Jeff Harvick is the Director of Orchestras at McKinney High School, where he teaches the Honors Consortium, Honors Chamber, and Concert orchestras. Prior to coming to McKinney, Mr. Harvick most recently taught at Creekview High School, in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Arlington ISD. Mr. Harvick attended the University of North Texas, graduating summa cum laude in 2009 with a 4.0 GPA. While there, he received two Bachelor’s degrees in Instrumental Performance and Music Education, studying cello with Eugene Osadchy and string education with Karrell Johnson.  He played in the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Anshel Brusilow and was a member of the chamber music program. In 2005 he was awarded the TMEA Past-Presidents Memorial Scholarship for music education. In the summers, Jeff teaches at UTA Summer Strings camp and the Texas Cello Academy. While in high school, Jeff was a two-year member of the TMEA All-State Philharmonic orchestra and served as the president of his orchestra in 2005. He is an active private teacher and freelance musician in the DFW area, regularly playing with the Allen Philharmonic, The 440 Alliance, Dallas String Quartet. When he is not performing or teaching, Jeff enjoys road biking, disc golfing, and playing goalie for the Plano Woodpuckers ice hockey team. Jeff is a member of TMEA, TMAA, and Texas Orchestra Directors Association.

Jacob Cortez is the new Assistant Director of Orchestra at McKinney High School. Before coming to MHS, he was the assistant director at Faubion Middle School where he earned consistent sweepstakes awards at UIL contests and received a National Mark of Excellence Award from the Foundation for Music Education. He also has taught at the collegiate level by teaching courses in string methods and jazz lessons for string players. Additionally, he served as the Teaching Assistant for the UNT Jazz String Lab where he arranged/orchestrated music for the ensemble and occasionally conducted. As a multi-genre violinist, Jacob is comfortable playing jazz, classical, and other styles of violin playing. He performs with his jazz quartet in venues across DFW, has performed and recorded with the Grammy nominated One O’Clock Lab Band, and frequently serves as concertmaster for the American Baroque Opera Company. Jacob has also been a soloist in the Bach’s Lunch concert series at the Church of Incarnation (Dallas, TX), has toured in Europe with Ensemble Fantasmi, and performs with the Oklahoma Bach Choir. Orchestrally, Jacob has performed with orchestras such as the Texas Music Festival Orchestra and the McKinney Philharmonic. Jacob earned Bachelor’s degrees in Classical Violin Performance and Music Education as well as a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas.