Kendall Youth Orchestra

Mrs. Shawn Morton

Shawn Morton is currently in her twenty second year as an orchestra teacher in Gwinnett County. This is Mrs. Morton’s first year at North Gwinnett HS. Previously, Mrs. Morton taught at Duluth High School for sixteen years. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Mrs. Morton also holds a Master’s of Business Administration from Shorter College.

Mrs. Morton conducts the Gwinnett County Kendall Youth Orchestra, and she has served as a clinician for local school orchestras, workshops, clinics and camps. Mrs. Morton’s orchestras have performed at the 2007 Midwest Clinic, 2009 American String Teachers Association Conference, the 2011 Georgia Music Educators Association In-service Conference, the 2013 National Band and Orchestra Festival at Lincoln Center, the 2014 Midwest Clinic, and the 2018 American String Teachers Conference, the 2019 Capital Orchestra Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and at the 2022 Georgia Music Educators Association In-service Conference.

Mrs. Morton has served as the secretary for the Georgia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and as the GMEA District 13 Orchestra Chair. In addition, Mrs. Morton has presented at the 2014 GMEA In-service Conference, 2019 GMEA Conference, the 2019 Midwest Clinic, the 2021 National ASTA Conference, and the 2023 National ASTA Conference. She currently serves as the HS Orchestra Lead Teacher for GCPS, and she served as the Duluth HS Fine Arts Department Chair. Mrs. Morton also serves as the facilitator for the GA DOE Orchestra Community. She was the 2021-2022 Duluth High School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Morton is a member of the American String Teachers Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and Sigma Beta Delta. She resides in Buford, GA with her husband Dale, son Hudson, and dogs Mozart and Aria.

Mr. Carl Rieke

Mr. Carl Rieke graduated from St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota) in 1997, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education. He received his Masters Degree in Instrumental Conducting from Georgia State University in 2003.

Mr. Rieke has served as the music director at the Red Wing Theater Company in Red Wing, Minnesota. He has also performed with a variety of orchestras, including the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, the Owatonna Chamber Orchestra, the New Ulm Civic Orchestra, the Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra, and the North Georgia Symphony. For nine years he served as a co-director of the Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Rieke is also the director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Philharmonia and Sinfonietta Orchestras.

From 1999 until 2006, Mr. Rieke was Director of Orchestras at Shiloh High School in Gwinnett County. From 2006-2015, Mr. Rieke taught at Ola Middle School in Henry County where he was named Teacher of the Year for the 2011-2012 school year. That same year, his program received the GMEA Exemplary Program Award. In 2013, Mr. Rieke was named a “Class Act” teacher by Atlanta’s WXIA-TV—11 Alive News. Under Mr. Rieke’s direction, the Gwinnett County Youth Symphony, Metropolitan Youth Symphony Philharmonia, the Osborne Middle School Orchestra, and the Southern Crescent Symphony were featured at the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) state conference. He is currently the director of orchestras at Frank N. Osborne Middle School in Gwinnett County where he was named the 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year. The Osborne Middle School Orchestra program received the GMEA Exemplary Program Award for the 2015-2016 school year.

Mr. Rieke is a sought-after clinician, adjudicator, and conductor at orchestra events around the metro area, and State. He has also conducted the Minnesota summer pops camp, the east Tennessee all regional orchestra, one of the 2009 Alabama All-State Orchestras, and one of the 2020 Minnesota All-State Orchestras.

Mr. Rieke has been a Georgia All-State Orchestra organizing chair for eleven years, served as the GMEA Orchestra division chair (2007-2009), the GMEA Vice President for Performance Evaluations (2012-2014) and most recently as the GMEA President (2018-2020). Mr. Rieke has also served as secretary and treasurer for the Georgia Chapter of ASTA and was named the Georgia ASTA “Orchestra Director of the Year” in 2010. Mr. Rieke has presented sessions at the GMEA in-service Conference and the ASTA National Conference.

Mr. Rieke resides in Tucker, Georgia, with his wife Stacy.