Orchestrating Change by Canton Symphony Orchestra

Season 2, Episode 8 | Developing Talent with Ryan Walks

Our guest today is Ryan Walks, Manager of the Talent Development Program at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which has provided training and career development to young Classical musicians in the Black and Latino communities for over twenty-five years. Prior to entering the world of arts administration, he was trained as a trumpet player and music educator, receiving all of his degrees from historically Black universities.

Ryan first joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2017 in the Development Department and accepted the position as the Talent Development Program (TDP) 25th Anniversary Coordinator in June of 2018. Soon after, Ryan stepped in as Interim TDP Manager and was later named permanent TDP Manager in June of 2019. In his roles with the TDP, Ryan has worked diligently to deliver the highest results possible and has demonstrated his strong commitment to the program. A team player and diplomat, Ryan has done a great job of supporting the musicians, staff, volunteers and most importantly the TDP Fellows and their families. During the 2018/19 season, Ryan helped coordinate all aspects of the successful TDP Recital Series in the Fall of 2018, the TDP 25th Anniversary Celebration and Building Bridges Symposium.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Season 2, Episode 7 | Importance of the Board with LaFlovia Ginnani

Today on Orchestrating Change, we welcome LaFlovia “Flo” Ginanni. She has been at United Way of Greater Stark County since 2013. She is currently the Director of United Way’s Project Blueprint for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-a board and committee preparedness program designed to recruit, train, and place ethnically diverse leaders into policy making roles to enhance the effectiveness of nonprofit agencies. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, as well as a certified Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Sociology, in addition to master’s degrees in both Leadership Studies and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She has worked in the social service, mental health, and criminal justice fields.

Flo is a member of the Stark County NAACP, Strengthening Stark’s Minority Action Committee, and Coming Together Stark County. She has served on the Board of Directors of Community One Credit Union since 2014 and is an active and involved member of L.I.F.E. Ministries International Church. In addition to being committed to living out her Christian values, she is very family oriented and sees that as her primary life’s work!

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Season 2, Episode 6 | Outside Of What We Know with Geetha Somayajula

Today, we welcome Geetha Somayajula, a dedicated arts administrator, singer, conductor, and teacher currently based in Portland, Oregon. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she earned degrees in choral music (BA) and business administration (BS). She has sung in prestigious ensembles and festival choruses including the youth chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival, the 2017 ACDA National Collegiate Honor Choir, and the USC Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. As the highlight of her academic work, Somayajula was awarded the U.S. Fulbright Scholarship for the 2018-19 academic year to study the practice, performance, and pedagogy of Indian classical music.

Currently, Somayajula serves on the board of directors of Synchromy Music, a new music collective in Los Angeles, and Pacific Youth Choir, a children's choir in Portland. Additionally, she actively recruits students and creatives for the Fulbright program around the country as a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador. Professionally, she is a strategist at PricewaterhouseCoopers and provides guidance to Fortune 500 clients to help solve their toughest digital challenges.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Season 2, Episode 5 | Making Music Better with Rick Robinson

Today on Orchestrating Change, our guest is Rick Robinson: a composer and double bassist who was a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for 22 years. Prior to joining the DSO, he played here in the Canton Symphony, as well as up the road with the Akron Symphony. He is the founder of Cut Time Productions, a publishing company dedicated to producing chamber arrangements of orchestral masterworks in an effort to make this music more accessible and available to wider audiences. An accomplished composer of original works as well, his Essay After Sibelius will be performed here in Canton next season.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FltAVoHFyBU

During 22 years playing double bass in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), Rick Robinson began attempting the difficult task of resetting the context of classical music in broader communities. Robinson began, however, in a fourth-generation musical family of Highland Park (MI). Then he began to lead as a bass student at Interlochen Arts Academy, Cleveland Institute of Music, New England Conservatory and summer festivals at Aspen and Spoleto. He held principal positions with both Akron and Canton symphony orchestras 1982-85, the Portland (ME) orchestra, as well as the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra directed then by composer John Williams.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Season 2, Episode 4 | The Reality of Public Eduaction with Jeff Talbert

This week we are joined by Jeff Talbert, Superintendent of Canton City Schools. He has previously served as Superintendent of Alliance City Schools, also here in Stark County, in addition to positions with the Cleveland Heights-University Heights and Osnaburg Local School Districts. Before that, he was the principal at McKinley High School, right next door to us here at the Zimmermann Symphony Center. He has also been a classroom teacher and football coach, having played the sport during his four years at Muskingum College. Jeff is a Canton native, and proud alumnus of the district he now leads.

