Children's Choir Conductor Biography

Jen and Scott Pappal
Children's Choir Conductors

Jennifer Pappal is the Orchestra Director and String Instrument Teacher for Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School, where she also teaches general music and keyboard lab classes. She also maintains a private violin/viola studio of approximately twenty young musicians.

A first violinist with the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, Mrs. Pappal has appeared with most of the Central and Western Pennsylvania regional orchestras, including the symphonies of Johnstown, State College, Westmoreland, and Butler, as well as the Chamber Orchestra of the Alleghenies and the “Pit” orchestra of the Altoona Community Theatre. She has also performed in backup orchestras for pop artists Lee Ann Rimes, David Gates, and Frank Sinatra, Jr. Jennifer, together with her husband Scott, administers encorestringsandbrass.com, which provides flexible instrumentation trios, quartets, and quintets.

Jennifer Pappal has bachelor’s (summa cum laude) and master’s degrees in music education from Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University. While at Duquesne, she was a violin student of Pittsburgh Opera/Ballet Orchestra concertmaster Charles Stegeman. As a young Altoona native, Jennifer studied piano, voice, and violin with Pam Meiser, Brenda Gregory, and Charles Redenberger. In 1996, Jennifer sang the national anthem for the opening Pittsburgh Steeler football game!

Scott Pappal is heavily involved in many areas of Blair County’s musical scene. He is an elementary instrumental music specialist for the Altoona Area School District, a position he has held since 2000. In this capacity, he works with approximately 400 children each week, in both formal classroom settings and in small groups. Scott is the director of the AASD’s All-City Concert Band.

In addition to his work within the public school system, Mr. Pappal is organist/pianist for the Hollidaysburg Church of the Brethren. He is employed as the keyboard accompanist for the Penn State (Altoona) “Essence of Joy” Gospel Choir, a twenty-five member ensemble specializing in the African-American spiritual and choral repertoire of the past 150 years. No stranger to popular music, Scott spends his late-night hours performing as keyboardist/vocalist with “The Killer Boots,” Altoona’s premier rock/pop band.

Scott Pappal is principal horn of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, and is also a member of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. He has been a featured soloist with both orchestras on several occasions, and has also appeared as soloist with many area school and community bands and orchestras. Recently, Scott performed in concert with the multi-platinum ensemble “Mannheim Steamroller!”

Mr. Pappal earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His musical mentors include Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra members William Caballero and Zachary Smith. He is married to Jennifer Pappal (a violinist and orchestra director/string teacher at Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School), and has two children: Kristen and Kara.