The Kinetic Season: 10 Years of Excellence

The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota (COS) is one of the few professional chamber orchestras in the State of Florida. Its mission is to provide opportunities for diverse audiences and performers to experience the unique repertoire and aesthetics of a chamber orchestra by employing the finest musicians in the Sarasota area, performing in small and intimate venues. This is the orchestra’s tenth season. 

The COS was founded in 2017 by conductor Robert Vodnoy and his sister, violinist Laurie Vodnoy-Wright. The orchestra performs at the First Presbyterian Church, with its glorious acoustics and beautiful Mission-style architecture.

Robert Vodnoy has enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a conductor, composer, violinist, and educator. He serves as the music director of the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota, and is also the music director/conductor of the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra.

Vodnoy made his professional debut in 1975 with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, where he was music director for 30 years. He was Music Director of the Northwest Indiana Symphony and the Huron Symphony. He was Director of Orchestras/Professor of Strings and Music History at Northern State University from 2005-2018, and adjunct professor of music at Valparaiso University from 1998-2014. He has guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim.

Vodnoy holds a BM summa cum laude and MM in composition from Hartt College of the University of Hartford and a DM in Conducting from Indiana University. He also studied conducting with Charles Bruck at the Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine and with Piero Bellugi in the North Carolina School of the Arts’ Summer Sessions in Siena, Italy.

He and his wife Kayla reside in Venice, Florida and Valparaiso, Indiana.