Jeff Talbert is a 1989 graduate of Timken Senior High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Muskingum College (New Concord, Ohio) where he played football for four seasons. He earned a masters’ degree from Ashland University (Ashland, Ohio). During his career in education, he has been a classroom teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content. For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Season 2, Episode 3 | An Engaged Community with Ron Ponder

Our guest today is Ron Ponder, a man of many talents who has dedicated his life and career to civic and community engagement here in Canton. He has served as Deputy Mayor of Canton, President of the Stark County NAACP, and a Board Member of the Salvation Army. He was the host of “Points to Ponder”, which aired both on WHBC Radio for 10 years. He is currently the CEO of PonderSystems Media, which produces television programs for PBS affiliates, and is a Consultant to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Village construction project.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Season 2, Episode 2 | Inclusion at Every Level with Dr. Ana Abrantes

Our guest today is Dr. Ana Abrantes, Director of Education at the Sphinx Organization, one of our nation’s leading organizations that is working to develop and support diversity and inclusion in Classical music. She holds a Doctorate in Cello Performance from the University of Georgia, and held several regional orchestra positions in that state, including Principal Cello of the Athens Symphony Orchestra. Before joining the Sphinx Organization, she held several positions with the Heifetz Institute, and is a certified instructor in the Suzuki Method.

A native of Campos do Jordão, Brazil, Dr. Ana Abrantes serves as Director of Education for the Sphinx Organization overseeing the Overture Program, which serves elementary school students throughout Detroit and Flint, and the Sphinx Performance Academy, in partnership with the Curtis and Cleveland Institutes of Music and the Juilliard School.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content. For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hYvegTX8kFI

Season 2, Episode 1 | Roomful of Change with Dashon Burton

We are joined today by two-time GRAMMY Award winning operatic bass-baritone Dashon Burton. Dashon’s repertoire runs the gamut from the Baroque period to the present, and he has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. He is a member of the contemporary vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, and has devoted his career to breaking down the arbitrary walls of what it means to be a Classical singer and artist.

As an internationally touring vocalist, he enjoys a particularly robust presence in early music, concert and orchestral music, and art song and recital. Although singing solo music from throughout the ages and traditions of classical music is the foundation of his work, his extensive experience in singing with ensembles has included work with Cantus, Conspirare, and the Grammy Award winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Episode 11 - The Staff Reflects

This episode will conclude our first season of Orchestrating Change. Our hosts, Rachel Hagemeier and Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz, reflect with Michelle Charles and Nathan Maslyk about how the podcast has affected them since it was first conceptualized last year. They discuss important lessons they have learned along the way, what they hope to accomplish in the future, and their favorite moments from Season 1.

Thank you to everyone who has watched and listened this first season. We are incredibly grateful for your support and open ears as we navigate Canton Symphony Orchestra towards a brighter future of inclusiveness, equity, and diverseness in a field that has not always been. We are excited for the future and how we can better serve the Stark County community and beyond. Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Go to www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change/ to sign-up for email reminders, view past episodes, and see the various channels where you can view our content.

For more information about everything else we are offering at this time, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

Episode 10 - A Rich History with Eric Gould

This week’s discussion is with pianist, composer and educator Eric Gould. We discuss the history of non-white composers and he shares his own story as an African-American composer. As a person from a family of composers, Gould is able to give unique perspective to what it means to be a part of orchestral music as a non-white person and educates us on the rich history of composers of color.

Eric Gould has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. He has performed and recorded in collaboration with world-renowned instrumentalists such as Jimmy Heath, Ron Carter, James Newton, Bobby Watson, Antonio Hart, Winard Harper, Cindy Blackman, Terri Lynne Carrington, Cecil Bridgewater, Robin Eubanks, and Leon Lee Dorsey in addition to leading his own trio in performances from the Midwest to the East Coast. His debut CD, “On the Real”, rose to number 11 on the national jazz radio charts in the first quarter of 1999. His second CD, “Miles Away… Wayne in Heavy” rose to number 10 on the national charts and to number 45 (out of over 2500 releases) for the year 2000 His third CD, “Who Sez?” sold well from coast to coast, and appeared on radio playlists nationally.

Patrons who wish to sign-up for email reminders may do so at www.cantonsymphony.org/orchestrating-change. More information, including additional episodes, will be released in our weekly newsletter and social media accounts. https://www.cantonsymphony.org/episode-10-eric-gould/

https://youtu.be/IJ0kXMH0GgM