" Our purpose is to enrich our community by engaging audiences and inspiring a love of music through exciting live symphony performances, innovative programming, and educational outreach." Dr. Sylvia Lee Mann
West Covina Symphony Orchestra: About Us
Dr. Sylvia Lee Mann - Music Director and Conductor
Dr. Sylvia Lee Mann is a composer, conductor and virtuoso performer, appearing with many orchestras in the Southern California area. In addition to her positions as Music Director and Conductor of Southland Symphony, The West Covina Symphony Orchestra , CSUDH Orchestra and San Gabriel Valley Symphony Orchestra, she serves on the faculty at California State University Dominguez Hills campus, is the Minister of Music at the Bethel UCC Congregational Church of Ontario,CA and associate conductor of the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra.She is a popular guest conductor for the Culver City Symphony Orchestra, the Coachella Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Inland Valley Symphony, among others. She is a performer with The Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay, The Rio Hondo, La Mirada, Peninsula and Southeast Symphony Orchestras, and is principal violist of the Culver City Symphony & Beach Cities Symphony Orchestras.
Her musical studies began at age 4. She completed her undergraduate studies at Chapman College, and did her graduate studies at the University of Southern California & London University.
She studied viola and violin with such notable teachers as Dr. Thomas G. Hall, Louis Debovsky, John Coppin, Noumi Fischer, Francis Tersi, David Stockhammer and Milton Thomas. As a composer, her mentors include William Kraft, Gunther Schuller and Samuel Adler. Her conducting studies included such notable pedagogues as Maestro John Koshak, who studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Dr. James Vail of the University of Southern California, Daniel Lewis and Dr. Rodney Eichenberger.
From 1987 - 2002, Dr. Mann lived in Louisiana, where she served as the principal violist of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, The Baroque Artists of Shreveport and violist of the Premier String Quartet. She was the Music Director of the Ark-La-Tex Youth Symphony Orchestra program. She also enjoyed performing with the popular all-woman rock band, “Lip Service” and was the recipient of the Shreveport LA Regional Arts Council's prestigious Music Fellowship Award.
Sylvia is currently composing, conducting and recording the music for an upcoming independent feature film. She has recently composed incidental music for a number of short festival films and theatre productions in the Los Angeles area, as well as multiple chamber music works and symphonic pieces for films. symphony orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and choral groups across the nation. Her original recorded music is now available at iTunes, Napster, Real Rhapsody, CDBaby, and a number of other digital music services. She also is a signed artist for DMX, Spafax and Face music - which program music for major cable television shows & music channels, as well as for major airline music selection channels. More information about her original compositions can be found on her website, http://sylvialeemann.com
" Our purpose is to enrich our community by engaging audiences and inspiring a love of music through exciting live symphony performances, innovative programming, and educational outreach." ... Dr. Sylvia Lee Mann