Special Guests and Entertainment
Opening Session Guest Speaker
Mayor Bill Mutz
Mayor (2022-2025) | District: At-Large
Bill was raised in Indianapolis and later moved to Columbus, IN, and graduated from Indiana University, majoring in Finance and Marketing. His family moved to Lakeland in 1996, and he became President & Co-Owner of Lakeland Automall (Lakeland Ford, Mazda, Hyundai & Isuzu.)
He and his sister sold Lakeland Automall in 2016, and Bill became a Business Consultant with Claridge Associates before becoming the City of Lakeland Mayor in 2018.
Mayor Mutz and his wife, Pam, a Denver, CO native, have been married 45 years and are parents of 12 children — seven boys and five girls. They have 33 grandchildren.
In civic roles, Bill served on 21 not-for-profit or business boards and helped found Grace City Church. Bill has a passion for seeing successful life changes in marriages and parenting. His foundational human relations goal is to strive to honor everyone. This way, motivated people will engage in thriving environments where hopes and dreams maximize human potential.
Mayor Bill Mutz
Mayor (2022-2025) | District: At-Large
Bill was raised in Indianapolis and later moved to Columbus, IN, and graduated from Indiana University, majoring in Finance and Marketing. His family moved to Lakeland in 1996, and he became President & Co-Owner of Lakeland Automall (Lakeland Ford, Mazda, Hyundai & Isuzu.)
He and his sister sold Lakeland Automall in 2016, and Bill became a Business Consultant with Claridge Associates before becoming the City of Lakeland Mayor in 2018.
Mayor Mutz and his wife, Pam, a Denver, CO native, have been married 45 years and are parents of 12 children — seven boys and five girls. They have 33 grandchildren.
In civic roles, Bill served on 21 not-for-profit or business boards and helped found Grace City Church. Bill has a passion for seeing successful life changes in marriages and parenting. His foundational human relations goal is to strive to honor everyone. This way, motivated people will engage in thriving environments where hopes and dreams maximize human potential.
Keynote Guest Speaker
Benoit Glazer
“Collaboration, a Multi-Faceted Endeavor”
Benoit Glazer grew up in the Laurentian mountains in Québec. He studied music privately as a teenager and got two degrees in music performance and conducting.
He taught in the jazz department at McGill from 1986 to 1996, starting at age 21. During that time, he was a busy touring and studio musician.
He has played live for 15 million people, and albums he is on have sold millions of copies.
Between 1998 and 2017 he conducted La Nouba, Cirque du Soleil. In 2000, he founded the Timucua Arts Foundation, of which he is still the artistic and technical director.
He often speaks at colleges about career choices in music, audio and video, studio building, venue design, community building and philanthropic endeavors.
He has been on advisory boards for Doctor Phillips Center, governments, and universities.
Website: Benoit Glazer - Home
Benoit Glazer
“Collaboration, a Multi-Faceted Endeavor”
Benoit Glazer grew up in the Laurentian mountains in Québec. He studied music privately as a teenager and got two degrees in music performance and conducting.
He taught in the jazz department at McGill from 1986 to 1996, starting at age 21. During that time, he was a busy touring and studio musician.
He has played live for 15 million people, and albums he is on have sold millions of copies.
Between 1998 and 2017 he conducted La Nouba, Cirque du Soleil. In 2000, he founded the Timucua Arts Foundation, of which he is still the artistic and technical director.
He often speaks at colleges about career choices in music, audio and video, studio building, venue design, community building and philanthropic endeavors.
He has been on advisory boards for Doctor Phillips Center, governments, and universities.
Website: Benoit Glazer - Home
Banquet Guest Speaker
Michael Wainstein
“Lessons in Collaboration: Directing Theatre.”
Michael Wainstein began his career as a professional performer but quickly became a director. After stints in opera at companies like Cincinnati Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Chicago Opera Theatre, he earned his MFA in Directing at the famed Cincinnati Conservatory. In addition to extensive freelance work as a director all over the country at companies that included the Seattle Repertory Theatre (as assistant director to Tony Award winning director Douglas Hughes) and Michael Kahn’s Chautauqua Conservatory Theatre, Michael was the artistic director of the Lincoln Playhouse, Topeka Civic Theatre, The Firehouse Center for the Arts and Florida’s own Naples Music Theatre. He has directed more than 200 productions of plays, musicals and opera. He was the founder of the Cincinnati New Works festival. In 1992, Michael was featured in a PBS documentary about an exchange program he created between Russia’s Theatr Na Liteynom and the Topeka Civic Theatre.
