The Victor and Vincent Lionti Scholarship honors the legacies of conductors emeritus Vincent J. Lionti and C. Victor Lionti by awarding a scholarship to a graduating senior who are in good standing with the GWYOA and who plan on pursuing a major or minor degree in music performance, music education, or another music related degree. 2025 is the scholarship’s inaugural year.

2025 Victor and Vincent Lionti Scholarship Recipient: Sophia Jimdar

2025 Victor and Vincent Lionti Scholarship Recipient: Aadi Sethi

Dr. Katie Kresek is a distinguished musician and educator with a rich background in performance, creation, and education. Graduating from the Greater Westchester Youth Orchestras Association (GWYOA) in 1994, Dr. Kresek has since crafted a remarkable career, blending her love for music with an unwavering commitment to excellence.

The first American woman to win a Tony Award for Best Orchestrations, Katie Kresek’s dynamic career as performer, creator, and educator is defined by versatility and multi-genre musical artistry. She is currently the concertmaster and co-orchestrator of Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway, for which she has received both the 2020 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and a 2020 Outer Critics Circle  Honor for Outstanding Orchestrations.

Drawing on a peripatetic upbringing steeped in classical, folk, musical theatre, pop, and tango, her arrangements blend her vast experience as a performer with an imaginative synthesis of compositional styles. Her collaborations explore a wide vocabulary of idiomatic techniques, instrumental timbres and textures. In addition to Moulin Rouge! The Musical, recent arranging projects include for Beck’s 2024 Orchestral Tour, The Met Gala, Sleeping At Last’s 2024 performance at Carnegie Hall, Jonathan Coulton's album Some Guys, Phillip Phillips Behind The Light, and Lana Del Rey's Body Electric on the Born to Die: Paradise LP which was nominated for a Grammy Award. She has also written arrangements for Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Trey Anastasio, Rosanne Cash, Jesca Hoop, Misterwives, Richard Marx, Five for Fighting, and many others.

As a recording artist, she has performed on albums with artists including Norah JoHow are you doing, my brother?nes, James Taylor, Paul Simon, and most recently with Sarah Jarosz on her album World on the Ground, which won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. During the Broadway shutdown, she joined Trey Anastasio at his eight-week virtual residency, Beacon Jams, as part of the Rescue Squad Strings. Recent tours include Adele 25 Live in both Europe and North America, Five For Fighting Live with String Quartet, Elbow, Father John Misty’s Pure Comedy Tour, Bright Eyes, Rod Stewart at Madison Square Garden, and in Europe, US, Japan, and Latin America as the lead violinist and strings arranger for Lana Del Rey. She served as the concertmaster of David Byrne's Contemporary Color, performing with St. Vincent, Tune-Yards, Lucius, and Nelly Furtado in shows in Toronto and New York. She has also performed and/or recorded with Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rufus Wainwright, Rosanne Cash, Diana Krall, Billy Porter, Pharrell Williams, Phillip Phillips, A Great Big World, Bastille, Jesca Hoop, Steve Martin & Edie Brickell, Alicia Keys, Angelique Kidjo, O.A.R., Shakira, KD Lang, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Jewel, Lenny Kravitz, Joanna Newsom, Enya, Ayo, Maya Isacowitz, Misterwives, Frank Ocean, MNDR, She & Him, Amber Rubarth, Kishi Bashi, The Hot Sardines, Breaking Benjamin, Zayn Malik, RY X, Trampled by Turtles, Chromeo, Andrew Bayer, JViewz, Marc Almond, Sir Jacobsen, Adriel Denae, The O’Jays, and many others.

She is also a founding member of the XQuartet; a string ensemble dedicated to the art of singer-songwriter collaboration in the studio and on stage. Since its inception, the quartet has emerged as one of the leading ensembles of its kind.

Her work in television includes performances on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with James Corden, The Late Show with Steven Colbert, American Idol, Bluegrass Underground, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Today Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The View, CBS The Early Show, The Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting, and the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Her Broadway experience includes performances in the original New York production and Angelica Tour of Hamilton, The Cher Show, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, American Idiot, The Lion King, Chaplin, Follies, Cinderella, The Phantom of the Opera, Gigi, Honeymoon in Vegas, Matilda, Pippin, On The Town, A Minister's Wife, Giant, and Frozen. 

As a music and talent coordinator, Katie has put together ensembles for numerous national and international film, television, recording and touring projects, including the 2014 Met Gala with Frank Ocean, Adele’s debut at the 2009 Grammy Awards, and Adele’s 2015 television special “Live at Radio City” on NBC. 

Praised for her skilled teaching artistry, creative and original programming, and her intelligent, holistic approach to string pedagogy, Katie Kresek combines passionate performance practice with deep commitment to learning to illuminate musical worlds for students and concertgoers. For six years, she was an Adjunct Associate Professor at St. John’s University in the department of Core Studies, where she taught interdisciplinary courses that explore the intersection of the arts and social issues in New York City, in addition to serving as an instructor of violin and viola. From 2016 to 2021, she served as the Community Liaison for the Teaching Artist Community at Teachers College, where she mentored teaching artists on expanding their practice. As a co-creator of Teachers College’s Online Certificate in Responsive Pedagogy program, she has designed online arts learning experiences for numerous cohorts since 2016. Additionally, Katie has served as teaching artist for Lincoln Center Education, The New York Philharmonic, and many other cultural organizations.

Katie holds a B.F.A. in music performance, a B.A. in literature, and a certificate in arts management from Purchase College, an M.M. in music performance from The Mannes College of Music, and a Masters and Doctorate in music and music education from Columbia University. Additional studies are in arranging, orchestration, and scoring at Berklee College of Music and The Juilliard School.