Artistic Leadership
Christopher Ramaekers, Principal Conductor
Christopher Ramaekers is Director of Orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; Music Director of the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Symphony847 and Access Contemporary Music in the Chicago area; and Principal Conductor of the Middleton Community Orchestra. He has been Assistant Conductor of the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Chicago Composers Orchestra, and Principal Conductor of the Ravenswood Community Orchestra as well as Music Director of the Quad-City Symphony Youth Ensembles, the Orchestra of St. Vincent’s and the Hyde Park Youth Symphony. Ramaekers spent 9 summers conducting at Camp Encore/Coda in Sweden, Maine and currently spends summers with the Savoyards Gilbert and Sullivan Company in Madison, WI. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with the Kenosha, Kalamazoo and Skokie Valley Symphonies, Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Dal Niente, and the Chicago Opera Vanguard. Ramaekers can be heard on recordings with Symphony847, Spektral Quartet, and the Chicago Composers Orchestra, as well as with organizations such as Rémy-Martin, and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Dr. Ramaekers has held fellowships with the Allentown (PA) Symphony Orchestra and the Peninsula Music Festival. He was winner of the 2011 American Prize in Orchestral Conducting and holds degrees from Western Michigan University and Northwestern University.
Mindy Taranto, Co-Artistic Director and Executive Director
Mindy Taranto and Larry Bevic have enjoyed close to 30 years each playing clarinet in community orchestras and chamber groups in the Madison area. They decided to start the MCO in 2010 when they had the confidence the community had both the players and the audience to support such an undertaking. Well connected to the local music community and with great motivation, it was nonetheless a significant commitment, which has proved to be as successful as it has been rewarding.
Mindy fell in love with the clarinet at a young age and started playing in seventh grade. Prior to founding the MCO, Mindy enjoyed a long career lobbying and negotiating contracts on behalf of public sector workers, while continuing to perform with local and community ensembles in and around Dane County. Her labor relations career ended with Wisconsin Act 10, allowing her to devote herself full time to running the MCO and playing her clarinet. Her work in labor advocacy has served her well in her efforts to keep an orchestra of close to 100 musicians happy most of the time, and ideally all of the time
Larry Bevic, Co-Artistic Director and Executive Consultant
Larry’s two-year study at the UWM School of Music was interrupted by a thirty-year career in structural engineering. He became principal bridge engineer and project manager with a regional consulting firm. Also during this time, he continued to play clarinet in bands and community orchestras. He changed directions again when he left the technical world and owned and managed a hardwood lumberyard for more than seven years. He also established a custom furniture business.
While playing in a community orchestra, he had the good fortune to meet Mindy. Eventually, Larry sold his business and put the furniture making aside. He then suggested that Mindy and he start their own orchestra. The rest is history.
Thomas Kasdorf, Artist in Residence and Artistic Advisor
Thomas Kasdorf is a collaborative pianist inspired by connections through various art forms merging through the piano. Active in the fields of chamber music, art song recital, opera, and musical theatre, he has concertized throughout the US and Canada. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in May 2020 at the Mead Witter School of Music at University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a Paul Collins Distinguished Fellow. He currently serves on the faculty as the music director and opera coach for UW Opera’s productions.
Thomas has long held an interest in musical theatre. He has performed in over 200 productions as an actor, pianist, musical director, stage director, and conductor. With a special interest in the works of Stephen Sondheim, he has been called upon to prepare productions or perform in reduced orchestrations in Company, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Putting it Together, Side by Side by Sondheim and Sweeney Todd. He is currently Artistic Director of Middleton Players Theatre (MPT) in Middleton, Wisconsin, where he resides.
Thomas has performed a major piano concerto annually with the Middleton Community Orchestra (MCO) since its inception in 2010 and has also engaged the orchestra to collaborate in staged productions of Carousel and Sweeney Todd with MPT.
