Photo courtesy Salina Journal
As a preschooler, Cody Toll attended his cousin’s Salina Youth Symphony concerts and even at that early age, he knew. He told his parents he wanted to play the violin and after his Suzuki lessons began at age five, they knew, too. Toll was born for music.
“My school music teacher, Judy Weber, encouraged me to audition for the Salina Youth Symphony even though I was too young,” says Toll. “The conductor had me sit way in the back of the orchestra. I could touch the timpani if I wanted but I was there.” Over the next seven years, Toll worked his way up all those chairs to be concert master his senior year. “Cody was a terrific student. He was responsible, committed and a good leader,” says Ken Hakoda, Salina Symphony music director and conductor.
When Toll arrived at Kansas State University, he was a mechanical engineering major but he admits, “I spent all my time playing and composing music. Deep down, I knew my violin passion wasn’t going to be satisfied unless it was my career.” He switched majors and pursued music throughout college as he trained to be a music teacher. He was (and still is) heavily involved with a program called String Fling which provides over 600 fifth through ninth graders a weekend of intense musical instruction and performance. One of those weekends changed Toll’s life.
“I guest conducted for String Fling,” says Toll. “Jane Williams was there and let me know she was retiring after 30 years teaching in Fort Scott. She recruited me for her job while I was doing my student teaching and then she helped me get settled in the community.” Toll taught high school music for three years at Fort Scott but the pull of the Flint Hills was impossible to ignore. He decided to head closer to home and was thrilled to accept an orchestra teaching position in Manhattan Public Schools.
“A typical day for me includes teaching both middle and elementary students,” says Toll. The challenge comes in getting to all those students. He travels between schools four days a week. “I basically live in my car,” says Toll. “It’s completely worth it because I have so much fun with these kids. It’s where I’m supposed to be. I love having a front row seat when a student conquers a musical piece they didn’t think they could handle or experiencing that feeling we all get after a great performance.”
Speaking of great performances, Toll and his wife, Kristen (a music teacher and cellist) also play with the Salina Symphony. “Music is a huge part of our love story,” says Toll. He loves the challenge of Symphony music selections and when a piece stretches him, he uses that example to remind his students about the importance of practice no matter what age or skill level.
“It is most gratifying for me to see a former student have success in music,” says Hakoda. “It’s also a blessing when students come back to play with the Symphony. Cody is a wonderful asset.”
Toll is also involved with Everyday Lights, another musical group which performs frequently throughout the area. “We’ve all been classically trained,” says Toll, “so that filters into our music but we consider ourselves an Americana band. We incorporate blues, jazz, rock and roll, country and bluegrass. One person writes a song but then everyone jumps in and adds a twist to it.” Toll especially enjoys Everyday Lights because his brother, Keenan, is the band’s drummer and the other members aren’t just colleagues but good friends. Toll continually credits his lifelong immersion in music to the fantastic musical community around him—family members, teachers and friends.
Sometimes it takes decades to find one’s calling and sometimes, as in the case of Cody Toll, you just know.
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Written by Lisa Farrar Wellman
Do you have an idea for a future Symphony Spotlight story? Contact Adrienne Allen at 785-823-8309 or execdir@salinasymphony.org.