What is it: Ron Brooker recently was named the new executive director of
The Firelands Symphony Orchestra. In his new position, Brooker will be in charge of daily non-artistic operations of the orchestra and school of music. Those duties include administrative, marketing, fundraising, financial, and strategic management of all FSO operations, according to a press release from the FSO.
Brooker has been a violinist with the FSO since its founding season in 1992, and has served as concertmaster since 2002, which is a role he will continue.
He graduated from BGSU with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education and served on the faculty for the BGSU Summer String Institute. He also taught strings and conducted orchestras for 11 years for Sandusky and Findlay schools, among many other musical accomplishments, according to the release.
“After an exhaustive search, Ron was the candidate selected to fill the role of executive director because of his advanced knowledge of the orchestra, our local communities, and his vision for the future of the FSO," says FSO Board President Nike Mendenhall. "This position is crucial to the sustainability to be able to keep providing musical programs to our communities."
Why is it important: In his new role, Brooker says he hopes to help grow the orchestra.
"I'm very excited about this opportunity to do my part to help grow this orchestra,” says Brooker via the release. “I'm looking forward to working with not only the arts-aware community that we have in this area, but also our fabulous staff, our board of directors, and our Music Director Carl Topilow.”
How to get involved: To learn more about the FSO, visit the
orchestra’s website or
Facebook page.