Bells, Brass and Bows Guest Artist Bios
Robert Tomaro, guest conductor

Guest Conductor Robert Tomaro is currently Music Director of the Beloit Janesville Symphony in Beloit, Wisconsin.  He had produced numerous CDs with the BJSO. Previously, he served as Music Director of the Elysian Symphony Orchestra.  Dr. Tomaro was recently honored to be chosen by Maestro Christoph Eschenbach as one of eight conductors in The Christoph Eschenbach International masterclass with the Crakow Sinfonietta in Crakow, Poland.

Dr. Tomaro's recent engagements include concerts and recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the Silensian Philharmonic Orchestra of Poland, the Black Sea Philharmonic of Rumania, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra of the Czech Republic and many orchestras throughout the United States.  He has toured extensively throughout Scandinavia, England, France and Eastern Europe.

A graduate of Northwestern University and New York University, Dr. Tomaro received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in composition while serving as Music Director of the New York University Orchestra.  He subsequently served on the faculties of St. John University in New York and Rutgers University in New Jersey.  Currently, he is a Professor of Music at Beloit College in Wisconsin, where he holds the Shogren Family Conducting Chair.

Dr. Tomaro is a member of Kappa Delta Pi and Pi Kappa Lambda, the national honor societies in education and music education, and a winner of the  New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowship Award for Symphonic Composition.  In 1991, he was appointed an Honorary Member of the Board of Directors of the Association Nationale de Musique de Chambre in Paris, France.  In 1996, he was honored by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for conducting the recording of the Emmy Award winning score for the Los Angeles Marathon.

His articles on music and contemporary composers have been published in the Groves Dictionary of Music in London, the Journal of New Music research in The Netherlands and several domestic periodicals including the Instrumentalist and Band and Orchestra Magazine.

In addition to his symphonic conducting career, Dr. Tomaro is a composer and jazz guitarist.  He has composed extensively for film, theater, jazz ensemble, ballet and modern dance as well as symphony orchestra.

Dr. Tomaro is a former student of legendary jazz guitarist and teacher Jack Cecchini.  He has performed in concert with such jazz luminaries as Bill Evans, Carles Mingus and Stephane Grapelli.  He has also performed in the original Broadway productions of many musicals, including The Lion King, Barnum, Les Miserables, Dancin', Evita, Tommy and I Love My Wife.

Shannon O’Neill, vocal soloist

Shannon O’Neill is a senior at Fordham University in New York City, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Studies.  Ms. O’Neill co-hosts a weekly talk radio segment on Maverick Media’s 940 WCIT.  She also hosts the “Wish Upon A Song” TV series on NBC and FOX (WLIO).  Recently, Ms. O’Neill joined “The Exchange Club” television show as a weekday panelist on WMNO-TV and WDCM 97.5 FM in the Marion/Columbus market.  In the fall of 2009, Ms. O’Neill studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland, where she attained an intensive internship working full time at a television production company.

Ms. O’Neill has performed the National Anthem at several professional sporting events, including a Cleveland Indians/Los Angeles Angels game.  Her recording experiences include a debut CD “Yesterday Once More” Carpenters tribute, a country demo CD “In America” featuring original songs played on Maverick Media’s 92.1 FM, and of course, her newly released Christmas CD with the Lima Symphony Orchestra.

Although you could call Ms. O’Neill a “big city girl,” nothing fills her with more pride than being able to say (and demonstrate through extensive community involvement) that she hails from Ohio.  Her ongoing mission for the past four years has been both to educate area children about total health and to provide them with the necessary tools to take charge of their wellbeing.  Ms. O’Neill is very proud to serve as a national spokesperson on behalf of Veggie U, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to changing children’s eating habits, one classroom at a time.  Both the Veggie U curriculum and Ms. O’Neill’s “Five Session Fitness Challenge” that she created are now being implemented in more than 2,000 schools across 26 states every year.  About 50 of these classrooms include every public and parochial school in the Lima area, made possible by her partnership with St. Rita’s Medical Center.

Some of Ms. O’Neill’s most noteworthy honors include winning Miss Ohio 1st Runner-up in 2010, winning the Marvin Hamlisch Grand Talent Award in 2011 along with the Mina O'Guinn Spirit Award, Miss America Community Service Award and the Children's Miracle Network Award. Ms. O'Neill finished the 2011 New York City Half Marathon and serves as the spokesperson for the St. Rita's Healthy Kids initiative. Ms. O'Neill's efforts have been highlighted in "Four Points" and "Pageantry" magazines.