Music Director – Robert Vodnoy

Robert Vodnoy has enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a conductor, composer, violinist, and educator. He made his professional debut as a conductor in 1975 with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, which he led as music director for 30 years. He was Music Director of the Northwest Indiana Symphony (1976-1996), the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra (2000-present), the Huron Symphony (2010-2015) and has guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim including the Symphony Orchestra of the Zhejiang Song and Dance Theatre (China), Mississippi Symphony, Orchestra of the Colorado Music Festival, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Czech National Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica de Sanremo (Italy), Maracaibo Symphony, National Philharmonic of Taiwan, Jonköping Symphony (Sweden), and the Seoul Philharmonic.

He was Director of Orchestras/Professor of Strings and Music History at Northern State University from 2005-2018. In 2017 he co-founded the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota which is one of the few professional chamber orchestras in the State of Florida.

Vodnoy holds a BM summa cum laude and MM in composition from Hartt College of the University of Hartford where he studied under Arnold Franchetti. Vodnoy holds a DM in Conducting from Indiana University. He also studied conducting with Charles Bruck at the Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine, and with Piero Bellugi in the North Carolina School of the Arts’ Summer Sessions in Siena, Italy.

He and his wife Kayla reside in Venice, Florida and Valparaiso, Indiana.

Violinist Laurie Vodnoy-Wright

Laurie Vodnoy-Wright is a concert violinist and co-founder of the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota with Maestro Vodnoy. She is the Principal Second Violin of the orchestra since its inception. Laurie has performed throughout the United States, Austria and Israel. She is a former member of the Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, Tampa Opera, Florida Opera West, Kentucky Opera, and Principal second with the Midwest Chamber Orchestra. She has performed with many orchestras including the Kuchel Austria Festival, Nashville Symphony, Lexington Symphony, Battle Creek Symphony as Artist in Residence, Twin City Symphony, South Bend Symphony, and Kalamazoo Symphony. Laurie is also sought after as a soloist comforting Alzheimer and Parkinson Place patients through music at Parkinson Place, Kobernick Aviva, and comforting our loved ones at Tidewell Hospice. She currently is the founder and violinist with the Avanti String Quartet. Laurie has a very busy contemporary performance career. She is the premier violinist at the Ritz, The Don CeSar, Vinoy, Hyatt, Powell Crosley, and many venues across Florida.