Leadership
2025-26 Board of Directors
Chair of the Board of Directors
Samantha was appointed the Board Chair in October 2023 and has been on the Oakville Symphony Board since 2000. She is past Chair of the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO), an affiliate organization of the Oakville Symphony.
Samantha is currently a Principal of Balsam Advisory Group Inc., an investor relations, capital, and governance advisory firm. While originally trained as a chemical engineer, Samantha has been a financial professional in the Canadian capital markets for over 25 years having had executive roles at CIBC World Markets, Genworth Canada and Intact Financial and Sagicor Financial. She is also the co-founder of FinStart, a non-profit organization focused on financial literacy for youth.
Samantha is a Board Trustee at Queen’s University, where she serves on two committees. She also sits on the Investment Committees of the Appleby College Foundation and the Boann Social Impact Fund. Her past board leadership roles include Women in Capital Markets and the Canadian Institute of Investor Relations. A longtime Oakville resident, she lives there with her husband and their three young adult children.
Vice-Chair
Kumar Balan attributes his love for music from attending concerts with his daughter, a violinist with the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra where he serves as a co-Chair. His connection with the Oakville Symphony commenced when his son performed as a Young Artist with the orchestra. He draws inspiration from the creative minds at Oakville Symphony, within and outside the board and offers his often-solicited advice to different governing aspects.
Outside of the fun world of music, Kumar is a Mechanical Engineer and works with Aerospace, Automotive, Steel, and other advanced manufacturing sectors.
Kumar has authored over 80 technical papers in his field of expertise and continues to be an active member of the SAE Aerospace Surface Enhancement Committee.
Secretary
Jeany Kyung-Ah Jang is a graduate of Western University and George Brown College with a B.Sc. Major in Biology and Diploma in Office Administration in Health Services, respectively. Her passion to work with and to help others has led her to Halton Healthcare. She has been actively involved in various music groups since she was young: Columbus Children’s Choir and Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra in Ohio, USA and Conference of Independent School Music Festival (CISMF) in Canada.
Currently, Jeany is a member of the Oakville Symphony (OS) and Masterworks of Oakville since 2016. Being a member of the Oakville Symphony thrills her with harmonies that the members create together, and has been a driving force to overcome Monday blues. Jeany sits on the Music Director Search Committee and looks forward to working with the Board this season.
Treasurer
With over 12 years of experience in financial management and analysis, Jennifer excels in strategic financial planning, budget management, and process improvement. Her career focuses on enhancing financial transparency, accountability, and operational efficiency. Jennifer has led financial system modernizations and data-driven decision-making, consistently delivering results that boost organizational effectiveness.
Dr. Mira Backo-Shannon is the Board Secretary. She is a Queen’s Medical School graduate, has worked in the Mississauga Halton region for 15 years. In her initial role as a physician hospitalist at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, Dr. Backo-Shannon held several leadership positions, including President of the Professional Staff Association and Director of the Hospital Medicine Program. She later moved into community family practice, co-founding the OakMed Family Health Team, where she served as Physician Lead and Medical Director.
She joined the Mississauga Halton LHIN in 2013 as the Primary Care Physician Lead, where she was also Chair of the Primary Care Network and the Primary Care Steering Committee. She remains Program Chief and Medical Director of Primary Care, Seniors Care, Palliative Care, Rehab and Complex Continuing Care at Trillium Health Partners. Dr. Backo-Shannon is a Lecturer at the University of Toronto and an Associate Clinical Professor at McMaster University medical schools. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of Toronto.
Natalie Cabri is a graduate from the University of Toronto with a double major in History and Criminology, and the University of London with a Masters in Medieval Studies. Natalie is a project management executive with years of experience delivering transformational programs spanning business and technology in the Financial services and Insurance industries.
An avid musician, Natalie has played with numerous community orchestras, wind ensembles, musical pit orchestras and concert bands over the years. She has been a volunteer member of the Oakville Symphony since 2007 and was part of the OS 50th Anniversary Committee. Prior board experience includes the Mississauga Youth Orchestra player representative and participating in establishing the Silverthorn Symphonic Winds ensemble.
Geoff Creighton is an independent director and volunteer, formerly a lawyer in private practice and as in-house counsel. He is the volunteer CEO of In-House Counsel Worldwide (ICW), the international network of in-house bar associations.
A Chartered Director (C.Dir.) and Certified In-House Counsel (CIC.C), he is a member of the Independent Review Committee of BlackRock Canada, and a ‘public member’ of the Board of The Financial Advisors’ Association of Canada. Geoff was formerly General Counsel of IGM Financial Inc, responsible for overseeing the legal and compliance groups of Investors Group (IG Wealth) and Mackenzie Investments. Prior to joining IGM in 2008, Geoff was a partner with Torys LLP, focused on M&A, complex corporate finance and corporate governance.
