Daniel Mehdizadeh, Communications and Audience Development Coordinator

Holding a doctorate in composition from the University of Toronto,  Daniel Mehdizadeh has been a valued member of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra for a number of years.  While serving as our composer-in-residence, he pioneered a year-long podcast series that delighted our audience during the loneliest year of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Daniel’s facility with digital communications has led to his leading role in managing the orchestra’s social channels where he keeps our audience informed on orchestra and community music events.  Daniel also assists Music Director Ron Royer in coordinating the New Generation Composer Program.

 Based in the Greater Toronto Area, he currently serves as the music and choir director at Stouffville United Church, following his successful tenure as composer-in-residence for the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) from 2020 to 2023. With a global musical influence, Mehdizadeh’s works have garnered widespread recognition, with performances and appearances in prestigious festival series across Europe and North America. His compositions have been featured on CBC and Classical Jukebox Radio and have been featured on albums released by Akashic Classics, distributed by the Universal Group.


For more information visit https://www.danielmehdizadeh.com/

Ted Runcie, Community Outreach Coordinator

Ted Runcie, Community Outreach Coordinator

Born in Jamaica, growing up in Scarborough, Ted is a graduate of MacGill University in composition and conducting.

Having served for two years as SPO’s Composer-in-Residence, Ted has also been invaluable in forging connections with the Scarborough Community, resulting in an invitation from the SPO to formally act as SPO’s Community Outreach Coordinator starting in the 2024-2025 orchestra season. 

During his tenure as Composer-in-Residence, Ted was a contributor to the Songs of Hope project in 2023-2024, and has been working on a chamber work based on the Tales of Anansi. Over the years Runcie has composed a varied body of work including chamber music, solo instrumental works, choral works, art songs and symphonic works. He plans to write a series of operas on Caribbean subjects as well as to continue writing his series of ‘sinfoniettas’ based on Jamaican history.

His Jamaica Quartets No. 1 & 2 have been recorded by SPO’s ensemble-in-residence, the Odin Quartet.

 

Maria Molinari Composer

Trained as a classical guitarist, Maria Molinari began her composing career writing concert music for soloists, chamber groups, ballet and orchestras until her love of film, storytelling & collaboration drew her to film scoring. A melodically driven composer, Maria’s love of film scores began with the tuneful, soaring themes of John Williams and the haunting harmonies of Thomas Newman. She cites among her strongest influences the music of Prokofiev, Debussy, Stravinsky, Arvo Pärt, Jerry Goldsmith and Dario Marianelli.

Maria recently composed the score for the bold critically acclaimed anthology film TO THE NEW GIRL. Based on playwright Samantha Macher’s celebrated female-driven stage production of the same name the award-winning film features an all-female creative team & cast. Her music can been heard in the score for the feature film END OF DAYS, INC. starring Mark O’Brien (CITY ON A HILL) and the theme for the forensic series MOTIVES & MURDERS: CRACKING THE CASE. She has provided additional music for the MARVEL COMICS based sci-fi syndicated series MUTANT X and the retro musical comedy series GETTING ALONG FAMOUSLY. Maria’s screen projects have enjoyed international broadcast as well as winning awards and playing at celebrated festivals including TRIBECA, VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, BLOOD IN THE SNOW FESTIVAL and the CANADIAN FILM CENTRE WORLDWIDE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL. 

​Critically acclaimed violinist MOSHE HAMMER, the VICTORIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA dancer/choreographer Stephanie Hutchison have premiered Maria’s concert works. Her prizewinning setting of ‘Willow Song’ from Shakespeare’s OTELLO in the STRATFORD FESTIVAL OF CANADA’S Composition Competition for Young Composers; an arrangement of the song for symphony orchestra and soprano soloist was subsequently commissioned and premiered by the GUELPH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. Maria’s virtuosic three movement violin and piano work TRE PEZZI PER VIOLINO E PIANOFORTE has been performed internationally; its exciting movement DANZA has been released by the piano and violin MATHIEU-CHUA DUO on the Centrediscs/Centredisques label.  Occasionally the film and concert music worlds collide as they did in a commission to compose original scores for the classic silent films THE PAWN SHOP (Charlie Chaplin) and MIGHTY LIKE A MOOSE (Charley Chase).  Performed live by the CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF MISSISSAUGA the scores were received enthusiastically at a live performance to screenings of the films at the MISSISSAUGA LIVING ARTS CENTRE.

