Orchestra. We look forward to seeing and hearing what our Grammy Award winning Music Director and Conductor, Michael Repper, in his second year, has in store for us. Michael’s enthusiasm, talent, and ability to “think outside the box” in dynamic, innovative, and delightful ways were evident in his inaugural year. He and our outstanding musicians presented an array of both familiar and new musical offerings and we look forward to more of that this year. As always, we strive to unite, educate and enrich our community through the engaging and transformative power of orchestral music experiences. We hope you find it inspiring and refreshing. Happy listening!
Dear Ashland Symphony Orchestra Patrons,
I am excited to be celebrating my 10th season with the ASO! This “Fabulously (un)familiar” season will bring you works by the old masters: Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. But you will also hear the world premiere of Stefan Swanson’s Symphony No.2 “Lipsky”, Iubilo by Brian Nabors, Starburst by Jessie Montgomery, and the artistry of the young cellist Aurelia Faidley-Solars, just to name a few of the unfamiliar musical experiences you will have.
Michael Repper is one of the most sought-after young conductors in the world. With work spanning four continents, Mr. Repper has an international reputation for engaging and exciting audiences of all spectrums, and for promoting new and diverse musical talents. In 2023, he became the youngest American conductor to win a Grammy® Award in Best Orchestral Performance.A leading young artist of her time, Aurelia Faidley-Solars has been heralded by the New York Classical Review as “…a wonderfully gifted 12-year-old with
remarkable technique and a musical understanding beyond her years.” At the age of four, frustrated by having been made to play the violin, she took a child-sized violin, placed it between her knees, and exclaimed to her parents that she wanted a cello for her birthday, and it was then that her career as a cellist began. 
At age 11, she made her solo debut with the Amati Orchestra in Lausanne, Switzerland. Since then, she has performed with the Sempre Musick Symphony (Boston), the Metropolitan Symphony of New York, the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony, the New Jersey Sinfonietta, and the New York Concerti Sinfonietta. She has performed in recitals in New York, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Barcelona, and London.
Aurelia studies currently at the Juilliard Pre-College Division under Fred Sherry. Her other teachers have included Hans Jorgen Jensen and Natasha Brofsky. She has appeared in masterclasses with Laurence Lesser, Richard Aaron, Darrett Adkins, Brannon Cho, Phillipe Muller, David Finckel, Ralph Kirschbaum, Amit Peled, Stephen Doane, Rosemary Elliot, Peter Stumpf, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Fred Sherry, Clive Greensmith, and Pablo Ferrandez.
Aurelia is an accomplished prize winner in numerous competitions. This includes the Fox Valley Concerto Competition, the Ambler Symphony Concerto Competition, the Hill Concerto Competition, the Sound Symphony Concerto Competition, the Vienna International Music Competition, the CelloWorld Concerto Competition, the Petrichor Competition, the Birmingham International Competition. She is the youngest prizewinner in the history of The Ronald Sachs International Competition, as well as the two-time New Eastern regionals winner for the Music Teachers’ National Association. She was also awarded the prestigious Aaron Rosand Memorial Prize and is the 2023 Menges Scholarship recipient. Aurelia is the youngest finalist in the history for the Artist Presentation Society and was the only student featured in a solo performance celebrating the 130th Anniversary of the New World Symphony, a joint project between the United States and The Czech Republic. Aurelia was the 2023 soloist chosen for the “Young Artists Performers” series in South Carolina and has toured throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States.
At age 12, Aurelia released her first album “From Bach to Summerland”, receiving praise from reviewers. Her second album will feature the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor, due out on Petrichor Records in the summer of 2023.
Aside from the cello, Aurelia is a dedicated ballet dancer, studying in the Pre-Professional division at the School of American Ballet. She has performed numerous times in featured roles in the New York City Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”, and as a consequence, can be seen in the Disney Plus documentary series On Pointe. She has also performed in the New York City Ballet’s production of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”. In 2023, she attended the Royal Ballet School’s Summer Intensive Program in London.
