The Symphony Guild of Charlotte Endowed Chair and Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras, Dr. Pereira has vigorously improved and expanded the two ensembles over the past twenty years, leading the CSYO in performances at Charlotte’s Festival in the Park and Summer Pops at Symphony Park, as well as the prestigious venues of Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, SC, and Carnegie Hall in New York, NY. He has guest conducted the Charlotte Civic Orchestra and has appeared on several local chamber music series as either a violinist or conductor. For a number of years, Dr. Pereira was featured at the Charlotte Symphony’s annual Youth Festival, conducting the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra as well as the combined professional and youth orchestras. He currently co-directs, with Dr. Nitsch, the Fun with Chamber Music program for youth at Queens University. Students from his orchestra and private teaching studio have gone on to major in music at noted conservatories and universities, including the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, University of Texas at Austin, the Yale School of Music, the Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, Oberlin College, North Carolina School of the Arts, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt University.

A native of South Africa, Dr. Pereira received his early training in violin in Pretoria from Walter Mony and Alan Solomon and holds Teacher and Performer Licentiates from the University of South Africa. He studied in this country with David Cerone, graduating as valedictorian from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1981 and a Master of Music degree in 1982. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas in 1987, studying with Vincent Frittelli. Dr. Pereira served as Concertmaster of both the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra as well as the University of Texas Orchestra and conducted the University of Texas String Project Orchestra. Since 1985, Dr. Pereira has been a member of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, South Africa and Namibia and has soloed with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Civic Orchestra. He believes strongly in educating young musicians and maintains an active and successful violin studio.

Christine Rydel has been manager of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras since 1998. Mrs. Rydel received a double degree in Clarinet Performance and Music Education from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. Prior to her appointment at the CSYO, Mrs. Rydel was a member of the Greenville (SC) and Roanoke (VA) symphony orchestras, band director at Concord Middle School and was the early school music teacher and ensemble director at Charlotte Preparatory School. In 2000 and 2005, she was acknowledged for excellence as a distinguished educator in "Who's Who Among America's Teachers". In November of 2007, Mrs. Rydel was the recipient of the CCDS Faculty Exceptional Performance Award and in 2010 she was one of twenty-seven Mecklenburg County educators selected to attend the prestigious Teaching Fellows Institute of Charlotte. Mrs. Rydel is the Upper School Director of Instrumental Music and Fine Arts Coordinator at Charlotte Country Day School and is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts Administration degree at Winthrop Univeristy.