His love of music and performance goes back to an early age, but was temporarily thwarted by the siren call of a legal career.
As residents of Oakville since 1984, Geoff and his wife Marie Oswald are pleased that their reduced professional commitments now allow them to give back to the community in which they have lived and raised their family.
Michelle is an Oakville resident, and she has recently re-discovered her love of classical music, having played the violin as a youth. Michelle’s career in finance has spanned 30+ years and she has significant experience with sponsorships and grants (both applying for and reviewing). Michelle manages multiple high net worth families in the community, and she loves to contribute to the development of meaningful relationships that elevate the town in which she lives.
Principal Cello
Jose Shapero graduated from the University of Toronto with Bachelor and Masters degrees in cello and piano. He has been Principal Cellist and guest soloist with several professional and community orchestras before joining the Oakville Symphony in 1987. Jose has recorded for commercials and television shows. He was very active with school performances as part of the Meet a Musician program was music director at North Bramalea United Church in Brampton for the past 25 years.
Jose is still active as cello coach with the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra. He plays on a beautiful 18th century Italian cello made by Luigi Venturini.
Kyle Tettman is an experienced executive leader with a strong background in marketing, operations, logistics, and start-up growth. He has spent his career optimizing business processes, leading teams, and driving strategic initiatives across multiple industries, including marketing agencies, health tech, and manufacturing.
An Oakville resident since 2011, Kyle and his wife have embraced all the town has to offer—from exploring its greenspaces to supporting local businesses and attending its vibrant cultural events. As a board member of the Oakville Symphony, he brings his strategic and operational expertise to support the organization’s mission. An avid music enthusiast, he also enjoys playing the trumpet.
Peter VanDuzer completed an undergrad in Economics at UWO before going on to computer science at McMaster University. Notwithstanding his left-brained studies, Peter has always nurtured a not-so-secret appreciation for Music; he played trombone in band and made sure his own sons had as much musical training as possible. His elder son was a cellist with the Halton Youth Symphony, and his youngest played with the Oakville Symphony as a Young Artist (Double Bass) for several of his high school years.
Outside of his work commitments, Peter co-founded a not-for-profit dedicated to bringing music to as many school-aged kids as possible, and has for many years advocated for music education and ensemble collaboration. Thanks to a long career with Rona/Lowes in management, he brings to the Arts a strong understanding of how to work within organizational structures and yet ensure an open approach to opportunities and alignments. Peter understands, above all, that community music-making is one of our greatest gifts, essential to general and mental health, something to be fostered and promoted. Social commitment has always been important to him, from Board work with Big Brothers in his 20s and long-term committee participation on The Lawson Foundation to many years of volunteering with local schools and music outreach. He has presented on music advocacy to conferences in Chicago, Cleveland, and Burlington, VT, as well as several Ontario professional forums.
Music Director & Conductor
Lorenzo Guggenheim was selected as the new Music Director and Conductor of the Oakville Symphony in July 2022.
Described as instinctive and talented, Lorenzo Guggenheim is a conductor with an emerging career conducting the broad orchestral repertoire, new music and opera. Hailed as “one of the promises in orchestral conducting in Argentina with international projection,” Mr. Guggenheim’s career was launched with his debut in the Teatro Colón of his native Buenos Aires at age 23 and his following performance with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile.
He has resided in Canada since 2018, and was appointed as Music Director and Conductor of the Oakville Symphony beginning in the 2022-23 season. This season he will also conduct the York University Symphony Orchestra as well as having re-engagements with the Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra and with the University of Toronto Campus Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Ontario Museum. Locally he has also conducted Orchestra Toronto and Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra selected him as semi-finalist for the 2022 Resident Conductor search. An active entrepreneur, Mr. Guggenheim founded the UofT CPO in 2018 and the Canadian Studio Symphony in 2022, with which they recorded an album of new music by Felipe Téllez.
Working on international stages, he conducted the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta de Mar del Plata (Argentina) where he was regarded “an expert, perfectionist and seriously formed conductor” as well as being Assistant Conduct for the Berlin Academy of American Music at their debut at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Guggenheim collaborated with the Seattle Symphony’s Prokofiev and Shostakovich Festivals as Assistant Conductor for Pablo Rus Broseta and was offered a Fellowship by Seattle Symphony’s Music Director Ludovic Morlot in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons acting twice as Cover Conductor as part of his master’s studies at the University of Washington.
Lorenzo participates frequently in international masterclasses, recently at Domaine-Forget with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Bramwell Tovey where he conducted the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. Among other renowned teachers are Benjamin Zander, Mark Gibson, Christian Măcelaru and Luis Gorelik. Guggenheim has conducted the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in 2022 as part of a masterclass with Maestros Steven Sloane and Catherine Larsen-Maguire, sponsored by a grant from the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation.
