2022-23 Season Subscription! The Ohio Valley Symphony

New Subscribers Buy Here Now!

New subscribers click the purple button to purchase your season subscription or call the Box Office at 740-446-ARTS (2787).  Existing subscribers who wish to keep their current seats call the Box Office to order!

Welcome our 33rd season and one of the most diverse ever planned!

We kick things off with a change in venue. Our first concert will be held at Wedge Auditorium at the Point Pleasant Jr./Sr. High School, 280 Scenic Dr., Pt. Pleasant, WV on November 5th, with the dulcet sounds of Oboes on the Ohio.

Is there any Christmas music more beloved than the Nutcracker? On December 3rd we’re back in the historic Ariel Opera House where we’ll hear the suite in its entirety, plus be a part of the fun with our annual Maestro for a Moment competition. Get your tickets early for this always sold out Christmas Show!

Spring will usher a bit of levity into our lives on April 1st when we enjoy an evening of whimsy, farce, and April Foolishness.  The Ariel heats up Around the Campfire on April 15th with the American Pops Orchestra founder and conductor Luke Frazier.  And what better way to end the season than with a brand new arrangements of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at the May 20th The Roarin’ Twenties? You’ll want to be a part of the audience as it’s being recorded live for public television by a multiple Grammy and Emmy winning team of recording engineers.

The 2022-23 Season will see on the 5 exciting maestros conducting The Ohio Valley Symphony in this 5-concert season featuring world class soloists. The November Concert will be held at Wedge Auditorium, and the remaining 4 concerts will be held at the historic Ariel Opera House.

In these times of uncertainty, concert dates and location may be subject to change. Please watch the website for the latest news.

The Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Cultural & Performing Arts Centre and The Ohio Valley Symphony are 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations, Federal Tax ID# 31-1273779

Oboes on the Ohio, The Ohio Valley Symphony

November 5, 2022
at 7:30 p.m.
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This opening concert will be held at Wedge Auditorium at Pt. Pleasant Jr./Sr. High School, 280 Scenic Dr., Point Pleasant, WV.

On November 5th the dulcet sounds of the Cincinnati Symphony’s principal oboist, Dwight Parry will be heard on a North American premiere of Carl Vine’s Oboe Concerto with Cincinnati Symphony’s Associate Conductor, François López-Ferrer, on the podium.  The concert also features music by Ravel, Debussy and Poulenc.

François López-Ferrer, conductor
François López-Ferrer is the assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival.  He provides artistic support to CSO Music Director Louis Langrée and May Festival Principal Conductor Juanjo Mena, and conducts the CSO Young Peoples Concerts.

The Christmas Show! The Ohio Valley Symphony

December 3, 2022
at 7:30 p.m.
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Is there any Christmas music more beloved than the Nutcracker? On December 3rd hear the suite in its entirety along with other holiday songs of the season such as Silver Bells, Feliz Navidad, Frosty the Snowman and more under the baton of Steven Huang on December 3rd. 

Join in the fun with our annual Maestro for a Moment competition.

Steven Huang, conductor
Maestro Steven Huang is thrilled to return to Southeastern Ohio to the podium of The Ohio Valley Symphony.  He has conducted orchestras and operas across the country and throughout the world.

April Foolishness, The Ohio Valley Symphony

April 1, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
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We all need a bit of levity in our lives and April 1st is the perfect time for it.  Maestro Peter Stafford Wilson will lead the OVS in an evening of whimsy and farce.  Rev. Dr. Mark Parsons will join him with tongue planted firmly in cheek narrating The Young Lutheran’s Guide to the Orchestra.  This demos each instrument of the orchestra and the narrator lets us know why a good Lutheran would not want to play it! Also on the program is Vaughan Williams Aristophanic Suite (remember Aristophanes is the father of comedy), William Walton’s Facade Suite No. 1 and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite (music written for one of the earliest sound movies about a fictitious soldier).

Peter Stafford Wilson, conductor
Peter Stafford Wilson, one of the most exciting and talked about conductors of his generation, is entering his 17th season as Music Director of Ohio’s Springfield Symphony Orchestra.  Concurrently, he holds the post of Music Director of the Westerville Symphony, and was named Principal Conductor of Tulsa Ballet in 2012.

