Get to know our intern!

Hello! My name is Olivia Felbinger

I am an intern for the Firelands Symphony Orchestra. I am eighteen years old, and I recently graduated from Port Clinton High School. I will be attending Baldwin Wallace University in the fall to study performing arts management and music. I do not remember what my life was like before I became involved in performing arts because I have been involved since such a young age. As a result, art has had the biggest impact on my life, so I could not imagine choosing any other field to study. I am very excited for what the future will bring, and I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to work in the field before starting my first semester of college. 

I began dancing when I was three years old, and I became a competitive dancer for the Moving Company School of Dance when I was six years old. Growing up as a dancer was truly the best experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. However, since I graduated, my career in dance has recently come to an end. Dance will always have a special place in my heart because of how much I’ve grown to love it over the many years, and I hope for the opportunity to reconnect with dance in the future.  

I have been playing the violin since I was five years old. My family is not a family of musicians, so it was entirely my decision to start playing. My parents began taking me to Alice Weiss for violin lessons, who just happens to be a long-time member of the Firelands Symphony. I continued to study privately with Miss Alice until I joined Port Clinton’s school orchestra program in sixth grade. Although I no longer study with Miss Alice, I am forever thankful for the time I spent with her because she has helped to make me the musician I am today.  

When I got to high school, though, I really found my passion for playing the violin. My freshman year was also when Port Clinton hired a new orchestra director, Adam Murray. Under his guidance, I was a three-year symphony concertmaster, a two-year assistant concertmaster of the OMEA district II honors orchestra, a first violinist in the TrueNorth Chamber Orchestra, and a pit orchestra musician for Fremont Community Teen Theatre’s recent production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I also studied privately with Mr. Murray throughout my time in high school as well as over the summer. It was because of him that I grew so passionate for playing the violin, which is the ultimate reason as to why I will attend Baldwin Wallace with my chosen major and minor. I can’t thank him enough for that. 

I am also thankful for everyone at the Firelands Symphony office who have made this internship experience so far so insightful and fun. I have already learned so much, and I look forward to the rest of the time I will spend as an intern for the symphony.