Dr. Rick Barrantes Agüero, Music Director
Dr. Rick Barrantes Agüero is an educator, bassoonist, and conductor based in Philadelphia. He holds the following positions: Music Director of the Chester County Youth Orchestra; Bassoon Faculty and Chamber Music Coordinator at Temple University; Bassoon Faculty and Winds/Percussion Department Head at The Music School of Delaware; Director and Bassoon Instructor at the PYO Music Institute and Settlement Music School’s Double Reed Academy; Bassoon Faculty at the Philadelphia International Music Festival; and Bassoon Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College.
As a music educator, he previously served as bassoon teacher at the Interlochen Arts Camp, Millersville University, The Philadelphia Orchestra All-City Fellowship, Temple Music Prep, SiNEM/El Sistema (Costa Rica), School of Symphonic Music of Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica), and ANC Youth Music Camp (Panama). He has also presented masterclasses at The Glenn Gould School (Canada), Penn State University, University of Delaware, University of the Pacific, University of Alabama, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Guaranda International Music Festival (Ecuador), National Conservatory of Tegucigalpa (Honduras), and Youth Symphony Orchestra of Nicaragua.
As an avid performer, he is principal bassoon of the New Jersey Chamber Orchestra and has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (Switzerland), AIMS Festival Orchestra (Austria), among many others. He has also performed with the Dolce Suono and Serafin chamber ensembles and has been a guest artist at the IDRS Conference and Meg Quigley Symposium.
Melissa Gerstein, Director of Operations
Melissa Gerstein brings more than 20 years of experience in arts administration and event production, including roles at the New York Philharmonic and Bard Graduate Center. She is an Operations Relations Executive at The Conference Board, a nonprofit think tank and business membership organization. A classically trained opera singer, she holds a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music. She lives in Delaware County with her husband and three-year-old daughter. As CCYO’s Director of Operations, she is delighted to support the orchestra’s young musicians as they continue sharing their music with the community.