Conductor Emeritus: Derek Maseloff

Derek Maseloff helped the orchestra to get started in 2023, and was principal conductor until fall 2025 when he left to take an army band conducting position. 

A conductor, horn player, organist, and composer,  Derek is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Great Falls Philharmonic, the region’s newest professional orchestra. He previously served as Music Director of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Great Falls, VA, and was an active freelance horn player in the Washington D.C. area.  Derek is a founding member of Classically Dope, a Washington D.C.-based musical experiment featuring rapper Konshens theMC and a cohort of classically trained musicians. Recent collaborations include a workshop with Yo-Yo Ma and a performance alongside the National Symphony Orchestra at the Anthem. As an administrator, Derek is a passionate advocate for young artists, a believer in the transformative experience of touring. He served as Director of Artistic Planning for the National Youth Orchestra of China, presenting dozens of concerts on three continents with highlights at the Berlin Konzerthaus and Carnegie Hall and as the Festival Director of the Prague Summer Nights Young Artist Music Festival. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in China and Asian-Studies (CAPS) and a Masters in horn performance from the University of Maryland. He lives in Greenbelt.