Around the Campfire, The Ohio Valley Symphony

April 15, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
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The Ariel heats up Around the Campfire with the American Pops Orchestra founder and conductor Luke Frazier.  On April 15th Luke is joined by vocalist Hilary Morrow, pianist Jacqueline Schwab and guitarist David Sanders and providing The Ohio Valley Symphony with several world premiere selections as well as music of Copland, Mussorgsky and MacDowell.

Luke Frazier, conductor
Luke Frazier believes that the future of orchestral music is breaking down barriers between orchestras and audiences. The most important priority for a modern conductor is not only musical excellence, but also creating diverse and engaging programming that brings communities together through the joy of music. Conductors are a bridge between audiences and orchestras and the responsibility that comes with that is something Luke takes to heart every day.

The Roarin’ Twenties! The Ohio Valley Symphony

May 20, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
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100 years ago a new age was dawning, the skirts were shorter, the money flowed freely and the the Roarin’ Twenties brought in a whole new style of American music. Be at the Ariel Opera House on May 20th to celebrate an entire concert of brand new arrangements of Roarin’ Twenties music by Cincinnati Pops Principal Arranger Tim Berens featuring vocalist Mandy Gaines and pianist Michael Chertock.

Be the first to hear these brand new arrangements as the concert will be recorded live by a Grammy winning recording engineer as he and his team capture it all for public television and radio broadcast as well as a CD. Be a part of this special occasion and purchase your tickets today!

Ariel Opera House COVID-19 Statement

A Video History of the Ariel Opera House

Watch the history of the Ariel Opera House unfold – from it’s opening on Christmas Day 1895 to the present.  Narrated by the founder and Executive Director Lora Lynn Snow.

Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Awards for the Arts Winner

ARTS ADMINISTRATION
Lora Snow, Executive Director
at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre,
Home of the Ohio Valley Symphony
Gallipolis

Lora Lynn Snow is the founder and executive director of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis, home of the Ohio Valley Symphony. Lora, an oboist, was inspired in 1987 to form a professional orchestra in Gallia County and recognized the amazing acoustics in the long-neglected 1895 Ariel Opera House that had been abandoned for 25 years. Lora spearheaded the restoration and set about to organize the community toward the grand reopening of the historic Ariel in 1990 with a performance of the Ohio Valley Symphony. Mrs. Ann Carson Dater gifted the Ariel as a permanent home to the Ohio Valley Symphony (OVS) in 2005, which added an additional theatre, conference room, and banquet rooms. The OVS, now in its 30th season as the only professional orchestra in the Ohio River Valley, recently premiered Songs of Rural America on PBS nationwide with folk singer Michael Johnathon.

Having a holistic view of the arts, Lora also established a music education program, a double reed festival, a community theatre troupe, and OVS woodwind and dance programs at the Ariel. An active recitalist, clinician, and consultant with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance and education from the Ohio State University, Lora has taught at several universities and public schools covering kindergarten through graduate level inclusive. She is principal oboist for the Ohio Valley Symphony and OVS Woodwind Quintet, a member of the West Virginia Symphony, and a freelance musician.

Paul Robert Simón, In Memoriam

Paul Robert Simón
President, Ariel Board of Directors

From Executive Director
Lora Lynn Snow

Paul Simón, President of the Ariel Board of Directors, passed away February 25, 2021. He transformed the board bringing in members with a wide variety of professional skills and he led us ever upward as we completed the restoration of our 1895 opera house. He will be greatly missed.

Paul was a renaissance man. He ran his farm but once owned an antique shop. He was head of the Mason County Emergency Team that stepped in to work at a moment’s notice, and he collected art. While working on the Main Street Committee he found out a community’s ranking could be elevated with certain amenities so he started an art gallery in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Through his many contacts he was able to get the Pitcairn family to loan art work to The Gallery at 409 – and while he was at it, he also found a soloist in the same family, violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn, for The Ohio Valley Symphony.

Ariel Academy Online Music Lessons

The Ariel Academy is designed to help you find a teacher to guide you through your musical journeys. Whether you need to find a piano teacher for your first grader or are a professional taking orchestral auditions, a college student needing help with music theory or an aspiring composer needing guidance, you can set up one or more lessons with one of The Ohio Valley Symphony’s musicians.