KWYO Faculty & Administration

Conductor, recorder virtuoso and cellist Matthew Jones is proud that his career has spanned the length and breadth of Ontario as the current artistic director to the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra and Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, conductor of two orchestras of the newly minted Kitchener Waterloo Youth Orchestra, and conductor laureate with Timmins Symphony Orchestra in the North East of Ontario.

Matthew graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University where he studied Cello performance. His conducting studies include the Conductor’s Institute at The Hartt School, University of Connecticut, and the Oregon Bach Festival under the guidance of Helmuth Rilling.

Mr. Jones enthusiastically advocates for the Arts in the community and beyond. Under his leadership, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra was awarded the Prestigious Betty Webster Award for its contribution to Orchestral Music in Canada.

Matthew has enjoyed conducting the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony on several occasions, Sault Ste. Marie Symphony, and Georgian Bay Symphony as a guest conductor and working with the North Bay Symphony as part of a conductor exchange.

Matthew delights in performing as a Recorder soloist. He is particularly proud of his CD, Just Pipes in partnership with Organist, the late Jan Overduin.

Matthew was honoured to serve as a board member for Orchestra’s Canada, Canada’s national voice of the Canadian orchestral community. It has been Matthew’s great pleasure to serve all Canadian Orchestras by advocating for the continued support of symphonic music at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government.

Ian Whitman began his musical training on piano at the age of four but his true passion for music was ignited in his early teens when he picked up the electric guitar. He soon switched to the bass guitar and was introduced to the double bass at age 17. Ian studied jazz at Grant MacEwan College in his hometown of Edmonton before moving east to earn his Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University. He completed his Master of Music degree at Yale University and spent one year at the New England Conservatory in Boston before returning to Canada.

While studying, Ian was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, the Banff Festival Orchestra, and served as Principal Bass of L'orchestre de la francophonie canadienne.

In 2008, Ian began his current position of principal bass with the KW Symphony and has been on faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University since 2012. During his years in the region, he has appeared as soloist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and the Kingston Symphony, performed with the Penderecki String Quartet, the Numus Ensemble, and has worked with the KW Chamber Music Society in Waterloo, the Inner Chamber Series in Stratford, and the Colours of Music Festival in Barrie. He has performed with Canadian orchestras including the National Ballet, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic. Recently, he has been invited to play as guest principal bass with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Niagara Symphony.

He was heavily involved with the KW Symphony Youth Orchestra program and has served as coach and occasional conductor for the program’s four ensembles. He is currently conductor of the newly-created KW Youth Orchestra program’s Youth Sinfonia ensemble.

Ian is passionate about sharing music with as many in the community as possible through the Symphony’s outreach program. In addition to traditional concerts, he regularly visits local schools, retirement homes, and community centers to speak and perform. He lives in Kitchener with his wife, violinist Allene Chomyn and their two young children. His interests outside of music include reading, yoga, and relaxing.

A native of Hong Kong, Kenneth started playing violin at the age of 7. By the age of 12 he was accepted into the Interlochen Arts Academy. He went on to finish his studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and McGill University. His Teachers include Dennis Kim, Violaine Mealancon, Felicia Moye and Denise Lupien. While attending McGill University, Kenneth was generously sponsored by the Sir Kenneth Fun Ping Fan Foundation Trust I.

Prior to Joining the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in 2019, Kenneth spent one season with the Thunder Bay Symphony. He has also played with other orchestras in Canada, such as the Toronto Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Toronto Concert Orchestra.

Besides maintaining a busy performance schedule, Kenneth also enjoys teaching and is currently faculty at the Laurier Academy of Music and Arts. Following his passion for music education, Kenneth has also accepted this season a position with KWYO as the conductor of Preludium Strings and is very excited to work with the primary ensemble of KW's multilevel orchestral training program.