Mr. Guggenheim holds positions as Music Director of the Oakville Symphony, Music Director of the UofT Campus Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Assistant Conductor of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Contemporary Music Ensemble. He is currently engaged in research on the music of Franz Schreker, championing the performances of his symphonic repertoire as part of his Doctoral Studies under the mentorship of Uri Mayer.
www.lorenzoguggenheim.com
*Updated September 2022. Please disregard all previous materials. This biography must not be edited without permission from the artist.
Executive Director
Natasha Bood is an accomplished arts executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience in Canada’s not-for-profit cultural sector.
She currently serves as General Manager of the SweetWater Music Festival, the Executive Director of the Oakville Symphony, and the Managing Director of the Amadeus Choir.
Natasha’s career highlights include her tenure as Executive Director of the Toronto Summer Music Festival and Academy from 2011 to 2018, during which the organization more than doubled its audience and became the first arts group to win the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Mo Davies Award for excellence in fundraising among small organizations. She was also Executive Director of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, where she administered the orchestra’s centennial season and strengthened community engagement. Her experience further includes senior roles with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in both marketing and communications.
Recognized nationally for her contributions, Natasha received the prestigious John Hobday Award in Arts Management from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2015, and her organizations have been honoured for their innovation and impact in arts fundraising and leadership.
Natasha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Regina and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Arts Administration and Cultural Management from Humber College in Toronto. Known for her collaborative approach and commitment to excellence, she continues to champion arts education, organizational innovation, and community engagement in every role she undertakes.
Natasha can be reached at: office@oakvillesymphony.com or 905 338-1462.
Young Artist Program Coordinator
Michèle is a professional musician, teacher and arts administrator. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto as a student of Suzanne Schulman, furthering her studies internationally through masterclasses with Marcel Moyse, Michel Debost, and Liisa Ruoho.
At Havergal College, she developed a comprehensive string programme from Grades 5 – 12, and
directed the string component of the Independent Schools Music Festival for 17 years.
As Curriculum Leader of Arts at York Mills Collegiate, she taught both strings and keyboard, developing the keyboard programme, and working closely with string players to create advanced collaborative performing opportunities for students.
Michèle has held principal flute positions in several community orchestras, is past Music Director of the flute ensemble Flute Flight, co-Music Director of String OrchestraTO and continues to be an avid
chamber musician.
Marketing Coordinator
Sarah LeFresne is a Toronto-based artist and instructor, and the marketing coordinator for the Oakville Symphony. A lifelong lover of art and world building, whether it’s through the medium of paint and canvas or graphics and copy, Sarah enjoys being able to craft feelings, moments, and stories. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History, a Master’s Degree in Anthropology, and a graduate certificate in Arts Administration, all of which inform her professional and personal methodologies. When she’s not sitting in front of a computer or canvas, she enjoys yoga, reading, cat cuddling, and adventuring with her husband.
Photographer
Principal Viola
Coming from a family where almost everybody played a musical instrument, I started to play classical music from the age of 3. My first instrument was the violin but around age 6, my mother got me a cello. I have never looked back. Around the age of 8 I met Susan Gagnon, one of the most influential people in my life. She introduced me to the Young Artist Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music. There I continued to improve my musical knowledge, learning about music theory and history, and being a part of an orchestra and quartet. Even after 12 years of music training, my passion for it is still very strong and is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Principal Cello
Jose Shapero graduated from the University of Toronto with Bachelor and Masters degrees in cello and piano. He has been Principal Cellist and guest soloist with several professional and community orchestras before joining the Oakville Symphony in 1987. Jose has recorded for commercials and television shows. He was very active with school performances as part of the Meet a Musician program was music director at North Bramalea United Church in Brampton for the past 25 years.
Jose is still active as cello coach with the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra. He plays on a beautiful 18th century Italian cello made by Luigi Venturini.
Principal Bass
Originally from Halifax, Tim studied at Dalhousie University with Brian Robinson and then privately with Detroit Symphony bassist and remarkable teacher Maxim Janowsky from 1981-85 while performing with Orchestra London and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra before moving northwest to join the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra where he played section bass for over 15 years.
Since moving to Toronto in 2001 Tim has balanced technical work with a busy musical schedule. He has served as principal bassist with Canadian Sinfonietta since 2003, performed with Masterworks of Oakville and Oakville Chamber Orchestra, and worked on a regular and occasional basis with many orchestras throughout the GTA and as far afield as Peterborough, Sudbury and even several return visits to Thunder Bay.
