Miami Music Festival Accepts Canton Symphony Orchestra Conductor

CANTON, OHIO (May 9, 2016) - The Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO) announces that Dr. Rachel L. Waddell has been accepted as an assistant conductor to the Miami Music Festival Conducting Institute in Florida during the summer of 2016. Waddell is the Association Conductor for the CSO and Music Director and Conductor of the Canton Youth Symphonies.

The Miami Music Festival Conducting Institute is a three-week intensive program for aspiring conductors who wish to gain experience in the symphonic and operatic fields. Participants work with leading guest faculty including Gustav Meier and Grzegorz Novak, resident faculty Jacomo Bairos and Michael Rossi. Conducting Institute participants receive weekly lessons, daily conducting classes, and the opportunity to explore conducting techniques in real settings including festival rehearsals, chamber performances, opera staging rehearsals, and orchestra readings. The MMF Conducting Institute is one component of the Miami Music Festival that also includes an Orchestral Institute, the Miami Opera Institute and a Piano Institute.

"This is an incredible opportunity for me to study and grow with some extraordinary faculty and students," Waddell states, "I want to use the experience to be inspired, so I can continue sharing my talents and passion with the greater Canton community."

In her role as the CSO's Associate Conductor under Music Director Gerhardt Zimmermann, Waddell conducts the orchestra's pops and educational programs, and guest conducts on MasterWorks performances. This April, she conducted the Ohio premiere of Christopher Theofanidis' Dreamtime Ancestors with the CSO. In addition to her appointment at the CSO, Waddell also served as a guest conductor of Cleveland's Suburban Symphony Orchestra, the first female to conduct them, and held the interim position of Director of Choral Activities at Kent State University, Stark. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Vocal Performance from the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Northern Arizona University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Founded in 1937, the Canton Symphony Orchestra is a fully professional ensemble and organization dedicated to performing concerts that enrich, educate and entertain. Under the direction of Gerhardt Zimmermann, the orchestra performs classical, pops, holiday, and educational programs. Most performances are in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, adjacent to the Zimmermann Symphony Center 2331 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio. Parking at the Zimmermann Symphony Center is free. For more information, please visit www.CantonSymphony.org.

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