The orchestra was co-founded by two accomplished music educators, Shawn Plonski and Steve Goodman.
Shawn Plonski received the School of Music Dean’s Scholarship to attend Indiana University in Bloomington as a jazz-clarinet performance major (1999-2001). In 2000, Shawn became President of the school’s chapter of the International Association of Jazz Educators. She placed runner-up in the Sisters-in-Jazz International Collegiate Competition her sophomore year. She has taught woodwind lessons for over 12 years and currently teaches lessons at the Music Station in Avon. Her name was published in Who’s Who in Women in Business (2006). Shawn was chosen to be the recipient of the prestigious UIndy Jazz Award Scholarship (2006 & 2007) and the Susan Blackwell Music Education Scholarship, as well as the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Education Grant (2007). She is a member of the National Association for Music Education (MENC), the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education. Shawn gave a solo performance at the 2007 Indianapolis Jazz Foundation’s Holiday Showcase in which Freddie Hubbard was inducted into the IJF Hall of Fame. In 2005, Shawn co-founded the Honey Creek Youth Chamber Orchestra and was the Vice-President and conductor for
that group through 2007. Shawn earned first chair clarinet in the IMEA Indiana All-State Intercollegiate Honor Band (2006) and first chair clarinet in the IBA Indiana All-State High School Honor Band (1997, 1998, & 1999). She won the GIYS student concerto competition in 1997 and was a member of the IMEA All-State High School Jazz Ensemble in 1999. Shawn is currently a senior at the University of Indianapolis working on a bachelor of music education degree (instrumental K-12) with a concentration in jazz studies. She adjudicates for the ISSMA solo/ensemble, jazz ensemble, and band/orchestra festivals, subs for the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, and is currently a member of the Blue Thunder Big Band and the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra. Shawn is the leader of the Impossible Jazz Collaboration, a modernist jazz quintet, as well as being the conductor, President, and co-founder of the Symphonic Youth Orchestra of Greater Indianapolis.
Violinist Steve Goodman studied violin at the Interlochen International Arts Academy at the University of Michigan. He has toured Europe extensively performing with the Italian/ French folk group “Al Pesto,” jazz quartet “PaGo LiBre,” and experimental group “Creative Works Orchestra.” Also involved in writing music for theater and performance art, he co-wrote music for the theater piece “Sri-Salami” for the Tamil theater group Theater Maralam, which won the “Vesta AG” culture prize for theater and music in Switzerland in 1989. Steve is a recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2001 he produced his first solo album, “Music From
a Man in a Hole—Part 1, Discovery,” recorded in Marengo Cave, a United States national landmark. The story was featured in a television special report on WTHR 13 entitled “Call of a Caveman.” Steve was on the board of directors for the Honey Creek Youth Chamber Orchestra in 2007, where he also served as an adjunct string-section coach. In addition to performing with the Impossible Jazz Collaboration, a modernist jazz quintet, and NewGrass Band the “Deepfryed AcoustaBlasters,” Steve is currently the Vice-President, Musical Director, and co-founder of the Symphonic Youth Orchestra of Greater Indianapolis.