HopeBox Charity Youth Orchestra
Music Staffs
Michael Boitz
Conductor & Music Director
Michael Boitz is serving in his 26th year leading the Instrumental Music Program at Saratoga High School, of which he served as Department Chair for the Visual and Performing Arts Department for 21 years. Mr. Boitz taught in his native Minnesota before arriving to take over the program at Saratoga High School in August 1998. Saratoga High School Instrumental Music Ensembles have developed a reputation for excellence at the state, national, and international level under his leadership. Mr. Boitz’s musical responsibilities at Saratoga High School include overseeing all aspects of the Music Department, involving over 40% of the 1,200 students enrolled at Saratoga High. He has served as Director of Bands 1998-2019 and Director of Orchestra’s 1998-present, and continues to work with both Bands and Orchestra’s as he did upon arrival 25 years ago. Saratoga High School currently has 4 directors, but Mr. Boitz continues to split his load between the Band and Orchestra program in an effort to keep all aspects of the Saratoga High School instrumental music program vibrant and fully supported.
Mr. Boitz has led concert tours to Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Australia. International festivals have included the WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) Conference in Prague, CZ in 2022, Utrecht, NL in 2017, the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, NL, twice the Mid-Europe Music Festival in Schladming, AT, twice the Jungfrau Music Festival in Interlachen, CH, twice the former Vienna Youth in Music Festival in Vienna, AT, and the IMAGO Music Festival in Ljubljana, SI. Performance venues have included the Musikverein in Vienna, AU, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, NL, the Palau de Musica in Barcelona, SE, the Konzertsaal in Lucerne, CH, the Kursaal in Donostia/San Sebastian, SE, the Palau de la Musica in Valencia, SE, the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, AU, and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Under Mr Boitz’s leadership, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble has also performed at multiple state and regional conferences, including most recently performing at CASMEC (CA All-State Music Education Conference) in 2024. In the same academic year Mr. Boitz led the most advanced Orchestra at Saratoga HS, Saratoga Strings, in performance at the 77th Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, December 2023, the 3rd appearance of this ensemble at the Midwest Clinic, previous years being 2018 and 2014. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has earned Unanimous Superior ratings consistently since 1999. The Saratoga High School Marching Band has performed at both the nationally televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (2012), and the internationally televised Tournament of Roses Parade (2016), along with multiple Bands of America Regional Championships, of which Saratoga was the West Coast Regional Champion in 2015.
Mr. Boitz has been awarded the Teacher-of-the-Year by the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District, the California Music Educators Association Bay Section Gilbert T. Freitas Award for Excellence in Music Education, the California Music Educators Association Richard L. Levin Orchestra Educator of the Year Award, the California Music Educators Association Band Educator of the Year award, the California Music Educators Association Bay Section Educator of the Year award, the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award, and has been inducted into the John Phillip Sousa Legion of Honor. Mr. Boitz and his path at Saratoga High School is one of the featured chapters of author and lecturer Scott Lang’s Book, Leader of the Band.
Mr. Boitz serves regularly as a Guest Conductor for High School and Junior High Regional Honor Bands and Orchestra’s on the West Coast, most recently the SCSBOA MS Honor Orchestra. He has presented Clinic Sessions for WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) in Hungary and the Czech Republic, presented Clinic Sessions and Rehearsal Labs at the Midwest Clinic, General session with SCSBOA in 2024, and serves as Adjudicator and Clinician for multiple associations throughout the U.S. He has been honored to conduct All-State Bands and Orchestra’s in California, Nevada, Indiana, and Oregon. Mr. Boitz has personally been awarded Honorary Commendations from the City of Saratoga, as well as the Band Program and Orchestra Program at SHS have been awarded Honorary Commendations from the City of Saratoga.
Mr. Boitz completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Concordia College (Bachelor of Music) in Moorhead Minnesota and Northwestern University (MA) in Evanston, IL, respectively. His teachers and mentors of greatest influence have included Dr. Mallory Thompson, Dr. Russell Pesola, Dr. J. Robert Hanson, Dr. Frank Bencriscutto, Dr. Lawrence Sutherland, Dr. Ed Huttlin, Mr. John Lace, Mr. Mike Hiatt, Mr. Gordon Nilsen, and Mr. Peter Dahlstrom. Michael Boitz was born and raised in Anoka, MN, and is a proud graduate of Anoka High School.
Sarah Lee
Director of Strings
Sarah Lee began playing the violin at age 4 in Hamburg, Germany. Continuing her musical education in the US, she received her Bachelors of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Keng-Yuen Tseng. As an educator dedicated to empowering youth through music, she has been instrumental in developing the New Life Music program in Korea since 2011, a program which partners professional musicians with underprivileged children in foster homes to provide musical instruction and orchestral programs. As a conductor of the New Life youth orchestras, she has led the group on tours in the US, Asia, South and Central America. In addition to her work as a conductor, she has adjudicated string festivals and competitions, and maintains an active private studio. Her students have won numerous competitions, performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall and participating in All-State and county orchestras as principal musicians.
Ms. Lee joined the HopeBox Youth Orchestra as Director of Strings in 2020.
Chag-Hee Lee
Director of Strings
A native of Seoul, Korea, Chag-Hee Lee graduated from YeWon School and Seoul Arts High School. After completing her degree at the Korean National University of Arts and Music, she received her Master of Music degree from Indiana University and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland. Her primary teachers include Nam Yoon Kim, Sung Ju Lee, Ik Hwan Bae, Jonathan Carney, and Dr. Gerald Fischbach.
In 2006, Ms. Lee won both the Special Presentation Winner Series put on by Artists International and the New York Public Library Concert Series. Artists International sponsored her New York City debut recital at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and the library sponsored her recital at Donnell Library Center. Her performance at Carnegie Hall was described by the New York Concert Review as “focused and pure on all strings and in every register. Her facility and intonation are excellent and her technique is secure and disciplined.”
Ms. Lee has appeared as concerto soloist with the Seoul, Ureuk, and Indiana University Symphony Orchestras in addition to Nova Solisti Chamber Orchestra, the Mission College Symphony, Sonnet Ensemble and Maryland Sinfonietta. She has also participated in music festivals in Aspen, Bowdoin, Banff, and Flaine along with the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. From 2005 to 2007, she served as a substitute violinist with the Baltimore Symphony. As an active solo and ensemble musician Ms. Lee has been an active member of the Fortnightly Music Club in Palo Alto since 2009.
Ms. Lee is an active first violin sectional member of Symphony San Jose and Nova Solisti Chamber Orchestra as well as concertmaster of the Mission College Symphony. She has also served as concertmaster of the California Concerto Weekend for Amateur Pianists in 2014 and 2017. As an educator, Ms. Lee served as an adjunct faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara and the College of San Mateo in San Mateo and has served as a jury member for the Mission College Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition since 2014 and Hopebox Charity Youth Orchestra since 2021. Recently, Ms. Lee has joined as a violin instructor at the Palo Alto Adult School and The Harker School.
Dr. Joseph Kim
Advisor
Dr. Joseph Kim is an active trumpeter, conductor, and educator. As an orchestral player, he has performed with Symphony Silicon Valley and Merced Symphony, and he has worked closely with the Stanford Marching Band, Saratoga Union School District, The Harker School, and California Youth Symphony.
Dr. Kim first performed with Hopebox Charity Youth Orchestra as a guest musician in 2016. Since then he served as brass instructor in 2017, and then as assistant conductor in 2018. His continued devotion toward music education and charitable work eventually gave him the opportunity to lead HCYO as the conductor since 2019.