Maria studied composition at the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO with Alexander Rapoport, and film scoring at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES with iconic film composers ELMER BERNSTEIN, LEONARD ROSENMAN, DAVID RAKSIN & CHRISTOPER YOUNG.  

Maria is both a Canadian citizen and a citizen of the European Union.

Mystic Journey

Mystic Journey ℗ 2024 Akashic Classics Under Exclusive License to The SRG-ILS Group

Featuring the Ezra Duo

Released on: 2024-08-16 Producer: Ronald Royer

Announcing SPO’s new Concertmaster

Alex Toskov, appointed SPO Concertmaster

Meet Alex Toskov

Far from a stranger to SPO, the orchestra is pleased to announce the appointment of Alex Toskov as Concertmaster.  Alex will be taking over the vacant Concertmaster’s chair in fall 2024, leading the orchestra into our 45th anniversary season. Alex is well known to our audience as the Music Director and founder of the Odin Quartet who have been our Ensemble in Residence for several years. As the resident ensemble, the Odin Quartet have headlined many of our chamber concerts annually as well as being valued collaborators on our New Generation Composer Program, our recent Songs of Hope Project, and many other New Music, chamber music and music education projects.

Learn more about Alex.

 

Learn more

Curious about what a concert master does?  Here’s an amusing and informative article. 

Alex Toskov, Concertmaster

ALEX TOSKOV serves as Concertmaster of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and is Music Director of the Odin Quartet which he established in 2015. The Odin Quartet has performed at Music Toronto, Music Niagara and Luminato festivals. The Quartet is maintaining a busy artistic schedule, premiering new music, as well as recording. Alex has also been a member of the first violin section of Sinfonia Toronto since 202 and has lead the orchestra on a few occasions including a gala concert in Roy Thomson Hall in June 2016. Alex toured South America in 2018 and China in 2019 with Sinfonia Toronto.

Recently, Mr. Toskov has appeared as the concertmaster of Toronto Mozart Players, Toronto Artist Symphony, Toronto Philharmonic, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Scarborough Philharmonic, Casa Loma Symphony, principal of Toronto Concert Orchestra, and has recorded various soundtracks for CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries. He also performed with Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Air Canada Centre), Diana Krall (Massey Hall), Josh Groban (Sony Centre), Il Divo (Queen Elisabeth Theatre), Evanescence (Budweiser Stage), and Owen Pallett (Massey Hall). Alex participated at St. Gallen Festival in Austria 2004, Stavanger Chamber Music Festival in Norway 2009, and Colours of Music Festival 2012 & 2013. In October 2010 he was invited to perform as a soloist on a gala concert hosted by cellist YoYo Ma in prestigious Koerner Hall in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Toskov performed as a soloist with Serbian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was a concertmaster of Bayreuth Festival Orchestra in 2006, German-Scandinavian Youth Philharmonic 2009 and was a member of Santiago de Chile Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007/2008. During his studies in Norway 2008-2010, Alex was regularly playing with Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. 

 

Alex was the winner of The Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition 2011, is a recipient of various scholarships such as Norwegian Government scholarship, The Royal Conservatory full tuition scholarship, and Serbian Fund for highly gifted students. Alex took violin lessons with some of the greatest violin pedagogues and soloists such as Pierre Amoyal (Lausanne), Ruben Aharonian (Borodin Quartet Moscow), Isaac Shuldman (Oslo), Michael Frischenschlager (Vienna), Joel Smirnoff (New York), James Boyd (London). Mr. Toskov graduated violin at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia. In 2003/04 he was a student at the University of Music in Vienna, Austria with Professor Ernst Kovacic. In June 2010 he received a title Master of Music Performance at Agder University in Norway. Alex received his Artist Diploma in June 2013 from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, where he studied with Atis Bankas on violin and Steven Dann, on viola.

Mr. Toskov speaks English, Spanish, Russian, German, Norwegian and Serbian.