Michael Jones, Executive Director

Michael Jones, Executive Director

In 2024, Michael Jones retired as CEO of SK Arts, the provincial arts funder for the province of Saskatchewan, where he oversaw almost $10 million in support to artists annually. His tenure at SK Arts saw a rebuilding of the relationships between the agency, the government, and the arts community. Prior to his move to Regina, he ran the performing arts program for the Metcalf Foundation, one of the largest private family foundations in Canada providing strategic support in the arts. He has also held senior administrative posts at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (now Dance Arts Institute), Arraymusic, the Muki Baum Association, and Choirs Ontario. He holds BMus and MA (music) degrees from Western University and has certification in public sector governance from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

Since leaving SK Arts, Michael has established a sole proprietorship arts management firm based in Toronto, under which he provides cluster management services to small arts companies. In addition to his role at the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael is the Editorial Director for Opera Canada magazine and has completed short-term contracts for Arts Consultants Canada and SK Arts.

In 2022, his leadership in the arts sector was recognized when he was named one of the first 70 recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan).

As an artist, Michael’s career has focused on theatre, primarily working as a director or music director for organizations like Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, The Red Barn Theatre, Theatre Scarborough, Theatre Sheridan, and Victoria Playhouse Petrolia. Some of his favourite credits include Amadeus (director), Falsettos (director/music director), and Next to Normal (director/music director).

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.

 

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.

Ivanna Scovino Angel, Operations Manager

Ivanna has been part of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scarborough community for over 10 years. She first became involved with the SPO as a dedicated audience member, volunteer, and close friend to its musicians and patrons. Ivanna now serves as Operations Manager, directly supporting our Artistic Director Ronald Royer, Executive Director Michael Jones, all of our valued volunteer staff, box office management, concert and event logistics, community outreach and fundraising initiatives. With a background in business leadership, marketing, and music, Ivanna brings a thoughtful, community-focused perspective to SPO programming and content.
 

Throughout her life, Ivanna has been deeply committed to music education, community service, and expanding access to the arts. Classically trained in voice, piano, guitar, saxophone, composition, music history, and music theory through her studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Ivanna embraced her love of music beginning at the age of five. She later performed as both a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist in local jazz bands and orchestral ensembles.

As a Venezuelan immigrant who has benefited from community supports throughout her own life, Ivanna is especially passionate about ensuring that classical music education and orchestral experiences remain accessible to immigrant families, minority communities, and audiences who have historically faced barriers to the arts. In her current role with the SPO, she is focused on supporting positive and meaningful experiences for both the Scarborough community and the musicians who serve it, while aiming to help create sustainable opportunities for musicians of all ages and backgrounds.

Through her studies at the University of Toronto, Ivanna continues to pursue her long-term goal of completing doctoral studies and becoming a child psychologist, with the hope of incorporating her lifelong love of the arts and music education into her future work with children and families. As Ivanna begins her work in prison ministry, she aims to utilize the arts as a means of supporting healing, reflection, and connection among the individuals she encounters. 

Working alongside Executive Director Michael Jones, and through ongoing training in arts administration, Ivanna continues to hone her skills in fundraising, grant writing, operations, and community-focused arts programming in order to better serve the SPO, its artists, and the broader Scarborough community.

Ivanna is deeply committed to removing barriers to music education and is always ready to lend a helping hand, whether by offering free music lessons, supporting volunteers of all ages through elevated customer service training, or helping patrons and community members access and learn more about SPO programming, resources, and opportunities. Ivanna welcomes detailed inquiries and can be reached by email at ivanna@spo.ca. 

 

Jacob Clewell, Outreach Coordinator

Jacob Clewell, Outreach Coordinator

American violinist/violist Jacob Clewell stands in the vanguard of musicians of his generation. Gold Medalist of the 2017 Vancouver International Music Competition, he leads a multifaceted career as a soloist, recitalist, chamber player, and educator.

Standout moments from recent performance activities include solo and chamber performances at the Scotia Festival, Green Lake Chamber Music Festival, Le Domaine Forget, Lake District Summer Music, Northern Lights Festival de Febrero in Ajijic, Mexico, and Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, France. Jacob has appeared alongside members of the Escher, Emerson, Endellion, Cypress, and Penderecki quartets, Gryphon Trio, Berlin Philharmonic, Seattle and Toronto Symphonies, and with pianists Pedja Muzijevic and Andrew Armstrong. Alongside his duo partner, pianist Sasha Bult-Ito (The Ezra Duo), he has appeared as a guest artist with numerous orchestras and chamber series, toured in the US and Canada, and performed in Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Weill Recital Hall in New York, and as a guest at a G7 Summit event held at the Royal Ontario Museum.

As an outspoken advocate for outreach in classical music, Jacob has presented outreach events everywhere from schools and retirement communities to a federal prison. He is the outreach coordinator for the Scarborough Philharmonic and Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival, and has led performances and educational events at Toronto’s Baycrest Hospital, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and Toronto Public Library.

Jacob holds degrees from the Cornish College of the Arts, Stony Brook University, and The Glenn Gould School, and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Toronto, where he was a teaching assistant in violin, viola, and chamber music. He is Co-Artistic Director and Artist-Faculty of Viola at the annual Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival in Florida, and directs the Mosbacher Salon Collective in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is currently a violist with the JUNO-winning chamber orchestra Sinfonia Toronto, and serves as principal second violin with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, where he is also a member of the NextGen Performance Program.

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Special Thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for support of a two year Outreach program, funded through the Resilient Communities Program