Work with young people has included the Oakville Symphony’s own Young Artist Mentor program, Canadian Sinfonietta Youth Orchestra, the Ontario Cross-Cultural Music Society Symphony Orchestra and the Chinese Artists Society of Toronto, for which Tim recently received an Ontario Volunteer Service Award for five years’ service.
Serving as interim principal bass for the 2021-22 Oakville season Tim moves from the back of the bass section and continues a 10 year relationship with the Oakville Symphony as extra bass and a young artist mentor. He is excited to work again with Roger, Lynn and Bob during this season of transition.
Principal French Horn
Mr. Allen completed his Bachelor of Music at Queen’s University and his Master of Music in performance at the University of Toronto under the direction of Eugene Rittich. He has performed frequently with orchestras throughout southern and eastern Ontario including the Kingston, Niagara, Windsor, London, Kitchener – Waterloo, Oshawa – Durham, Royal Opera Canada, Brampton Lyric Opera, Opera Kitchener and the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera orchestras. He is also the principal horn with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra and freelances in and around the GTA. Mr. Allen also works as a conductor and clinician for the Halton Mississauga Youth Orchestra and has conducted the Intermediate Honour Band for the Peel District School Board. He lives in Mississauga where he continues to have an active private studio and teaches instrumental and vocal music for the Peel District School Board. Mr. Allen is also an advocate for music education and is an active performer and organizer for International Horn Day in Toronto.
Principal Oboe
In 2018, Chieh-Ying Lu completed her Master’s degree in Oboe Performance from the University of Toronto under the guidance of Keith Atkinson (the former Associate Principal Oboe of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra) and received generous sponsorship from the Toronto Women’s Music Club to complete her study.
As an active orchestral musician, Chieh-Ying has performed as principal oboe with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, Kingston Symphony Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, and many professional and community orchestras and chamber groups. Chieh-Ying is thrilled to join the Oakville Symphony as Principal Oboe from the 24-25 season.
As an educator, Chieh-Ying teaches oboe at the University of Toronto Schools, Earl Haig Secondary School, and Havergal College. Continuing her passion for teaching, Chieh-Ying and her partner Dr. Chia-Yu Hsu (the Principal Bassoon at the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra), co-own a music studio where they advocate the importance of chamber music playing. They are on a mission to help young musicians gain performance skills and prepare them to have the ability to collaborate with others.
Principal Bassoon
Christian was a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for 20 years before leaving to pursue a career in administration and free-lance bassoon. He has performed regularly at the Festival of the Sound, the Elora Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Westben Festival, and has appeared with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, working with conductors Zubin Mehta and Valery Gergiev among others, as well as all the leading orchestras in southern Ontario.
Christian was a featured soloist on a 2016 re-recording and release of The Mozart Effect (available on Spotify). Theatre experiences include the 2019 Mirvish production of The King and I, the Shaw Festival orchestra in the productions of Wonderful Town by Bernstein and Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, the Theatre 20 production of Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare, and performances of Man of La Mancha, The Beaux’ Stratagem, and The Music Man at the Stratford Festival.
Principal Percussion
Lorne Grossman did his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. He was immediately offered work with the Stratford Festival, Royal Alexandria Theatre in Toronto and the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto. Within a few years, Lorne was principal percussion with the Canadian Opera Company (1972-1985) and a semi regular percussionist with the National Ballet of Canada (1974-1991).
Lorne played on many TV commercials in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. He toured with Phantom of the Opera throughout Canada, Alaska and Hawaii twice from 1991-1994. Again he was on tour with Music of the Night 1995-1996.
Staying home, Lorne had been playing drum set with the National Arts Centre Orchestra until 2011 and presently performs with the Oakville Symphony, Peterborough Symphony, Rose Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic and occasionally with the Hamilton Philharmonic, London Symphonia, North Bay Symphony and Georgian Bay Symphony.
Principal Harp
Sharlene Wallace is a lever and pedal harp player, composer, educator and visual explorer, all through which she expresses her relationship to space, the natural world and intuition. Winner of two international lever harp competitions, Sharlene has given concerts and workshops across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Sharlene is an influential figure in the lever harp world for her performances, recordings, compositions, teaching and for her use of this instrument in contemporary and original music. Commissions have been written for Sharlene including Rodney Sharman’s Music for Lever Harp, Strings and Percussion and Alfredo Rolando Ortiz’s Niagara Moon. Sharlene’s own compositions are featured throughout her nine independent albums. In 2024 Sharlene released two new albums – Lilac Embers, an album of Shar-compositions for acoustic and electric lever harps with electronics by Jean Martin, and Trees.Listen, a co-composition recording-performance-environmental project with composer Frank Horvat for Celtic harp and fixed electronics The live performance of Trees.Listen includes video projections of Sharlene’s photographs which include the oaks of her hometown Oakville.