Ruthnie Angrand orates and performs as Rae Sunshine, a Master Poet whose bright personally connects depth, literature, and musicality to deliver a spokenword poetry performance. She is a classically trained chamber singer who began competing in spokenword oratory contests known as “poetry slams” when she moved to upstate New ...

Ruthnie Angrand orates and performs as Rae Sunshine, a Master Poet whose bright personally connects depth, literature, and musicality to deliver a spokenword poetry performance. She is a classically trained chamber singer who began competing in spokenword oratory contests known as “poetry slams” when she moved to upstate New York from Atlanta. Ruthnie was a founding members of Underground Poets in Syracuse, a performance coach for Salt City Slam, funded by the Gifford Foundation, and has mentored and coached youth writers and performers from Syracuse University’s Verbal Blend First-Year Writers Program as well as Syracuse City School District’s Gear Up program.

Originally born in Cape-Haiti, Haiti, Ruthnie has called Queens, Long Island, and Atlanta all home. In Atlanta she studied music, dance and media arts at DeKalb School of the Arts (a Grammy school in Atlanta, Ga) and Brenau University. By profession, Ruthnie directs Communications and Marketing for the City of Syracuse for Mayor Ben Walsh. She has more than 10 years of experience in communication and marketing and finds her passion in connecting audiences to ideas and values. As a performer, Ruthnie has opened for Def Jam Records Artist Malik Yusef, HBO poets Shihan Van Clief and Dana Gilmore, twice performed in Syracuse’s Carrier Dome for the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, and featured on stages and concerts along the East Coast and Upstate, NY as a singer and poet. She’s written commissioned poems for both the Gifford Foundation and the WCNY Behind the Woman series.

Lawrence Loh is Music Director of Symphoria (Syracuse, NY). Mr. Loh was Assistant, Associate and Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2005-2015 and he returns annually to lead a wide variety of programs.

Mr. Loh’s previous positions include: Music Director of the West Virginia ...

Lawrence Loh is Music Director of Symphoria (Syracuse, NY). Mr. Loh was Assistant, Associate and Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2005-2015 and he returns annually to lead a wide variety of programs.

Mr. Loh’s previous positions include: Music Director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Syracuse Opera; Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.

Mr. Loh is active as a guest conductor, both in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to annual concerts in Pittsburgh and Dallas, his recent engagements include the Boston Pops (Tanglewood), North Carolina Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Symphony and the Cathedral Choral Society at the Washington National Cathedral. Past engagements include the National (Washington D.C.), Indianapolis, Tacoma, Utah, Rochester, Naples, Knoxville, Florida, El Paso, San Luis Obispo, Edmonton, Colorado, Charleston (SC), Malaysia, Daejeon (South Korea) and Greater Bridgeport Orchestras. His summer appearances include the festivals of Grant Park, Sun Valley, Bravo Vail Valley, Aspen, Mann Center in Philadelphia, Breckenridge, Las Vegas, Hot Springs, the Kinhaven Music School and the Performing Arts Institute (PA). In the summer of 2016, he made his debut at Tanglewood, conducting Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony with the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra and returned to Tanglewood in 2017 to conduct the Boston Pops.

Having a particular affinity for pops programming, Mr. Loh has been engaged for repeat performances with Chris Botti, Idina Menzel, Ann Hampton Callaway and more. He has assisted John Williams on multiple occasions and conducted numerous sold-out John Williams tribute concerts. He is particularly adept at conducting concerts synchronizing live orchestral music with film, and he has lead Jurassic Park, Pixar in Concert, Disney in Concert, The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain, among other concert productions.

Mr. Loh received his Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from Yale, his Masters in Choral Conducting from Indiana University and his Bachelor of Arts and Certificate of Management Studies from the University of Rochester. Lawrence Loh was born in southern California of Korean parentage and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennifer have a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Hilary. Follow him on instagram @conductorlarryloh or twitter @lawrenceloh or visit his website, www.lawrenceloh.com.