On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 7 PM at St. John XXIII’s Catholic Church in Perrysburg, Ohio, Toledo Symphony League (TSL) Young Artist Competition winners will perform as soloists with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) under the direction of emerging conductor Todd Craven.
The program opens with small, interactive groups of Toledo Symphony musicians spread throughout St. John XXIII. Various works will be performed in an intimate, easily accessible setting allowing the listeners to experience several ensembles in different rooms. Following intermission, the entire orchestra will present a program featuring young, local musicians Loa Cho (cello), Julia Masiker (bassoon), and Owen Robinson (alto saxophone). Their performances will be bookended by famous orchestral works that show off the diversity of symphonic music.
Loa Cho, Principal Cello of the Toledo Symphony Youth Philharmonic Orchestra is a sixteen-year old senior at Maumee Valley Country Day School who has studied cello for ten years. She has performed at various institutes, including Cellofest in London, Young Artists Program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, the National Cello Institute in LA, Indiana University’s Summer String Academy, and Meadowmount School of Music. She will perform the first movement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 for Cello and Orchestra with the TSO.
Julia Masiker, Principal Bassoon of the Toledo Symphony Youth Philharmonic Orchestra is a junior at Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) where she is part of the TSA Studio Winds group and Chamber Winds ensemble. In 2019, Julia was awarded the Toledo Symphony’s Music Director Scholarship, an award given to an outstanding member of the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras. She will perform Ferdinand David’s Concertino for Bassoon with the TSO.
Owen Robinson, Principal Clarinet of the Toledo Symphony Symphonic Orchestra is a senior Alto Saxophonist at Sylvania Southview High School. He has been an active member of the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) for many years and is one of two students selected to play Tenor Saxophone in the OMEA All-State Jazz band this year. He will perform Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto in E-Flat Major with the TSO.
The Toledo Symphony League is dedicated to promoting the Toledo Symphony through fundraising activities. Funds raised by the TSL help provide scholarships, professional development, and educational opportunities to foster the growth of young musicians in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan.
The one-night-only performance “Introducing the Orchestra” Featuring Toledo Symphony League Young Artist Competition Winners will take place on Friday, January 24, 2020 at St. John XXIII’s church in Perrysburg, Ohio. General admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at toledosymphony.com, by calling 419.246.8000, or by stopping by the box office at 1838 Parkwood Avenue.
For more information, please contact Felecia Kanney, Director of Marketing for the Toledo Symphony at fkanney@artstoledo.com.
ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all.
Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs sixty-nine professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer, as well as numerous extra players annually as repertoire demands.
On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a new non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. This partnership promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.
The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber, Mozart in the Afternoon, and Family Series) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.
ABOUT LOA CHO
Loa Cho, a sixteen-year old senior at Maumee Valley Country Day School, has been playing cello for 10 years. She has been performing at various institutes including Cellofest in London, Young Artists Program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, the National Cello Institute in LA, Indiana University's Summer String Academy, and Meadowmount School of Music. Loa was one of the winners of the Cleveland Cello Society Competition, MTNA's Buckeye Audition, and Toledo Symphony’s Director’s Award. She is also an avid chamber music performer, featured in live performances on WGTE and WTOL, and organizing performances at various local venues. Her previous teachers include Renee Goubeaux, Renè Schiffer, Horacio Contreras, Alan Smith, and Julia Lichten. She currently studies with Amir Eldan. Her free time priority goes to writing in her journal, dancing like crazy, and riding horses. She does not know what to become yet, but wants to do something to make the world a place where altruistic people do not become extinct.
ABOUT JULIA MASIKER
Bassoonist Julia Masiker is currently a junior at Toledo School for the Arts where she is a member of their Studio Winds group and Chamber Winds Ensemble.Now in her second year as principal bassoonist with the Toledo Symphony Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, Julia has been playing her instrument for three years now. She studies privately with Casey Gsell and enjoys performing both solos and group ensembles. Last year she was chosen for the Toledo Symphony's Music Director Scholarship and this year will be performing a solo with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra as one of the winners of the Young Artist Competition. She lives with her family in Waterville, Ohio and also enjoys making jewelry and painting.
ABOUT OWEN ROBINSON
Owen Robinson is delighted to make his debut as a soloist playing one of his favorite pieces of music, Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto in E Flat Major for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra. Owen is a senior at Sylvania Southview High School where he is both a squad and section leader in the Southview Band. Active for many years in OMEA, Owen is one of two students selected to play Tenor Saxophone in the OMEA All-State Jazz Band this year. Previously, he was selected First Chair Alto Saxophone, and First Chair Baritone Saxophone for OMEA Districts. He has received superior ratings on the works of Glazunov and Corigliano, among others. Owen is currently Principal Clarinet of the TSYO Symphonic Orchestra. During this academic year, Owen is auditioning for several major saxophone studios and plans to begin work on a degree in saxophone performance next year. His ultimate goal is to become a music professor and head a well-regarded saxophone studio at a large state university. Owen is especially grateful to the Toledo Symphony League for this amazing opportunity in his musical development.
ABOUT TODD CRAVEN
Emerging conductor Todd Craven is the recent First Prize winner of the Los Angeles Conducting Competition and Co-founder and Music Director of the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra. Todd has served as Assistant Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, cover conductor and preconcert lecturer for the Detroit Symphony and Music Director of the University of Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra. He began his professional career as Principal Trumpet of the Sarasota Orchestra and was a frequent guest artist at the Sarasota Music Festival. Todd stepped in on short notice as guest conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2017 and was an assistant conductor and competition winner at the Miami Music Festival where he conducted at the New World Center in Miami Beach. Todd’s upcoming engagements include debuts at the Florida Grand Opera in their production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and with the Virginia Symphony in their new Sensory Awareness concert series for children struggling with autism. Todd’s conducting mentors include Marin Alsop, Larry Rachleff and JoAnn Falletta. He holds a Graduate Performers Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory and Master of Music from Indiana University and the University of Michigan.
