Ocala Symphony Orchestra

Matthew Wardell is a dynamic conductor who brings boundless energy and compelling storytelling to every performance. Based in Washington, DC, he is known for his ability to unlock passion in live performances and create deep emotional connections with audiences. Wardell’s commitment to programming—recognized in 2024 when he won the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming from The American Prize—spans from unearthing hidden repertoire gems and championing overlooked composers to presenting bold new works alongside the masterpieces of the canon. His performances are marked by what audiences describe as “unabashed enthusiasm” and “youthful energy,” with patrons regularly noting that “he and the orchestra never cease to amaze.”

Currently in his 17th season as Music Director of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra—which composer Michael Daugherty called the “hardest working orchestra in Florida”—Wardell has established himself as a sought-after guest conductor with recent appearances leading the Jacksonville Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Pittsburgh, the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, the Gainesville Orchestra, and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra. When Matthew was appointed Music Director of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, the Ocala Star Banner declared that “Wardell brings an impressive resume of musical and conducting training … Maybe more important than his musical credentials is Wardell’s youthful enthusiasm and unabashed zest … Wardell is not only a daring and dynamic choice as the Ocala Symphony Orchestra’s new conductor, but a smart one.”

On the podium, Maestro Wardell has conducted more than 520 works across 310 live performances. His repertoire encompasses core orchestral works from all periods, concerti for voice and nearly every instrument, extensive pops offerings, and film and multimedia works. He is particularly committed to the purposeful inclusion of underrepresented and living composers, having led world and United States premieres from composers such as Michael Daugherty, María de Pablos, Paul Richards, Stella Sung, and Jenni Brandon. Wardell has developed deep experience in live-to-film conducting, having led more than a dozen productions including upcoming performances of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Disney’s Aladdin in Concert.

From the opera pit, Wardell has led 19 staged productions of large-scale opera, musical theatre, and ballet works including La Boheme, Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin, Così fan tutte, Sunday in the Park with George, Carmina Burana, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd. His ability to rise to any artistic challenge was dramatically demonstrated when he conducted two performances of Puccini’s Tosca with only one day’s notice. Critics hailed the performances as “first-rate” and “inspiring,” calling his last-minute substitution a “magnificent feat … when the stakes were high, Mr. Wardell came through brilliantly and proved his mettle.”

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Wardell holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (2022) and Master of Music (2010) from the University of Florida, where he studied with his mentor Dr. Raymond Chobaz, and a Bachelor of Music cum laude (2007) from the University of North Florida, where he worked under Charlotte Mabrey. He spent five summers at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians in Hancock, Maine, where he studied with renowned conducting teacher Michael Jinbo and was recognized as both an Osher and Quimby Family Foundation scholar. Wardell has participated in master classes with Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops and studied with conductor and composer Peter WesenAuer in Salzburg, Austria. 

Raymond Chobaz, Professor of Music and Conductor Laureate of the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra

Raymond will conduct “Vive la France!” in January, 2025.

Raymond Chobaz holds the Provost’s UF Term Professorship and is music director and conductor of the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra and conductor of Dance Alive National Ballet. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics summa cum laude, and a Master of Arts degree in music theory. As an International Rotary Scholar at the University of Utah, he received both a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting and a Ph.D. in music composition under Vladimir Ussachevsky. Post-doctoral studies allowed him to assist and work with Herbert Blomstedt in San Francisco, Kyrill Kondrashin in Amsterdam, Raphael Kubelik in Lucerne, Erich Leinsdorf in New York, Witold Rowicki in Vienna, Georg Tintner in Prague, and Pierre Boulez in Basel and Paris.

Chobaz is the recipient of numerous federal grants, scholarships, awards, and first prizes in both composition and conducting, which include the Leroy Robertson, Intercollegiate Bicentennial Composition Competition, Utah Composers Guild, Paul Sacher Stiftung, Martha Baird Rockefeller, Blomstedt International Conducting Award for Orchestral Performance and Symphonic Literature, the Beethoven Festival in Marienbad, and Czech National Opera and Radio Prague International Conducting Competition. As the top winner, he was invited to conduct all major symphony orchestras and opera companies in the Czech Republic and appointed conductor-in-residence of the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, the Marienbad International Music Festival with the West Bohemian National Orchestra, and the annual International Composition Workshop with the Olomouc Symphony Orchestra.

In recognition of his national and international accomplishments, Chobaz has received grants for Advanced Research in Music Performance from the International Research and Exchanges Board in Washington, D.C., US Department of Education, US Information Agency, US Department of State, US Army, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and International Symphonic Workshops, Canada. Additionally, he has received various grants from the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs, which included the official representation of the State of Florida with Dance Alive National Ballet at the International Ballet Festival in Havana, Cuba, Florida Sea Grant, a special Research Leave by the Office of the Provost to work with Prof. Richard Ernst, Nobel Prize Laureate, at the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, and most recently, both a Distinguished Alumnus and Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Utah. This past fall, Dr. Chobaz has also been asked to take over the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra in Orlando.

