Violinist Justine Lamb-Budge Named Concertmaster of Canton Symphony

The Canton Symphony Orchestra has named violinist Justine Lamb-Budge its new concertmaster. Following extensive auditions, including four finalists, Lamb-Budge emerged as the clear leader to hold this open position. With the departure of Lauren Roth to the Tucson Symphony and prior to that, Nathan Olson to the Dallas Symphony, the need for a new concertmaster opened up. Auditions were announced at the beginning of August.

"Once again we had strong interest in the position of concertmaster," stated Gerhardt Zimmermann, conductor of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. "With the quality of music we perform, our concertmaster position in Canton is one of a few that receives broad national interest."

Lamb-Budge has performed on stages across North America and Europe. "The great skill, passion and nuance of her playing and her strong commitment to the critically important role of concertmaster is an inspiration to all of us," says Piotr Gajewski, Music Director of the National Philharmonic, where Justine is also concertmaster.

Along with her new position with the Canton Symphony, and at the National Philharmonic, Justine is the Principal Second violinist of Symphony in C, Associate Concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra (Philadelphia) and frequently performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

A Philadelphia native, Justine was drawn early to the violin and began Suzuki violin studies at age six. At age eight, she joined the Main Line Youth Chamber Orchestra and performed with them at the Academy of Music. Through her youth, she was the recipient of many prestigious awards and performed in many acclaimed programs. Her experience has been further supported by master classes with Peter Oundjian, Ilya Kaler, Juliette Kang, David Kim, Boris Garlitsky, Glen Dicterow, the Liebesfreud Quartet, and Joseph Lin.

In the fall she will begin her Masters in Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with the concertmaster of The Cleveland Symphony, violinist William Preucil. (Mr. Preucil is the opening night guest artist of the Canton Symphony on October 6.)

Tickets for the symphony series start at a very affordable $15 for Casual, $18 for Pops and $25 for Masterworks concerts. There are senior, student and group discounts available. Dress is casual and concerts are recommended for ages 8 and up. Tickets and the full concert season schedule are available online at www.CantonSymphony.org, by calling 330-452-2094, or by walk-up at individual concerts. Some concerts do sell out in advance.

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, 2323 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio (at McKinley High School across from C.T. Branin Natatorium). Parking at McKinley High School is free. For more information, please visitwww.CantonSymphony.org.

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