Good Day, Trinity!
Today, I wanted to talk about our next Sunday summer musician. His name is Merwin Siu, a wonderful member of our church, and father of two with his wonderful partner Kimberly. This weekend, he’ll be offering his beautiful musicianship to our sanctuary, and I cannot wait to sing with him.
In preparing to write about Merwin, I realized there was no better way to spend this moment than to give you access to his bio. A consummate musician, you can read more about Merwin (and listen to him play) on his website www.merwinsiu.com. Until then, here is Merwin himself.
Cheers, friends!
Chelsie
Merwin Siu, violin
Merwin Siu holds the David W. Robinson Chair as the Toledo Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Second Violin, and serves as the TSO’s Artistic Administrator. He particularly enjoys introducing audiences to works by 20th and 21st century composers. Notable recent performances include the North American premiere of Fazil Say’s 1001 Nights in a Harem and concerted works by Alban Berg, Leonard Bernstein, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Lou Harrison, Keith Jarrett, Astor Piazzolla, Max Richter, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Chen Yi. For six years, Merwin presented an annual music marathon that took place every August at the Toledo Museum of Art.
Merwin is a founding member of the Zin String Quartet and the Bezonian Trio. An enthusiastic educator, Merwin is on the violin faculty of the Toledo Symphony School of Music, and regularly works with the students of the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras, while maintaining a busy schedule of adjudications, lectures, workshops, masterclasses and coachings. He is the consulting Artistic Director of the Glass City Chamber Music Competition.
Besides the sounds he makes on his violin, you may recognize Merwin as the host of the Toledo Symphony’s Pre-Concert Conversations that precede each of the TSO’s Masterworks Series concerts. He is a regular participant on WGTE-FM’s Touchstone-Award-winning radio show and podcast, Toledo SymphonyLab. Eagle-eyed film buffs may remember Merwin from a (very) brief cameo in Marvel’s The Avengers in 2012.
Alongside his musical performances, Merwin also serves as the Artistic Administrator for the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts. In that capacity, Merwin coordinates artistic input from conductors, musicians, and audiences for subscription series concerts, outreach appearances, and educational performances.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Merwin received his earliest violin instruction from Marie Gale, and continued his studies with Ranald Shean and Mauricio Fuks. Merwin holds a Master’s in Music from Indiana University and degrees in English and music from Montreal’s McGill University. A recipient of Toledo’s 20 Under 40 Award in 2004, Merwin is also inordinately proud of his contributions to the Toledo Symphony’s extremely competitive Spelling Bee team. His violin’s name is Dmitri, his sons are named Kai and Matthias, and his Russian tortoise is named Scuttle.