UHS Music welcomes two new directors

The 2025-2026 school year has seen the music department totally transformed. Last school year, Mr. Jason Throne, former choir director and head of the department, and Mr. Eddie Otto, former band director, both vacated their positions, leading to a change in leadership. This year, Dr. Leo Zumpetta and Mr. Sean McWilliams have taken on Mr. Throne and Mr. Otto’s roles, respectively, along with a few more responsibilities. The former was previously the orchestra director but has now taken on the role of choir, guitar, and music theory teacher. He will also be serving as the advisor for UHS’ Tri-M Honor Society, vocal coach for the musical, as well as the head of the music department. The latter is new to the district and is serving as Unionville’s new band director who also supervises the marching band.

Mr. McWilliams has come to Unionville after working at Chichester High School for a year. This year marks his second teaching job after graduating from the Eastman School of Music in New York. McWilliams is thrilled to be working with a district that cares so deeply about the importance of music, also mentioning how welcoming the staff and students have been to him. He is already well-liked by his students, with

sophomore Shouryan Chellapilla depicting McWilliams as “passionate, caring, and understanding,” while Leah DiMario, also a sophomore, described him as “lively and energetic.”

Dr. Zumpetta has been working in the district for the past 18 years – this year will be his 19th – and has never been stationary in a single school. For the past 18 years, he rotated between Chadds Ford Elementary school and the high school to teach a blend of general music, choir, and strings classes for grades K-5, and orchestra for the high school. This year, with his new roles in UHS’ music department, he will only be in one building the whole week - the high school.

As excited as he is to be able to teach here at Unionville, he misses working with Chadds Ford Elementary. He cites the “pureness and joy” he could find there as the reason. Even now, he still goes to the elementary school regularly to mentor his replacement teacher, Ms. Elizabeth Corbett.

For the ‘25–‘26 school year, Dr. Zumpetta plans to educate all music students so they can be more well-rounded, be more aware of the other branches of the department, and learn from those other branches. Though he says that he adores his job, he confessed that he is nervous and pressured by the thought of failing music students. This is because he takes teaching as a “serious responsibility,” just as he does being mentor to the two new teachers in the district, Mr. McWilliams and Ms. Corbett. He wants to not only be the best role model he can be, but also answer the questions that students may not know how to ask.

Although there have been many changes in the department, both Dr. Zumpetta and Mr. McWilliams, and their students, seem to be adjusting exceptionally well. The high school appreciates both of their efforts to highlight the importance of music in our community and can’t wait to see what this year will bring for the music department!