This story first appeared in the Fall 2022 edition of The Score.
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Musicians
In May of 2022, the Madison Symphony was thrilled to hold our first set of auditions since 2019. Auditions took place over two weeks in Overture Hall. Maestro John DeMain is excited to welcome 10 new musicians to the orchestra this fall:
Violin: Kina Ono (Chicago), Holly Wagner (Chicago) and Sophie Verhaeghe (Austin, TX)
Viola: David Beytas (Chicago) and Melissa Snell (Elkton, MD)
Cello: Ryan Louie (Kaukauna, WI)
Principal Oboe: Izumi Amemiya (Boston, MA)
Assistant Principal Horn: Dafydd Bevil (Madison)
Trumpet II: John Wagner (Chicago)
Bass Trombone: Benjamin Zisook (Chicago)
Artistic
The Madison Symphony recognizes retiring Music Librarian Kathryn Taylor for her 27 years of dedicated service for preparing the music for the orchestra. Thank you Kathryn for knowing what needed to be where it needed to be and when it needed to be there! We look forward continuing to see you on the stage as you remain in the MSO violin section. Kathryn will also continue her active teaching studio and chamber music organization.
As we say farewell to Kathryn in the library, we welcome Jennifer Goldberg to the Madison Symphony Orchestra as its newest Music Librarian. Jennifer has been a career Orchestra Librarian with the New World, Richmond and most recently, with the Nashville Symphony. She oversaw the part preparation for many Grammy Award-winning recordings and supervised new performance materials for pops productions.
Jennifer plans to divide her time between the MSO and as a Professional Dog Trainer. Jennifer is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Karen Pryor Academy, has earned the status as a Fear Free Certified Trainer, and is a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator through the AKC. Jennifer lives in Sun Prairie with her husband Greg and two Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Huckleberry (11) and Finnegan (6). Jennifer has competed in National Agility competitions and is currently working with Finnegan on high-level hunt test training using only positive-reinforcement training methods.
Education
Lisa Kjentvet was named MSO’s Director of Education and Community Engagement in September. Ms. Kjentvet, who has served as the MSO’s Education Assistant for the past five years, was chosen to lead the Education and Community Engagement Programs following an extensive search. She succeeds Kathryn Schwarzmann, who held the position for seven years prior to moving to California to pursue a new career in medicine.
“I am honored to serve as the next Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Madison Symphony Orchestra. I’m thrilled to serve our community through our impactful programs and look forward to working with our amazing team to advance our mission and promote lifelong engagement with music.” – Lisa Kjentvet
Read our press release with more information.
Marketing
Lindsey Meekhof joined the fabulous Symphony team in May as its Audience Experience Manager, and experienced her first concert weekend in September. “I am grateful to have been so warmly welcomed by the Symphony community and to have witnessed the unique energy that Madison audiences bring. Classical music has been an important part of my life, and I can already tell that this is a deeply loyal and supportive group of people. There is no better place to continue to enjoy welcoming audiences and experiencing great music this season.” – Lindsey Meekof
Allison Secord is our new Bolz Marketing Associate joining us for the 22–23 season. She says, “I feel so grateful to be able to join this wonderful team and organization. I’m excited to learn all about MSO and gain new marketing
skills here.” – Allison Secord