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Our Music Director

Our Music Director: Dr. Libor Ondras

 

Dr. Libor Ondras is a conductor, violist, and educator. He began his studies as a recipient of the Slovak Ministry of Culture Fellowship to study viola at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory with Fjodor Druzhinin and Yuri Bashmet. Ondras continued his studies at the Academy of Music Arts in Prague, and completed his DMA at the University of Houston.

Ondras has worked with leading artists and conductors and performed with orchestras in the US, Europe, and Japan including Houston Symphony, Utah Symphony, Carnegie Hall Project with Sir George Solti, Vienna Philharmonic, Bernstein’s Pacific Festival Orchestra. He has given lectures and played recitals for the American Viola Society and International Viola D’Amore Society. His research and scholarly writings were published in the Journal of American Viola Society.

Passionate recitalist and chamber musician, Ondras serves as an artist-in-residence and string faculty at the Bay View Chautauqua Music Festival. He is a founder and violist of the Hummel Trio, a frequent chamber music coach of the winning ensembles at the Michigan Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and guest clinician at the University of Notre Dame, Grand Valley State University, and Central Michigan University, University of Costa Rica. Prior to coming to MI, Dr. Ondras served as a Director of Orchestras at the University of Tampa, FL where he also founded and lead Quartet-de-Minaret. Among their frequent chamber music appearances and residencies were Sarasota International Chamber Music Festival and Haydn Festspiele International Festival (Austria).

His recent engagements include a visiting artist at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland, solo appearance with the Northwest Sinfonietta of Washington, featured artist for the National Conference of League of American Orchestras leading Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, a research project at the Belle Violinmaking School in Bilbao, Spain, and resident faculty at the InterHarmony International Festival in Italy. His upcoming engagements include his solo appearance and conducting debut at the Carnegie Hall in June 2026.

Dr. Ondras is a Music Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Kent Philharmonic Orchestra (MI), guest conductor for the Slovak State Opera and a Director of Orchestras and professor at the Grand Rapids Community College.

VERN CAMPBELL

Co-Principal Trumpet

Vern is Co-Principal Trumpet in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra (GLCO).  Vern studied trumpet with Dr. Dennis Horton, trumpet professor at Central Michigan University while in high school and later as a university student.  Before obtaining his doctorate degree at Michigan State University and completing a medical residency in ophthalmology, Vern performed two years with the Blue Water International Symphony.  Vern relocated to Petoskey in 2000 and continued his trumpet studies with Scott Thornburg, professor of trumpet at Western Michigan University. He joined the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra in 2012 and eagerly anticipates each performance. He especially enjoys playing with the orchestra’s brass quintet. Vern enjoys visiting his wife’s family and friends in Shanghai and traveling throughout China. He is an avid cyclist and skier.

Eric Lawson

Assistant Concertmaster

Violinist, violist, conductor and professor Dr. Eric Lawson has had a varied career in performance and education. Past performances as a conductor, soloist and lecturer have taken him to Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Romania and Scandinavia. Before returning to his home state of Michigan, he was based in North Dakota where, in addition to serving as a violin instructor at Bismarck State College, Jamestown College, and the University of Mary, he was also concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and established the Bismarck-Mandan Youth Symphony. Other former academic appointments have included Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Central College in Pella, Iowa and the University of North Dakota where he founded the string program and the UND Chamber Orchestra.

Here in Michigan, Dr. Lawson as been very active with the Alpena Symphony Orchestra as its concertmaster, conductor and president of the board. He also performs with many other orchestras in Northern Michigan and participates in the Traverse Symphony as a first violinist, in the Gaylord Symphony as concertmaster and as assistant concertmaster in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.

And finally, in what has been one of the most important experiences of his life outside of music, he also served almost four years as an Alpena County Commissioner, representing Ossineke and Sanborn Townships. In addition to serving as chair of the Salary and Personnel Committee, he also served on the Airport, Ambulance, District Court, Circuit Court Management and Jail Committees. He also represented Alpena County in Gaylord with the Northern Michigan Regional Entity Substance Use Disorder Board and continues to serve on the Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Board. Dr. Lawson resides in Ossineke with his wife and two children.