Gretchen Zunic serves as the Head Orchestra Director at Upper Arlington High School in Columbus. She is in her twenty-ninth year of teaching at Upper Arlington and previously taught strings in the Hilliard City Schools and the Findlay City Schools. In addition to working with six high school orchestras, she also assists with sixth through eighth grades at both middle schools. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Bowling Green State University and her Master of Arts Degree from The Ohio State University where she received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award. Mrs. Zunic currently serves as President of the Ohio String Teachers Association, and Co-Chair of the Central Ohio String Festival. In addition to being an active OMEA Adjudicator, she serves as Secretary of the Youth Philharmonic of Central Ohio and on the Board of the Vivo Music Festival where she serves on the Education Committee and as administrator of the VIVO Student Workshop. She is a twice recipient of the Upper Arlington Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education and has been honored as a Distinguished Alumni of Princeton City Schools and Bowling Green State University. Mrs. Zunic was named Ohio Teacher of the Year by the Ohio String Teachers Association in 2019. Her students have performed in many national adjudicated events and are frequently invited to perform at the O.M.E.A. Conference. She has traveled with students to Florida, the Bahamas, Washington D.C, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Hawaii. In 2014 she traveled to China with the Upper Arlington High School Symphony Orchestra as part of the League of Astonishing Strings. Mrs. Zunic is a frequent guest conductor and clinician. She has presented sessions at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference and the American String Teachers Association Conference. She is currently the second violinist of the Columbus String Quartet and w was previously a member of the Lima Symphony and Westerville Symphony.