Christopher Bolduc, Concertmaster
Christopher Bolduc is an American violinist and educator. He was born into a musical family in Boca Raton, Florida and was exposed to various genres of music ranging from Brazilian Bossa Nova, Fusion, Jazz and Western and Indian Classical music. He began studying violin at the age of 11. Soon after he became concertmaster of his respective school orchestras and participated in regional academic orchestras like All-County and All-State Orchestras, securing the concertmaster position of both during his senior year. During previous summers, Mr. Bolduc attended Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Brancaleoni International Music Festival, the DaPonte String Quartet Institute and Bad Leonfelden Sommerakadamie receiving lessons from pedagogues Mimi Zwieg, Rictor Noren, I-Hao Lee, Bayla Keyes, Marcus Thompson and Mark Gothoni.
He graduated with a BA in violin performance from the University of South Florida in 2020, a masters in Violin Performance from the University of Massachusetts in 2022 and a masters in Chamber Music from the University of South Florida in 2024. From 2024-2027, Mr. Bolduc will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison pursuing a Doctoral of Musical Arts Degree in Violin Performance as a School of Music Fellow under the direction of David Perry. He currently holds the posts of Concertmaster of the Middleton Community Orchestra and instructor of violin at the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO) Music Makers Program. From 2025-2027, Mr. Bolduc will be a member of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Community of Graduate Research Scholars, collaborating and exchanging ideas with professionals in various departments in the College of Letters & Sciences.
Support Team
Audrey Lanners, Graphic Designer
Audrey Lanners is a graphic designer and creative director in Minneapolis, MN. Originally from Middleton, Audrey graduated from Middleton High School and attended the University of Minnesota. She grew up playing piano, and played bassoon in band and orchestra through college. She has a deep love for music and was thrilled when Mindy contacted her in 2010 to design a logo for the newly-formed Middleton Community Orchestra. Audrey currently owns her own freelance design business, and enjoys working for a variety of clients in the midwest.
Alex Ford, Recording Engineer
Alex Ford is an IT and music professional in Verona, WI who loves to combine his tech and music worlds doing music production. Alex grew up in Iowa playing piano since the age of 3, started playing trombone in middle school, then added organ after the church organist joked that he would replace her graduating organ student. He studied church music and Management Information Systems at Luther College where he had the opportunity to learn ensemble recording from Bruce Larson, formerly of Minnesota Public Radio. After moving to the Madison area for work, Alex was an inaugural member of the trombone section of the Middleton Community Orchestra but transformed into the recording engineer when he launched Classical Music Solutions. He has since made a guest appearance on organ for Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3. Alex is also an active church musician and maintains a day job in IT.
Steven Wilke, Website Designer
Steven Wilke is a newly appointed violinist of both the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Steven graduated in the spring of 2024 from Northwestern University, receiving a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance alongside a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Spanish. During his studies, he served as concertmaster of the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, played viola in Northwestern’s Chamber Music program, and was awarded the Presser Scholar award by the Bienen School of Music for musical and academic accomplishments. While at Northwestern, Steven was also the leader of several student organizations, including Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations and the Northwestern Economics Tournament.
Steven was an active member of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras for over seven years, serving as concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra and interning in the WYSO office during his senior year at Madison West High School. Outside of music, Steven works as an Analyst at Huron Consulting Group in their Higher Education Research Services division and enjoys running, cooking, and baking delicious treats!
Brian Ruppert, Photographer and Digital Archivist
Brian Ruppert works as an IT Systems Engineer for a Madison-based communications company. His wife Erin is a violinist in the orchestra, and he has enjoyed capturing images of the orchestra over several years and a variety of locations. Outside of work, family, and photography, Brian enjoys volunteering with various local groups, and was the 2015 PBS Wisconsin Volunteer of the Year.
Dave Alcorn, Videographer
Dave Alcorn is a digital marketing specialist and videographer with a focus on the performing arts. He has recorded over 500 concerts and performances and has created videos and promotional material for a wide range of music, theatre, and dance groups in Wisconsin. With a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in percussion performance, Dave has a unique perspective for video creation. Dave is the Director of Digital Marketing at Overture Center for the Arts and the President of Microtone Media.