Alan MacNair graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and then received a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University, where he majored in string education.  He then attended Boston University, earning a Master of Music degree in violin performance.  He has studied with violinists Joseph Silverstein, Louis Krasner, and Walter Verdehr, and has also studied conducting with Gustav Meier at the University of Michigan.  Mr. Mac Nair was the orchestra director at Troy High School for twenty-nine years, and built the orchestra program from 35 students to 220 string players. Under his direction, the Troy High Symphony commissioned several original works, was three times named National Grand Champion, and earned top ratings at other festivals around the United States.   Mr. Mac Nair has also been the Music Director and Conductor of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, which draws students from all over Southeast Michigan, and performs orchestral repertoire of the highest order.  Mr. Mac Nair has also been the Concertmaster and Assistant Conductor of the Rochester Symphony, and a substitute violinist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  He was the 1993 MSBOA District String Teacher of the Year, and was also named the State String Teacher of the Year by the Michigan String Teachers Association in 1998. In 2004, was named the Troy District High School Teacher of the Year, and in 2007, was one of USA Today’s Top Twenty Teachers in America, and remains the only music teacher to win this award.  He was recently presented the Elizabeth Green Award as the American String Teachers Association National String Teacher of the year.   He is also a founding member of the Michigan State University College of Music Alumni Board, and the founder and conductor of the Oakland University Chamber Orchestra.  He is a frequent adjudicator and clinician at national and regional music education conferences, and conductor of All-State and All-Conference Orchestras around the nation.