In 2007 he transitioned into academia and a year later became the Chair of Savannah College of Art and Design’s Performing Arts program where he also served as head of the graduate program and founder of their musical theatre program. Michael was chair for 7 years. During his time at SCAD, he revamped both the undergraduate and graduate programs, launched an in-house casting office, and led the department to be named one of the top 25 drama schools in the country by the Hollywood Reporter in 2016. Michael is a member of the Society of Stage Director’s and Choreographers, immediate past chair of the Southeastern Theatre Conference musical theater committee and has been active with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Michael’s book, A Director’s Itinerary, was published by Hackett Publishing in 2012 and a fully-revised second edition will be released in mid-2018. He received his BA in Theatre and Music from City University of New York – Hunter College and his MFA in Directing from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Michael Wainstein
“Lessons in Collaboration: Directing Theatre.”
Michael Wainstein began his career as a professional performer but quickly became a director. After stints in opera at companies like Cincinnati Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Chicago Opera Theatre, he earned his MFA in Directing at the famed Cincinnati Conservatory. In addition to extensive freelance work as a director all over the country at companies that included the Seattle Repertory Theatre (as assistant director to Tony Award winning director Douglas Hughes) and Michael Kahn’s Chautauqua Conservatory Theatre, Michael was the artistic director of the Lincoln Playhouse, Topeka Civic Theatre, The Firehouse Center for the Arts and Florida’s own Naples Music Theatre. He has directed more than 200 productions of plays, musicals and opera. He was the founder of the Cincinnati New Works festival. In 1992, Michael was featured in a PBS documentary about an exchange program he created between Russia’s Theatr Na Liteynom and the Topeka Civic Theatre.
In 2007 he transitioned into academia and a year later became the Chair of Savannah College of Art and Design’s Performing Arts program where he also served as head of the graduate program and founder of their musical theatre program. Michael was chair for 7 years. During his time at SCAD, he revamped both the undergraduate and graduate programs, launched an in-house casting office, and led the department to be named one of the top 25 drama schools in the country by the Hollywood Reporter in 2016. Michael is a member of the Society of Stage Director’s and Choreographers, immediate past chair of the Southeastern Theatre Conference musical theater committee and has been active with the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Michael’s book, A Director’s Itinerary, was published by Hackett Publishing in 2012 and a fully-revised second edition will be released in mid-2018. He received his BA in Theatre and Music from City University of New York – Hunter College and his MFA in Directing from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Banquet Special Music Presentation
The Florida Southern College Chamber Jazz Ensemble
The Florida Southern College Chamber Jazz Ensemble is a combined faculty/student ensemble led from the piano by Dr. Jeffrey Benatar, Director of Jazz Studies (and Coordinator of Music Management). Regularly featured in Downbeat’s annual list of “Where to Study Jazz,” this group is comprised of the top musicians from Florida Southern College’s Jazz Program. Florida Southern College’s premier small Jazz ensemble performs up to 20 events annually and has previously performed at the Polk Theatre, Branscomb Auditorium, Sun’n’Fun Expo Campus, Anne Macgregor Jenkins Recital Hall, and other venues in Central Florida. They have been a recurring headliner at the Bartow Bloomin’ Arts Festival. The ensemble has also performed at the 2020 Florida Music Education Association’s annual conference and was selected and played in the 2023 Jazz Education Network’s JENerations Jazz Festival (the premiere international Jazz conference). This group plays a wide range of styles and specializes in customized arrangements written by ensemble members from the American Songbook and Jazz Standard traditions from the last 100 years.
The Florida Southern College Chamber Jazz Ensemble
The Florida Southern College Chamber Jazz Ensemble is a combined faculty/student ensemble led from the piano by Dr. Jeffrey Benatar, Director of Jazz Studies (and Coordinator of Music Management). Regularly featured in Downbeat’s annual list of “Where to Study Jazz,” this group is comprised of the top musicians from Florida Southern College’s Jazz Program. Florida Southern College’s premier small Jazz ensemble performs up to 20 events annually and has previously performed at the Polk Theatre, Branscomb Auditorium, Sun’n’Fun Expo Campus, Anne Macgregor Jenkins Recital Hall, and other venues in Central Florida. They have been a recurring headliner at the Bartow Bloomin’ Arts Festival. The ensemble has also performed at the 2020 Florida Music Education Association’s annual conference and was selected and played in the 2023 Jazz Education Network’s JENerations Jazz Festival (the premiere international Jazz conference). This group plays a wide range of styles and specializes in customized arrangements written by ensemble members from the American Songbook and Jazz Standard traditions from the last 100 years.