During his tenure at the University of Florida, Chobaz has founded the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra and provided many new experiences for his students with internationally known artists, first-time ballet and opera productions, television and radio broadcasts, children’s and pops concerts, multi-media and interdisciplinary collaborations with painters, poets, writers, dancers, and ethnic ensembles, commissions and first performances that earned the orchestra an ASCAP Nissim Award for innovative programing.

Featured in “Rhythmic Tides” this February on the organ.

Joshua L. Mazur, Conductor, enjoys a budding career as a singer, conductor, and educator. Most recently featured in the tenor roles of Don Jose (Valdosta State University Guest Artist) and The Phantom (Ocala Symphony Orchestra) he was seen previously in principal baritone roles such as Silvio (Imperial Symphony Orchestra) and Gianni Schicchi (Florida Southern College Opera Theater). He has sung on masterclasses for such artists as Stella Zambalis, Mark Thomsen, Thomas Potter, Victoria Livengood, and Jennifer Larmore. He won the TBNATS “Most Promising Male Singer” award three consecutive years and was the Florida state winner of the NATS Artist Award in 2014.

Abigail Mistretta has recently been appointed as one of the Assistant Conductors of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra (OSO) under Maestro Matthew Wardell for the 2022-2023 season. Born in Ohio but raised along the Florida Gulf Coast, she considers herself a Florida native. Abigail eventually moved east to Gainesville where she studied at the University of Florida. She received her Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting with a concentration in Clarinet Performance in the spring of 2022. There she studied under the mentors of Dr. David Waybright, Dr. Raymond Chobaz, Professor Jay Watkins, Dr. Chip Birkner, and Clarinet Professor, Mitchell Estrin. While completing her graduate degree, she served as a teaching assistant with the University of Florida (UF) Clarinet Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and Gator Marching Band. She has had multiple appearances as a guest conductor with the UF Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Chamber Winds, and Symphonic Band. With these ensembles she rehearsed and performed a wide variety of musical literature by composers such as Leonard Bernstein and John Williams. She also has extensive experience performing chamber music such as Serenade No. 44 in D minor by Antonin Dvorak, Octet by Igor Stravinsky, and an arrangement of W.A. Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro for chamber winds. Abigail, also, actively served as the Conductor and Assistant Music Director for the Clarinet Ensemble under Professor Estrin. Abigail received her Bachelor of Instrumental Music Education, summa cum laude, in May of 2020 from the University of Florida. During her time there, she performed on both Bb and bass clarinet in the Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, University Symphony Orchestra, and in the Clarinet Ensemble. In the summer of 2019, she had the opportunity to travel to France with the Wind Symphony as the principal bass clarinetist; there the group performed in the Festival des Anches d’Azur in La Croix-Valmer, a festival dedicated to bringing international ensembles together to make music along the Bay of Saint-Tropez.

In addition to her assignment with the OSO, Abigail has recently accepted the position of Associate Band Director of Freedom High School located in Orlando, where she works with Dr. Michael Antmann. Her duties consist of directing the Symphonic Band, and co-instructing the marching band and jazz ensembles. Prior to working in Orlando, Abigail has also worked with students at both the intermediate and collegiate level in the Florida Panhandle, Central Florida, and North Carolina. She is also an active performer, serving as the clarinetist in the OSO’s Wind Quintet and freelancing in both wind ensembles and orchestras around central Florida. Abigail has a passion for the orchestral genre, and the power generated by the symphony orchestra. Exposure to performing orchestral literature in college ignited an interest that was followed by opportunities to study with Dr. Raymond Chobaz and Dr. Matthew Wardell. She has always admired the work and sound of the OSO, and is thrilled to be joining the orchestra. Abigail is looking forward to working with Maestro Wardell and Maestro Mazur, bringing forth a wonderful season of music.

Kathryn Poore has been teaching private violin and viola lessons since 1998, and has been playing viola in professional orchestras since graduating high school in 2001 as a core member and sub. She is currently the Personnel Manager and Principal Violist of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. She has a Master of Music in Viola Performance from the University of Georgia, and a Bachelor of Music Performance, magna cum laude, from Columbus State University. Kathryn has also attended the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School, 2003. As an instructor, Kathryn teaches each student as an individual. Everyone learns differently, and Kathryn really enjoys structuring lessons to best meet the needs of the individual. In addition to The Music Den, Kathryn also teaches lessons at Stetson University’s Community School of Music.