JONI SWENSON is in her fourth year as the Orchestra Director at Santa Monica High School. A graduate of UCLA, she taught for 23 years in Sacramento and San Jose. Swenson has served as guest conductor of the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Capitol Section Honor Orchestra, the Bay Section Honor Orchestra, the Central Coast Section Honor Orchestra, and the Marin County Honor Orchestra. She has presented sessions at both the CMEA State and Bay Section Conferences, as well as at the Southern California School Band and Orchestra (SCSBOA) Fall Conference. In addition, she has served as the Orchestra Representative in both CMEA Capitol and Bay Sections. Currently, Swenson is on the board of the California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA). In 2001, Swenson was selected by San Francisco radio station KDFC Classical 102.1 as the Music Educator of the Year, and in 2004 she received the CMEA Le Blanc Outstanding Orchestra Music Educator Award from CMEA.