Banquet Master of Ceremonies
Marc Hebda
After pre-college studies at the American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, Marc J. Hebda earned a B.M. in piano performance from Butler University, a M.M. in piano performance from Bowling Green State University, and conference chair in 2009 and 2014. He was honored in 2014 to have received a MTNA Fellow from his esteemed peers in Florida. While serving as MTNA’s Southern Division Director-Elect from 2012-2014, Marc also served on the MTNA Membership Committee. From 2014-2016 he served as the Southern Division Director, Collaborative Performance Forum Chair, and on two special ad-hoc committees. Marc is currently the FSMTF Treasurer, an FSMTA Director, and the FSMTA Parliamentarian.
Marc Hebda
After pre-college studies at the American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, Marc J. Hebda earned a B.M. in piano performance from Butler University, a M.M. in piano performance from Bowling Green State University, and conference chair in 2009 and 2014. He was honored in 2014 to have received a MTNA Fellow from his esteemed peers in Florida. While serving as MTNA’s Southern Division Director-Elect from 2012-2014, Marc also served on the MTNA Membership Committee. From 2014-2016 he served as the Southern Division Director, Collaborative Performance Forum Chair, and on two special ad-hoc committees. Marc is currently the FSMTF Treasurer, an FSMTA Director, and the FSMTA Parliamentarian.
Awards Brunch Special Music Presentation
Steinway artist, Dr. Sean Kennard (www.seankennard.com) and concert violinist Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez, (www.routaviolin.com), both faculty at Stetson University’s School of Music, will perform collaboratively during the Sunday Awards Brunch.
“America still produces superb pianists, and one is Sean Kennard,” proclaimed Limelight Magazine in their rave review of Kennard’s debut album. His “moving and musically satisfying [The Strad]” performances and recordings have been acclaimed all over the world for their “exceptional agility, nuance and power [Gramophone],” “powerful and involved music making [The Washington Post],” and “penetrating sense of structure…infectious sense of fun…full of life and sparkle [Fanfare].” Pianist Richard Goode described Kennard as “an extraordinary pianist, one of the most gifted I have ever heard.”
Sean’s accolades include top prizes and audience choice awards in numerous competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), The Vendome Prize (Portugal), Sendai International (Japan), Viña del Mar International (Chile), and Hilton Head International (USA). He has appeared in recital and as soloist with orchestras around the world, and his discography includes highly acclaimed solo and chamber music releases on Naxos, Delos, and Centaur.
Dr. Sean Kennard, a Steinway artist, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he won the institution’s prestigious Sergei Rachmaninoff Award, the Juilliard School, Mannes College, and Yale University. In 2017 he joined the faculty of Stetson University as coordinator of the keyboard division in the School of Music. www.seankennard.com
Steinway artist, Dr. Sean Kennard (www.seankennard.com) and concert violinist Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez, (www.routaviolin.com), both faculty at Stetson University’s School of Music, will perform collaboratively during the Sunday Awards Brunch.
“America still produces superb pianists, and one is Sean Kennard,” proclaimed Limelight Magazine in their rave review of Kennard’s debut album. His “moving and musically satisfying [The Strad]” performances and recordings have been acclaimed all over the world for their “exceptional agility, nuance and power [Gramophone],” “powerful and involved music making [The Washington Post],” and “penetrating sense of structure…infectious sense of fun…full of life and sparkle [Fanfare].” Pianist Richard Goode described Kennard as “an extraordinary pianist, one of the most gifted I have ever heard.”
Sean’s accolades include top prizes and audience choice awards in numerous competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), The Vendome Prize (Portugal), Sendai International (Japan), Viña del Mar International (Chile), and Hilton Head International (USA). He has appeared in recital and as soloist with orchestras around the world, and his discography includes highly acclaimed solo and chamber music releases on Naxos, Delos, and Centaur.
