Meet Our Musicians
Who We Are
Marianne Henry
Founder & CEO
For over thirty years, Marianne has passionately taught private lessons and passed her passion and love for the violin and music to others, including her son. Through these lessons, she knows the importance of family support and what the lack of support ultimately means. Marianne is hopeful to change the statistics of underrepresented peoples in the classical field by cultivating an encouraging learning environment for families in Bryan College Station. She has a vision of having the most diverse string chamber youth orchestra in the region to enhance and fortify strings in the BCS area.
Diedra Lawrence
Senior Viola Instructor
A native of New York City, violist Diedra Lawrence received her degrees in music from New York's Manhattan School of Music and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. During her studies with James Dunham, Leonard Davis and Karen Ritscher, Ms. Lawrence developed her teaching method which focuses on achieving excellence in performance by balancing the creative spirit with the demands of the intellect and the design of the human body.
Ms. Lawrence has held teaching positions at The City College of New York, Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University and Blinn College. Her performance experience is extensive and varied, including solo recitals, concertos, chamber music and orchestral performances, as well as studio work, Broadway shows and recordings.
A founding member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, Ms. Lawrence made history as a member of the first African-American String quartet to win a competition in the classical field. (1991 Cleveland Quartet Competition at the Eastman School of Music). Named in honor of the legendary contralto Marian Anderson, the MASQ celebrates her legacy by continuing to inspire social and cultural awareness through the arts.
Ms. Lawrence currently resides in Bryan, TX where she has been teaching and performing since 2001.
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Prudence McDaniel
Senior Cello Instructor
Meet Prudence McDaniel, an accomplished cellist hailing from Des Moines, Iowa. With music performance degrees from Drake University, Manhattan School of Music, and Duquesne University, Prudence's teaching method integrates mind, body, spirit, and creativity, drawing from Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, science, and life wisdom. Her students thrive on and off the stage, gaining invaluable life insights through cello study.
Prudence's musical journey spans orchestral, chamber, solo, Broadway, and recording realms. She's graced the stages of the Houston Symphony and New York Philharmonic, sharing spotlights with luminaries like Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Chet Atkins, and Moody Blues. Prudence's performances include Broadway's CATS and radio broadcasts in the US and Portugal.
In 2002, she joined the acclaimed Marian Anderson String Quartet, celebrating 33 years of captivating concerts and educational outreach across the U.S.
Joseph Daigle
Conductor & Director of BVYSCO Family Orchestra
Joseph Daigle spent most of his childhood in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, although since then, he has lived in many different parts of the country. He graduated with his Bachelor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance from Southeastern Louisiana University and then received a Master of Music in Pedagogy and Performance with a double emphasis in Orchestral Conducting and Bassoon Performance from Oklahoma State University. He is passionate about both music and education, and in addition to his duties as an orchestra director at Rudder High School in Bryan ISD, he is an active singer-songwriter and performer.
He teaches bassoon lessons at his home in College Station where he lives with his two children and wife. Joe is the co-founder, artistic director, and conductor of the Brazos Civic Orchestra, which is a non-profit group dedicated to creating a welcoming space for area musicians to play symphonic music. The group gives free concerts to the public and has grown from a handful of players to having over 60 members on stage and more than 500 patrons in the audience. Joe is happy to call the Brazos Valley home and he believes that kindness is the key to success and happiness. He is always looking for ways to promote goodness in others and is glad to help those in need whenever he can.
Andrew Nguyen
Senior Bass Insructor
Andrew Nguyen was born in Amarillo, Texas and began his cello studies with Charlotte Harbin from the Amarillo Symphony. In high school, he began his studies on double bass with Inez Wyrick. During this time, he participated in the Amarillo Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Texas All-State orchestras for 3 years, and won an audition to join the Amarillo Symphony bass section. In college at Yale, he was principal bass with the Yale Symphony.
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He currently resides in College Station, teaching double bass and cello. Andrew is a cellist with the Brazos Valley Symphony and a double bassist with Symphony of the Hills in Kerrville, as well as double bass faculty for the Hill Country Youth Orchestras and a member of the Texas Hill Country Bass Collective. His students have won auditions with the Texas All-State orchestras and many college orchestras throughout the state of Texas.
Cyd Cassone
Public Relations Adminstrative Assistant
I have been involved with music and the music biz since 1972. Everything from performing, composing, sound engineering, venue booking & management, artist booking and managing, tour booking and management and studio ownership and production. I have toured most of the US and globally. I can't imagine my life without music. It is as essential to me as the gravitational pull of the moon is to the ocean's tide. It's in my bones.
Our species can't survive without it's powerful resonance.