Music Department Bios

Jeffrey L. Webb, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Allegheny College and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Binghamton University. While at Allegheny, Mr. Webb acted as student conductor for the Allegheny College Choirs, and was active as a tenor soloist, accompanist and musical director for several theatre productions. In addition, Mr. Webb conducted members of the Erie Philharmonic and pianist Alec Chien in a performance of Camille Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto in G minor. While attending Binghamton University, Mr. Webb served as the conductor of the Binghamton University Women's Chorus from 2000-2001 and acted as a guest conductor for the Binghamton University Chamber Chorus. At the Univeristy of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Mr. Webb conducts the Women's Chorus and the Concert Choir and teaches courses in Theory, Music Listening, and Popular Music. Mr. Webb has studied conducting with Dr. Ward Jamison and Dr. Bruce Borton, has had coaching sessions with Maestro Peter Bay of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and has served as conductor and accompanist for a wide variety of performing groups. In addition to his duties at UPJ, Mr. Webb is the Artistic Director of the Blair Concert Chorale in Altoona, PA.  Mr. Webb can be reached at jeffwebb@pitt.edu.

Mr. Bodolosky was appointed to his position as Director of Bands in 1993. He is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he holds both a B.S. and M.Ed. in Music Education. A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, Mr. Bodolosky also serves as Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chairperson for the Richland School District in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Included in his duties for the Richland School District are Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, Middle School and Elementary Bands. Mr. Bodolosky has serves as an officer for District 6 of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association. He was the recipient of the Pennsylvania Music Educators 2002 “Citation of Excellence in Teaching” and is listed in “Who’s, Who Among American Teachers.” He is active in the International Association of Jazz Educators, Music Educators National Conference, College Band Directors National Association and serves on the Board of Directors for the Arcadia Theater and the Johnstown Community Arts Center. A member of the American Federation of Musicians, he is founder and leader of the “Jazz In Your Face Big Band,” an 18 piece jazz band dedicated to jazz education, entertaining audiences through regular appearances around the Greater Johnstown area. In addition to his duties at the University and Richland, Mr. Bodolosky directs the pit orchestra for the University’s annual musical theater production. He is one of the Executive Directors for the Summer Institute for the Performing Arts at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center. He serves as conductor for the Laurel Highlands Music Ambassadors Concert Band, with audiences in Europe and Ireland. He has served as clinician, adjudicator, guest conductor and freelance musician for various festivals and contests.  Mr. Bodolosky can be reached via e-mail at mlb17@pitt.edu.

Istvan Jaray, Music Director of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, is an internationally acclaimed conductor. He has regularly appeared in concert halls in Europe, Canada and the United States in the last twenty years. His dynamic leadership has brought the JSO to the rank of a high quality Metropolitan Orchestra. Born in Hungary, Maestro Jaray guest conducted major orchestras in his homeland including the Concert Orchestra of Budapest and the Savaria Symphony. He also conducted the Radio and Television Orchestra of Zagreb, Croatia which was broadcast live on radio and television. Because of the overwhelming success, Maestro Jaray was invited back to conduct the Zagreb Philharmonic. Other guest conducting appearances include performances with the Symphonies of Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, Baton Rouge, Binghamton, Brussels Radio Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Di Sanremo in Italy, the North Bay and the Victoria Symphonies in Canada. Maestro Jaray also conducted performances by the Pittsburgh Opera Theatre, Wisconsin Ballet and the Milwaukee Ballet. In 2001 he guest conducted the Cukurova State Symphony Orchestra in Adana, Turkey and the Debrecen Philharmonic in Hungary. In 2003, he made a second guest conducting appearance with the Debrecen Philharmonic. He has been invited to conduct the Karpatalja Chamber Orchestra in the Ukraine next season. At the age of five, Jaray began to study the violin, later graduating from the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, where he also studied piano, composition, and conducting under the direction of Zoltan Kodaly and Gyorgy Ligeti. After leaving Hungary in 1956, Jaray enrolled at London's Royal College of Music, where he studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult. Following four years as a member of the British National Opera Orchestra, he free-lanced with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and BBC Orchestra. After joining the Vancouver (Canada) Symphony, he met Otto Werner Mueller, who became his mentor and colleague. They accepted positions on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Concurrently, Mr. Jaray became Music Director of the Waukesha and Fox Valley Symphonies. Ten years later, he accepted a faculty position at Carnegie-Mellon University. There he led the Carnegie-Mellon Philharmonic. He continues as an adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown teaching classes on "Great Composers". In addition, he is also the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Livingston Symphony Orchestra in Livingston, New Jersey.