We are delighted to be joined today by Alison Norris, who has served as one of our conducting fellows with the Canton Symphony Orchestra throughout the 2024-2025 season. A Cincinnati native, Alison originally earned a bachelor of science degree from Valparaiso University in Indiana before earning their Master of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin and professional studies diploma from Manhattan School of Music, both in orchestral conducting. They were the founding conductor of the STEM Wind Ensemble at Valparaiso, and have served as a cover conductor for the Madison Ballet and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. They also produced and conducted a large-scale performance of Messiaen’s massive Turangalila Symphony in New York City, in a concert which explored the intersection of contemporary music and gender expression. Alison will be joining us again in the 2025-2026 season, continuing their role as Conducting Fellow.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit www.orchestratingchange.com/stay-informed 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.

On this episode of Orchestrating Change, we're honored to welcome the legendary Garrick Ohlsson—one of the greatest living concert pianists. With a career spanning over six decades, Ohlsson has performed in the world’s top concert halls and with leading orchestras around the globe. He made history in 1970 as the only American to win the International Chopin Piano Competition and later earned a Grammy Award for his Beethoven recordings.

We talk about his recent performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in Canton, his lifelong dedication to the art of piano, and his current role mentoring young artists at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. From his roots in White Plains to his life in San Francisco, this is a deep dive into the extraordinary legacy of a true master.

Today we are delighted to be joined in person by operatic baritone Brian Keith Johnson. Brian has performed regularly with the Canton Symphony Orchestra throughout his career, most recently as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in last summer’s concert presentation of the musical Ragtime. He also appeared on Gerhardt Zimmermann’s final concert in April of 2023, singing Dvorak’s Te Deum and the Catalogue Aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He has also appeared with the orchestras of Cleveland, Charlotte, and Akron, and has performed with opera companies throughout the region. Brian received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Akron, and also studied voice at the New Opera Academy of Rome and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria. In addition to his performing career, Brian taught vocal music in the Akron Public Schools system for 34.5 years before retiring last spring.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit www.orchestratingchange.com/stay-informed 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.

Today's guest is Camille Delaney-McNeill, Director of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckman YOLA Center, serving the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles program in Inglewood, California. Prior to her arrival in Los Angeles in 2021, she was the Director of Programs for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids, a comprehensive music education program serving students in Baltimore City Schools. She currently sits on the board of El Sistema USA, and was trained as a flautist before pursuing arts management, holding performance degrees from the University of Maryland and Peabody Conservatory.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit www.orchestratingchange.com/stay-informed 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.

We are thrilled to be joined today in person by Chris Jenkins, Associate Dean for Academic Support, Liaison to the office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Visiting Professor of Musicology at Oberlin Conservatory. Concurrently with his work at Oberlin, he is also pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Viola Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music AND a Ph.D. in Musicology from Case Western Reserve University. All of this on top of degrees he already holds from Harvard University, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia University. He is the former Deputy Director of the Barenboim-Said Foundation in the West Bank, and was a third place winner in the senior division of the 2005 Sphinx Competition. On top of all of this, he published his first book last year, titled Assimilation v. Integration in Music Education.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a new website! Go to www.orchestratingchange.com 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.

We welcome Mary Verdi-Fletcher, a professional wheelchair dancer and the founding Artistic Director of the Dancing Wheels Company, a physically integrated dance troupe that has operated in Northeast Ohio for over four decades. She also founded the Dancing Wheels School, which has since become the world’s epicenter for professional training in physically integrated dance. She and her company performed with the Canton Symphony Orchestra in 2015, where they were part of the world premiere of Stephen Melillo’s Symphony No. 4 “Lightfall” and also danced to the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. She has been a tireless advocate for equal rights for disabled people, including lobbying for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a new website! Go to www.orchestratingchange.com 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.

We welcome soprano Amanda Powell, a multi-faceted artist equally at home under the lights on the orchestral concert stage and in the intimate clubs of the jazz and folk scenes. She has performed with the Cleveland-based, Grammy award winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire, and has been featured as a soloist on a number of staples of the baroque repertoire. Additionally, she is the lead singer of the group Alla Boara, which performs modern jazz arrangements of traditional Italian folk songs. Amanda also teaches voice at Cleveland State University and serves as Community Arts Liason for the Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church in Cleveland Heights. We are thrilled to welcome Amanda to the Canton Symphony Orchestra twice this season - as our soprano soloist for Mozart’s Requiem, and with Alla Boara as part of our Divergent Sounds Series. We are delighted to welcome her here, to our podcast!

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a new website! Go to www.orchestratingchange.com 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.

Our guest today is Hip-hop artist Jéan Pierre Johnson. Known artistically as Jéan P The MC, he shares a body of music that reflects his environment, touching on topics such as fatherhood, childhood experiences, spirituality, relationships, and his outlook on Hip-Hop, locally and nationally. Once Jéan settled in Athens, Ohio, he began to record a slew of mixtapes and perform locally, even sharing the stage with major artists such as KRS-One, Curren$y, Stalley, Dom Kennedy & Ace Hood. The 33-year-old MC was also featured on MTV’s “Get In The Game” with Sway, Juelz Santana & Trinidad James. It wasn’t long before Jéan P The MC became a familiar name in Ohio’s rap scene.

Orchestrating Change is available wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a new website! Go to www.orchestratingchange.com 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.