UPCOMING EVENTS
MAESTRO WANNABE CONTEST
Who would you like to see conduct the MSO?
Contest starts Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 30, 2009.
Wannabe Candidates:
• Jenny Anderson, Midland Daily News
• Etcyl Blair, Chemist and Violinist
• Marty McGuire, Dow Gardens
• Bob Stafford, Chemical Bank
In its second year as a fundraiser for the Symphony, the Maestro Wannabe contest provides a competitive environment for raising funds to help support programming and educational growth for the Midland Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Wannabe candidates will compete for the chance to conduct the orchestra at the February 14, 2009 concert.
Vote for your favorite “wannabe” by pledging $1 per vote, the contestant with the most votes becomes Maestro for an evening!
Voting continues through Friday, January 30, 2009. Votes will be taken online, by mail or phone to the MCFTA box office, or in our auditorium lobby during MSO concerts.
Price per vote: $1
Purchase your vote here!
Jenny Anderson has served as Vice President/Publisher of the Midland Daily News since 2004. Jenny's newspaper career spans 28 years and includes four years as publisher of the Huron Daily Tribune in Bad Axe, Michigan. In 2000, she was promoted to become the first female publisher of a Hearst Corporation newspaper. Jenny received her BBA from Northwood University and was honored last year as a recipient of the 2007 Northwood University's Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award. She is past president of Michigan Newspapers Inc. and serves on the boards of the Michigan Press Association and the Inland Press Association, located in Chicago. Locally, she serves as past president of Shelterhouse and currently serves or has served on the boards of Junior Achievement, the Downtown Development Authority, United Way, Visiting Nurses, and the Midland Economic Development Commission (Midland Tomorrow). She also served as president of the Midland Music Society in 1998. In 1986, Jenny was awarded Midland Downtown Business Association's Business Person of the Year and was honored in 1996 as a Woman of Distinction for Midland County. In her spare time, Jenny has appeared in over a dozen musicals at Midland Center for the Arts including
Oliver , which was the inaugural production in 1971 at the Center. Her latest role was that of the Wicked Witch in the
Wizard of Oz . She is the proud mother of William Horton Anderson Jr. and Blain Christopher Anderson, and recently took on the very special role of grandmother to Liam.
Etcyl Blair is a chemist, former Dow researcher, and an accomplished violinist. Before retiring from The Dow Chemical Company in 1986, Blair's 35-year career with Dow spanned numerous functions from laboratory researcher to laboratory director (E. C. Britton Lab.), to Global Research Director for Dow's Agricultural Products Department, Global Research Director for the Ag-Organics Department and lastly as Vice President and Director for Health and Environmental Sciences. Etcyl credits his father's passion for fiddling and the strong music programs in his hometown of Winfield, Kansas for getting him started as “a music nut,” as he calls himself. As a young chemist, Blair began his association with the MSO in 1951 playing violin in what was then the Dow Music Department Orchestra, which later became the Midland Symphony Orchestra. Together with his wife Ruth, he has been a generous contributing subscriber ever since. Etcyl has served on the MSO Board, MATRIX: MIDLAND Board, was elected to the MSO Honorary Board, and has also worked with United Way.
Marty McGuire joined Dow Gardens in his current position as Managing Director in May, 2007. He was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant and received his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Central Michigan University. After graduating from CMU in 1975, he took a job as Community Education and Recreation Director at Hart Public Schools. He then moved to Midland to become the city's recreation supervisor in 1977, and moved on to be assistant director of parks and recreation. He was named Director in 1985 and in 1992 that position was combined with the head of the department of Public Works and McGuire became Director of Public Services. McGuire is also active within the community serving as president of the Midland Rotary Club, on the board of directors for the Michigan Baseball Foundation and Downtown Development Authority. He is a charter member of the Midland Blooms Committee and has served as chair and is a current member of the Selection Committee for the U.S. Olympic Softball Team.
Bob Stafford of Chemical Bank has over 20 years of banking experience while working in both the Retail and Commercial areas. A graduate of Saginaw Valley State University and Delta College he also graduated from the Consumers Bankers Association Graduate School of Retail Bank Management from the University of Virginia. Bob has also been teaching commercial banking at Northwood University for the past 8 years.
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