Robert Frelly, D.M.A., serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Chapman University Wind Symphony and Chamber Winds, the Director of Music Education, and Associate Professor within the School of Music.  In addition to wind conducting, he is active as an orchestra conductor, having served as Associate Conductor of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Southern California Pops Orchestra, and Music Director of the University of Southern California Community Orchestra.  Dr. Frelly is in his 26th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Orange County Junior Orchestra, now known as The Southern California Youth Philharmonic. 
Dr. Frelly is a frequent guest conductor for all-state and regional honor bands and orchestras, with recent appearances in Arizona, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, and Nevada.  On the international stage he has led performances in Australia, Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, and is the Artistic Director of Orchestrating Sydney, an international music festival that brings together the best youth and college musicians from around the world for musical and cultural interactions at the famed Sydney Opera House.  At the end of the Yorba Linda Symphony Orchestra's 2007-2008 season, he lead the YLSO on a tour of China, and the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an, including, among others, a concert at the base of the Great Wall.
An accomplished conductor and educator, Dr. Frelly recently completed a music instructional video series, An Introduction to the Orchestra and is currently preparing a manuscript devoted to conducting and musical interpretation.  Dr. Frelly has also authored numerous articles on music and has served as Editor of Upbeat, a national publication devoted to the promotion and development of music educational programs for youth.  
A champion of new music, Dr. Frelly has received national recognition with the “First Place ASCAP Award for Programming of Contemporary Music in the category of Youth Orchestras” from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (1998, 1999, and 2000).  He is also the recipient of a Chapman University Faculty Achievement Award, recognizing excellence in teaching and scholarly/creative activity, and two Chapman University Scholarly/Creative Grants.
A strong advocate of the arts, Dr. Frelly has presented clinics and workshops for numerous organizations, including MENC:  The National Association for Music Education, the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and CMEA: The California Association for Music Education.   Dr. Frelly is actively involved in local, regional, and national arts organizations, and at present is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for California Symphony Orchestras, the Directors Council of the American Symphony Orchestra League, and he is Past-President of CMEA/Southern Section and the Youth Orchestra Division of the ASOL.
Dr. Frelly holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from CSU, Long Beach, where he was inducted as a member of the Graduates Dean’s List of University Scholars and Artists.  He also holds dual Bachelor of Music Degrees in Music Education and Music Composition from Chapman University and is a member of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

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