EVENTS
Click for 2011-2012 Season
OHIO VALLEY SYMPHONY
CHRISTMAS SHOW
December 3
8:00 PM
The decorations have already shown up in stores, but the holiday season kicks off in earnest Saturday, December 3 with The Ohio Valley Symphony's annual "Christmas Show."
The program, now a southeast Ohio tradition, is at 8 p.m. in the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis. Locally-based Holzer Clinic has again partnered with the orchestra as the evening's sponsor.
OVS Music Director Ray Fowler has again assembled a smorgasbord of musical cheer for the concert. He and the orchestra will offer a menu of old favorites -- both carols and winter holiday songs -- of holiday hits from the silver screen and some surprises audiences can add to their list of new favorites. Among the traditional carols will be arrangements including "Away in a Manger," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Silent Night."
Songs from America's holiday traditions will include "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "I’ll be Home for Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland." Look forward, too, to excerpts from the classic Christmas-themed films "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Polar Express." Fowler promises the "Express" suite will be "very express!"
Fowler's favorite challenge in programming the annual Christmas concert is discovering unknown gems which capture the season's spirit. Among those this year are the "Wassail Dances" of Philip Lane and "Bethlehem Down" by Peter Warlock. Though both English in origin, the two are very different, said Fowler. Warlock died tragically at age 36 in 1930; Lane, born in 1950, is still an active composer.
"The 'Wassail Dances' is a stunning piece," he said. "It totally gives me a jolt. And it appeals to the popular music lover." For the Warlock, by contrast, he said, "Bring a Kleenex! It's so touching -- such sweetness and vulnerability."
As part of the Ohio Valley Symphony's mission to bring live, professional, orchestral music to the region and to instill a love of music — especially in children -- the public is encouraged to attend OVS rehearsals for free at 7-10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, and 1-4 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Ariel Theatre. Open rehearsals are a great way for young and old alike to grow familiar with symphonic music, and they offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse at the preparation of an orchestral performance.
Concert-goers have another unique opportunity to make a personal connection with the music, too. Thomas Consolo, OVS assistant conductor and program annotator, offers a free pre-concert talk in the newly-restored Ariel Chamber Theatre. The casual get-together will put a more personal face on the night's music and answer questions about the program, the OVS or the orchestral experience in general. The talk begins at 7:15 p.m. Dec. 3.
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Congratulations to Joe Li, Maestro for a Moment - 2011
OVS Gets Hip In Its 20's
By Thomas Consolo
Like most twenty-somethings, the Ohio Valley
Symphony is offering a combination of hip style and traditional flair
for its next season.
The 2011-12 series marks the OVS's 22nd
season as southeast Ohio's only professional
orchestra. The five programs cover repertoire
ranging from R&B to classical mainstays to holiday favorites. They also
feature a lineup of world-class guest artists, including the world's
first electric harpist and a father-son team of trumpet virtuosos.
That variety is key both to the OVS's mission
and its two decades of success, said Lora Lynn Snow, the orchestra's
founder and executive director. "Great music comes in all kinds of
packages," she said, "and we try to show people all the things an
orchestra can do. It's a lot more than just symphonies."
That will be clear enough to the audience
from the first program, dubbed "Hip Harp" for soloist Deborah
Henson-Conant. The Grammy-nominated performer, composer and songwriter
has built a renegade image on her evocative singing voice and the
36-string, custom-built electric harness harp she plays. Her programs
fuse theater, stories and virtuosic playing skill and cover genres from
ballads to jazz to flamenco.
For Ray Fowler, the OVS music director,
Henson-Conant was an obvious choice. "This is a person who will reach
right into the heart and soul of the audience," he said. "She's just so
natural on stage."
It's more than showmanship, he continued. "I
was so impressed with how thoughtful she was about her choice of
pieces," Fowler said. "She wanted to choose just the right repertoire to
reach our audience."
Henson-Conant's performance opens the OVS
season on Oct. 8 in Point Pleasant Junior/Senior High School's Wedge
Auditorium. It's the third year the orchestra has performed in Point
Pleasant, including a concert to help dedicate the facility's
completion. "We can't expect everyone to come to us," Snow said, "so
we're happy to go to them to let them know about this organization."
The season's other four performances will be
at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre. The downtown
Gallipolis landmark has been reborn thanks to a dedicated citizen-based
restoration effort sparked by Snow. It was renamed to honor a gift by
Meigs County native Ann Carson Dater, who wanted to ensure that the hall
be a permanent home for the orchestra.
The season's other bookend shows a different
kind of virtuosity in violinist Chin Kim. "He'll reach the audience in a
different way," Fowler said, "and the story will be through the sounds."
Kim will play Max Bruch's first violin
concerto on April 28, 2012, as part of a program called "The Romantics."
The contrast between the two artists "is the extreme of the season,"
Fowler said. It shows just how different music can be, all while
touching people deeply.
"The Romantics" also features one of the
best-loved orchestral masterpieces of the 19th century, Tchaikovsky's
Symphony No. 4. It traces a hopeful journey against fate to a joyous
finale.
November brings pianist Lori Sims back to the
stage of the Ariel to perform the second concerto of Johannes Brahms.
Sims is "one of the best-kept secrets of the piano world," according to
Fowler. "Her playing has such integrity and such heart. She'll bring the
audience through the piece."
The Nov. 5 concert pairs the Brahms with the
youthful Symphony No. 2 of Ludwig van Beethoven. For audiences who
automatically equate Beethoven with forceful Romanticism, the second
symphony is an eye opener full of wry humor and the kind of balance his
teacher, Franz Joseph Haydn, would have approved.
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Quartetto Gelato - 2010
On March 10, 2012, the father-son team of
Vincent and Gabriel DiMartino will raise the roof of the Ariel with a
night of trumpet fireworks. Dad Vincent is one of the country's most
sought-after trumpet performers and educators. He's played lead with
Lionel Hampton and Chuck Mangione, and he chairs the music department of
Centre College in Danville, Ky. Following in those footsteps, Gabriel --
what else could he play? -- is now a trumpet professor at New York's
Syracuse University.
"For them to come together," said Fowler,
"it's just so beautiful." He said the closeness of their relationship
comes through clearly in their performance.
Besides shorter pieces showcasing their
artistry, the DiMartinos will perform their own arrangement of
Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." Best known in Maurice Ravel's
orchestration, "Pictures" is actually a piano showpiece, and many people
besides Ravel have taken on arranging it for larger groups. Audiences
can safely expect the trumpet to play a prominent role in the DiMartino
version.
Rounding out the season is the annual
"Christmas Show," held this season on Dec. 3. Fowler has again assembled
a smorgasbord of musical cheer for what has become a regional tradition.
There will be arrangements of familiar carols -- including "Away in a
Manger," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Silent Night" -- excerpts
from seasonal films "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Polar Express," and
a surprise or two Fowler has discovered.
Among those are the "Wassail Dances" of
Philip Lane and "Bethlehem Down" by Peter Warlock. Though both English
in origin, the two are very different, said Fowler. "The 'Wassail
Dances' is a stunning piece. It totally gives me a jolt. And it appeals
to the popular music lover." By contrast, he said of the Warlock, "Bring
a Kleenex! It's so touching -- such sweetness and vulnerability."
Subscriptions to all five 2011-12 concerts
are available through the Ariel-Dater box office, 426 Second Ave.,
Gallipolis, Call (740) 446-2787 or visit the OVS Web site,
www.ohiovalleysymphony.org for more information.
Congratulations,
2010/2011 Maestro for a Moment
Brent Saunders
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