Chelsea Tipton II Chelsea Tipton, II, celebrates his second season as Resident Conductor with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Committed to building a solid musical foundation for audiences both young and old, Mr. Tipton has been taking an active role in developing and implementing educational programs for the TSO in the community. Mr. Tipton’s guest conducting engagements have included the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic (Special Reading Session), Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Greenville (South Carolina) Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Carolina Chamber Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony, and the Crested Butte Festival Orchestra. Mr. Tipton recently made his debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. For the 2004-2005 season guest-conducting engagements include the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Nashville, and San Antonio Symphonies, the Louisville Orchestra, Windsor Symphony, and the Oberlin Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. Prior to his appointment with the TSO, Mr. Tipton was Associate Conductor with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra for four 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. Mr. 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, where he was also awarded the Performer’s Certificate. He has also studied at the Cincinnati 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.