Matthew Aubin

A passionate advocate for American and contemporary music, Matthew Aubin has conducted and performed internationally from Carnegie Hall to the Musikverein and many stops in between. Currently in his third season as Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra (MI), Aubin also serves as Artistic Director for The Chelsea Symphony in New York City. He regularly serves as a conductor and consultant for film and television including collaborations with the Golden Globe award-winning television series "Mozart in the Jungle", "Younger", and feature films "Joker" and "Bel Canto". Recent and upcoming engagements include the Symphonic Orchestra of the Teatro da Paz in Brazil, Washington State University, The Hartt School, and an orchestral recording project of the concerti of French composer Fernande Breilh-Decruck featuring soloists from the New York Philharmonic and "The President’s Own" United States Marine Band, amongst others.

In his role at The Chelsea Symphony, Matthew Aubin has significantly expanded the symphony’s prestige and recognition through highly visible projects such as collaborations with the television series "Mozart in the Jungle", the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and The Chelsea Symphony’s annual competition for emerging New York area composers with high profile adjudicators such as Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony and music director of the All-Star Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz. Aubin led TCS in their Lincoln Center Debut and conducted the New York City premieres of works by Mark O’Connor, Fazil Say, and Caroline Shaw, and many others. He also designed and conducted a series of outreach concerts for inmates on Rikers Island through a continued relationship with the NYC Department of Correction. 

In addition to his conducting work, Matthew Aubin is the foremost scholar of the French composer Fernande Breilh-Decruck. He has earned multiple research grants to study her significant life and work. A champion of the critical role of women in composition, Dr. Aubin is working to promote Decruck’s newly discovered lost music. He has edited and created critical editions of her work, which are now in the process of publication, and has organized performances of Decruck’s music in the United States and abroad. 

Matthew Aubin continues to be active as a freelance horn player and regularly performs across the country. A devoted music educator, Aubin's past associations include Assistant Professor of Music at Washington State University, adjunct faculty at The Hartt School, and Educational Programs Conductor for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

 

Timothy Verville

The award-winning Timothy Verville’s performances are hailed by reviewers as “a dazzling musical experience.” His innovative, imaginative, and musically engaging approaches in the concert hall position him as a uniquely multifaceted and multi-talented conductor of the modern orchestral world. Internationally this season marks debuts with Opera Panama and the Panamanian National Symphony Orchestra, and in Russian with the Far Eastern Symphony Orchestra. In Japan, he appeared at the Kyushu International Festival, and with the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Hita Civic Orchestra, the Chikushi Jogakuen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kyushu Philharmonic Orchestra. He has guest conducted orchestras and theatre ensembles across the U.S. including the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.

In his fourth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, Verville has energized audiences while increasing and diversifying concert offerings. His strong focus on audience engagement and outreach is recognized throughout the community and in the League of American Orchestra’s Symphony magazine. His creative and collaborative programing has expanded the organization’s performance footprint and served to build bridges into underrepresented populations. In addition to conducting classics, pops, and special performances, he designs the Sensory Friendly concerts which have been supported by National Endowment for the Arts.

In 2007, Verville began a relationship with the Boston Chamber Orchestra that would encompass over a decade of music making. Beginning as an instrumentalist in the orchestra, he was asked to become Associate Conductor and later Principal Guest Conductor. He recorded music by Vaughan Williams for the orchestra’s 2013 international CD release. In Phoenix, he served from 2010-2017 as the founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Arizona Pro Arte. His presentations of unique and highly anticipated collaborative events resulted in exponential organizational and audience growth including numerous sold out performances. During this time the orchestra grew to include a regular masterworks season, a summer orchestral series, educational performances, a chamber music program, a dance ensemble, and establish a composer in residence. He instituted an annual “Call for Scores” competition that at its height received over 920 applicants from forty countries in a single season.

Additional previous engagements include Music Director and Conductor of the North Valley Chamber Orchestra (AZ), Scottsdale Baroque Orchestra (AZ), and Conductor of the Pollard Theatre (OK). Verville commissions and conducts regional, national, and world premiere compositions which have encompassed operatic and symphonic music. He has counseled young and emerging composers across the country and worked with the Tucson Symphony’s Young Composers Project, which Yo-Yo Ma praised as an “extraordinary program.”

An award winner in the American Prize for Orchestral Performance, Verville was mentored by esteemed conductors James DePreist, Bruce Hangen, Timothy Russell, and additionally worked in masterclasses with David Effron, Markand Thakar, and Neil Varon. At the renowned Monteux School and Music Festival, Verville was selected as an orchestral assistant while studying with Michael Jinbo. He earned degrees in music from the University of Oklahoma, Arizona State University, and the Boston Conservatory. Timothy Verville resides in Georgia with his wife and two children.

Rachel Waddell

Known for her infectious energy and adventurous programming, American conductor Rachel Waddell proves an unabashedly passionate ambassador for classical music. In particular Waddell prides herself on curating relevant programs with stunning collaborations that invite and inspire. This, coupled with her engaging presence on and off the podium, has contributed to remarkable growth in audience attendance each season for orchestras under her direction. In addition Waddell takes an active role in the orchestras she leads and their communities, serving as an advocate for development, education, and outreach.

Waddell maintains a busy profile in the professional and academic worlds. Most recently she is thrilled to be a Music Director Candidate for the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. In 2019 she attended the Dallas Opera’s prestigious Hart Institute for Women Conductors. She has conducted orchestras across the country including the Rochester, Las Vegas, and Fort Wayne Philharmonics, and Cleveland’s Suburban Symphony. While serving as the Associate Conductor of the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, Waddell conducted over 80 performances of classical, pops, and education concerts. In addition to Waddell’s active professional career, she is Music Director for the University of Rochester Orchestras in New York. Lauded as, “a conductor of creativity and courage,” she won second place in the American Prize’s Vyautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming for 2018-19 and is a currently in the semi-finals for the 2019-20 season. Her seasons balance traditional masterworks with new and underplayed music, featuring collaborations with Kraków-based ensemble Il Giardino d’Amore, the Eastman School of Music, the Rochester Red Wings, the University of Rochester’s Program of Dance and Movement, and many others.   

Waddell continues to captivate audiences with her 2019-20 season. The University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra hosts composer Jennifer Bellor as part of their 2020 Women in Music Series. In December the chamber orchestra celebrated 150 years of professional baseball with a large-scale community collaboration involving the Rochester Red Wings, Rochester Baseball Historical Society, local elementary school Roberto Clemente School No. 8, and the university’s baseball team and concert choir. At the same time the orchestras continue to exhibit remarkable technical and musical growth in tackling such challenging repertoire as Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite (1919), Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, and Copland’s Appalachian Spring.

Originally from Connecticut Waddell has lived throughout the country including the Southwest, Midwest, and east coast. She pulls inspiration from her diverse life experiences and travels. Originally trained as a vocalist, she turned to instrumental music after her time in her local Fife and Drum Corps. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the Hartt School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

When Waddell is not on the podium, she enjoys traveling, experimenting with vegetarian cuisine, and hiking. She lives in Rochester, New York with her husband, Graham, and their dog, Pierogi.