Dr. Sean Kennard, a Steinway artist, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he won the institution’s prestigious Sergei Rachmaninoff Award, the Juilliard School, Mannes College, and Yale University. In 2017 he joined the faculty of Stetson University as coordinator of the keyboard division in the School of Music. www.seankennard.com
Routa Kroumovitch studied at the prestigious Latvian Music School. Kroumovitch toured and recorded on radio and television throughout the former USSR. She was a student of David Oistrach at the Moscow Conservatory. She completed her formal studies at the "Universidad de Chile."
Kroumovitch was a first violinist of the Santiago Chamber Orchestra, concertmaster of the Chilean Philharmonic Orchestra, and concertmaster of the Chilean Symphony Orchestra. She received the Critic's Award for the best solo performance in Santiago, Chile, and a Fulbright Award.
Routa Kroumovitch tours all over the World, and her master classes in Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Israel, and Europe are in high demand. She represents the United States as a judge in international violin competitions. She has been the concertmaster of numerous orchestras and is currently the concertmaster of the Bach Festival Orchestra in Orlando. She is a regular guest at festivals such as Grand Teton, the Florida International Festival, Frutillar Music Festival in Chile, Schlern International Music Festival, Orfeo Music Festival, and The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.
Kroumovitch was a first violinist of the Santiago Chamber Orchestra, concertmaster of the Chilean Philharmonic Orchestra, and concertmaster of the Chilean Symphony Orchestra. She received the Critic's Award for the best solo performance in Santiago, Chile, and a Fulbright Award.
Routa Kroumovitch tours all over the World, and her master classes in Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Israel, and Europe are in high demand. She represents the United States as a judge in international violin competitions. She has been the concertmaster of numerous orchestras and is currently the concertmaster of the Bach Festival Orchestra in Orlando. She is a regular guest at festivals such as Grand Teton, the Florida International Festival, Frutillar Music Festival in Chile, Schlern International Music Festival, Orfeo Music Festival, and The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.
Special Music by Harrison School of the Performing Arts
The Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts offers an enriched arts education for students with a demonstrated talent in the arts. The program develops both the academic and artistic skills of students interested in artistic careers as well as an appreciation of the arts for those who may choose other fields.
First General Session Special Music
Piano Trio No.1—Adam Carse
Cristina Barrios, violin
Milani Lee, cello
Anjali Lakhani, piano
Miniature for Piano Trio—Frank Bridge
Connor Greer, violin
Chance Thompson, cello
Ridge Rogers, piano
Wellness Luncheon Special Music
Salut d’Amour—Edward Elgar
Giselle Olmeda, violin
Lilly Warren, piano
Divertimento in Bb Major, K.254, 1st Mvt.—Mozart
Bobby Boone, violin
Georgia Mohr, cello
Trenton Haynes, piano
District and Local Presidents Luncheon Special Music
Three Dances for flute and piano.....................Gary Schocker
III. Coffee Nerves-Prestissimo
Flutes, Kennedy Jensen and Taylor Maher
Piano, Lily Bradshaw
Kinder Trio.............................................Julius Klengel
Violin, Callum Muldoon
Cello, Miroslav Beck
Piano, Lily Bradshaw
The Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts offers an enriched arts education for students with a demonstrated talent in the arts. The program develops both the academic and artistic skills of students interested in artistic careers as well as an appreciation of the arts for those who may choose other fields.
First General Session Special Music
Piano Trio No.1—Adam Carse
Cristina Barrios, violin
Milani Lee, cello
Anjali Lakhani, piano
Miniature for Piano Trio—Frank Bridge
Connor Greer, violin
Chance Thompson, cello
Ridge Rogers, piano
Wellness Luncheon Special Music
Salut d’Amour—Edward Elgar
Giselle Olmeda, violin
Lilly Warren, piano
Divertimento in Bb Major, K.254, 1st Mvt.—Mozart
Bobby Boone, violin
Georgia Mohr, cello
Trenton Haynes, piano
District and Local Presidents Luncheon Special Music
Three Dances for flute and piano.....................Gary Schocker
III. Coffee Nerves-Prestissimo
Flutes, Kennedy Jensen and Taylor Maher
Piano, Lily Bradshaw
Kinder Trio.............................................Julius Klengel
Violin, Callum Muldoon
Cello, Miroslav Beck
Piano, Lily Bradshaw