Sedona recently had the honor of sending five young musicians — Peter Hoyle, Cosmo Illenberger, Miri Nishikawa, Sean Bresnan and Aurora Lawrie — to the Arizona Northwest All-Region Orchestra, and many parents have pointed to local musician and educator Courtney Yeates as the reason.

Yeates, a classically trained cellist and former studio musician, has brought sweeping change to Sedona Red Rock High School’s music department since taking it over in 2011, but that change took time and almost didn’t happen at all.

Initially, when the high school was looking for a new music teacher, Yeates had heard about the job opening but didn’t want it.

For the full story, see the Friday, Feb. 22, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.