After 22 years as a Band, Choir, and Theater teacher at Medina City Schools, Campbell City Schools, and then Sebring Local Schools, Mr. Linko is excited to be working with the amazing students and staff here at Boardman High School and Glenwood Junior High School. 

Hailing from New Brighton, PA, Mr. Linko received his undergraduate degree from Youngstown State University in 1999 (BM Music Education - Saxophone) where he studied conducting with Dr. Stephen L. Gage, Jazz with Tony Leonardi, voice with Dr. Stephen Ausmann, and saxophone with Dr. James Umble. He later earned his Master's in Music Education from Kent State University in 2014.

"My love for theater began in 1985 when my father took me to see Jesus Christ Superstar in Pittsburgh, and hasn't let up since!"

Mr. Linko is an accomplished saxophone and flute player, performing with many local groups over the past 29 years in Ohio. He has also served as co-director and then director of the Greenford Christian Church Orchestra and Choir as well as playing bass and guitar with the praise and worship teams.

Getting his official start with theater in high school, Mr. Linko served as vice-president of the New Brighton High School Speech and Drama Club, where he was seen as Jonathan Forbes in the play Pillow Talk by Christopher Sergel, and as Newton Fuller in the play George Washington Slept Here by Hart and Kaufmann. While tenured as vice-president, he was also selected to participate in an actor's workshop in Philadelphia, PA with Tony and Olivier Award winning playwright Mark Medoff to write, produce, and stage a full length musical play within a two week time period.

Mr. Linko now lives in Canfield, Ohio with his wife Malynda, and two sons Jackson and Evan. He has been a member of the National Association for Music Education, International Association of Jazz Educators, and the Technology Institute for Music Education. He has been very active in District 5 of the Ohio Music Education Association where he regularly judges and leads clinics for saxophone sections as well as being an assistant director for the District 5 Honors Jazz Ensemble.

Mr. Linko also has performed in many pit orchestras over the years including City of Angels, The King and I, Grease, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and others. 

For his directing credits, Mr. Linko has been lead director on productions of Once Upon a Mattress, Seussical the Musical, Little Women, Back to the 80's, All Shook Up!, Wanda's World, Smile, Crazy for You, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as well as other smaller performances.

Mr. Linko is excited for the opportunity to work with this program, and would like to thank the previous directors that set up such an amazing program and facility! The first year has been amazing, and I look forward to many more!

Cari Greco Auth (soprano) our vocal technique and soloist specialist, obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Performance and Music Education from Youngstown State University, where she studied with soprano, Rosemary Raridon and continued her Voice Performance education at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, where she studied with mezzo soprano, Mary Henderson Stucky. 

While living in Cincinnati with her husband, Joe, and daughters, Katie and Emily, Cari sang for various symphony orchestras and was an annual soloist for the Ohio Mozart Festival, the only one of its kind in the Midwest. Other notable symphonic performances include singing with the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra’s “Picnic at the Pops,’ in which her husband Joe and she performed solos and duets from The Phantom of the Opera, Showboat, West Side Story and Candide. She also performed regular solo concerts with the Blue Ash Symphony, Butler Philharmonic and the Clermont Philharmonic. 

Cari was also the soprano soloist with the Voices of the Ascension chorale, with whom she performed oratorio masterworks such as Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem and the world premiere of Robert Ward’s Symphony Number 5, Canticles of America.

She was an active performer at the most prestigious religious venues in the world, such as Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, the Duomo of Santa Maria Del Fiore in Florence, Italy and was a featured soloist at the canonization Mass of Padre Pio at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Italy.

Cari has worked quite a lot in sacred music, most notably was co-director with her husband, Joe, at The Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ohio, where she was the Youth and Children’s Choir Director, Youth and Adult Handbell Choir Director and the Director of the Presby Band, a 25 member volunteer ensemble. She was also a member of the professional octet at the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral, where she sang soprano for many years. Her most recent posting  was as a cantor/soprano soloist at the Community of the Good Shepherd church in Cincinnati, where she was also the founding director of a 50 voice children’s choir.

Cari now lives in Canfield, Ohio with her husband, Joe (and three dogs and a cat) and has been a vocal technique/voice coach and owner of the Cari Auth Vocal Studio for 32 years and is an active member of the National Association of the Teachers of Singing (NATS). It is there where she carries a student load of no less than 55 students a week, but in her hectic schedule, she has found that growing the adolescent voice is her true calling in life and is grateful to have such amazing students. Her true speciality is teaching the Musical Theatre style, where she also is a college audition prep coach and has assisted her students with acceptances into the highly-competitive of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, NYU Tisch, NYU Steinhardt, Marymount Manhattan College, Otterbein, Indiana University, Point Park University, Curtis Institute, Belmont, Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory, Wright State University, Ball State University, Rider University (Westminster Choir College), Seton Hill College and Youngstown State University. Although Musical Theatre technique is her forte, she also teaches Classical, Operatic, Pop/Rock and Contemporary styles.

Cari is grateful to be a member of the Boardman Drama team, and looks forward to working on many shows in the future.

Marissa Benson has been working with middle and high school choirs and drama guilds in the Mahoning Valley for the past 9 years. Originally from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania she attended Youngstown State University and received her Bachelor of Music Education with an emphasis in vocal music in 2014. Upon graduation, Marissa taught at Hubbard Exempted Schools working with grades K-2 general music and grades 5-12 choir. She then spent the next seven years at Girard City Schools teaching choir and general music to grades 5-12 and was also the assistant director and music director for their productions of The Wizard of Oz, Grease, Anything Goes, Almost Maine, and Deck the Stage. 

She worked to rebuild the choral program at Girard from scratch taking the membership from 16 students to over 200, and the choir became a fixture in school and community events. In 2022, Marissa joined the team at Boardman Local Schools and is thrilled to be a part of their outstanding music department! She spent her first year here teaching choir to grades 5-8 and being an assistant director and music director for the Boardman Drama Guild’s productions of Seussical, the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Moana Jr. Marissa also remains active in the professional organizations of The Ohio Music Educators Association, The American Choral Directors Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota. 

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