Toledo Symphony Orchestra: Featured Musicians

Meet the TSO Conductors

Stefan Sanderling has swiftly emerged as one of the leading German conductors of his generation. Since 2003, he has simultaneously occupied the positions of Music Director of The Florida Orchestra serving Tampa Bay and Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Stefan Sanderling was born in East Berlin in 1964, son of the legendary conductor Kurt Sanderling. He studied musicology at the University of Halle and conducting at the conservatory in Leipzig before leaving East Germany to continue his studies in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.

As one of the youngest chief conductors in Germany, Stefan Sanderling first held this position at the Brandenburgische Philharmonie and the Potsdam Opera in 1990. After five years he went on to become Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra and Staatstheater in Mainz until 2001. Between 1997 and 2004 he also served as Music Director of the Orchestre de Bretagne in France.

After the fall of the iron curtain, he returned to his native Germany where his career ascended rapidly. Stefan Sanderling has conducted the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, NTO (Vienna), Mozarteum Orchestra (Salzburg), Prague Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, Berliner Staatskapelle, NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, Bamberg Symphony, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. He has also guest conducted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Komische Oper Berlin. He made his debuts in Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and in Japan with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. His highly successful debut with the NHK Symphony of Tokyo has since resulted in regular appearances with this orchestra in Tokyo and throughout Japan.

Since his North American debut at the 1989 Tanglewood Summer Music Festival, he has led such prestigious North American orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and the orchestras of Indianapolis, Vancouver, Colorado, Salt Lake City and Ottawa to name only a few.

Sanderling made his first recording on the Sony Classics label with the London Symphony Orchestra. Three CDs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have recently been released, featuring symphonies by Haydn and Mendelssohn. He has recorded the complete Tchaikovsky Orchestral Suites and Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella on the Naxos label. He also has completed several discs of works by the French composers Gretry, Gossec and Mehul and Ladmirault on the ASV and Arion label. His most recent recording, symphonies and tone poems by Honegger, has been released on Naxos.

Chelsea Tipton, II
Resident Conductor

In his sixth season as Resident Conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, American conductor Chelsea Tipton II has won over audience and critics alike with his vibrant musicality, accessibility, versatility, and extraordinary commitment to education outreach. As a sought-after guest conductor, Tipton has appeared with major orchestras in the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra among others. In 2004, Tipton led the Boston Pops Orchestra in their annual Gospel Night Concert that the Boston Globe called an "Impressive debut".

The 2008-09 season will include guest conducting engagements with the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the Atlanta Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Chicago Sinfoniett and the Tulare County Symphony, in addition to regular Toledo Symphony season appearances that feature him in the Classics, Pops, and Lifestyle Concert series. This season will mark Tipton’s return to Carnegie Hall conducting the Sphinx Competition Showcase gala concert that will be the culmination of a ten city tour with the orchestra. Recent highlights included a last minute replacement for Robert Spano to conduct an all-Gershwin season finale with the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

The New York Times applauded Tipton for "[leading] sweeping and vibrant performances of "Rhapsody" and "An American in Paris." Tipton was one of the ten conductors selected to conduct the New York Philharmonic in a Special Reading Session mentored by Kurt Masur.

His strong commitment toward education is shown though his dedicated work with the Sphinx Competition to promote African American and Hispanic emerging artists in classical music, in addition to working with the New World Symphony to involve local high school students in concerts.

Prior to his appointment with the Toledo Symphony, Tipton was Associate Conductor with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra for four seasons and Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra for three seasons. He has held faculty positions at Central Michigan University (CMU) as Assistant Professor where he was Director of the CMU Symphony and a Visiting Professor in clarinet and chamber music at Western Michigan University. He has served on the faculty of the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in New Hampshire, and served four seasons as Assistant Conductor with the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina during the summers.

Tipton earned a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music, with additional studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine. As a clarinetist, Mr. Tipton has performed with several orchestras, including the Rochester Philharmonic, the Heidelberg Festival Opera Orchestra (Germany), and the Chicago Sinfonietta. He has appeared on the NBC Today Show with Wynton Marsalis and has performed as a section clarinet player with James Galway and the Eastman Philharmonia, Wynton Marsalis and the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra on recordings with RCA Classical, CBS Masterworks and Pro Arte labels.