Welcome to the historic Ariel Opera House

Welcome to the historic Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre, permanent home of The Ohio Valley Symphony, in the heart of Gallipolis, Ohio. Explore our website for upcoming performances and events, lessons, directions, and history! Be sure to contact the Ariel Opera House Box Office at 740-446-ARTS (2787) if you have any questions or if we may help you in planning your next visit to Gallipolis.

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.

Paul worked with the Mason County Community Foundation that dispersed funds to worthy organizations and he was able to convince them to fund a string program facilitated by the OVS in the schools. He was a Rotarian and came to that via his father, Dr. Mel Simon, who ran a medical mission in the Philippines for over 30 years with Rotary support and with Paul’s help. Paul’s family home is a beautifully restored historic home, circa 1860.

Paul was a man of many interests, and he loved the Ariel and The Ohio Valley Symphony. He introduced numerous people to the symphony by inviting them to come and sit with him in what he liked to call “President’s Row.” Sometimes he would even escort them there in his limousine – a favorite story for him was how he traded a golf cart for that classic limo!

Paul loved people and he was always at concerts greeting people as they came in and spending time with them at concert receptions. He had a great gift for conversation and made it a point to get to know audience members and artists alike. Paul could easily speak with everyone from farmers to the governor and find common ground. If someone was in the hospital or in trouble and needing help, Paul was there to lend a shoulder and a hand.

These times of social distancing keeps us from those we care about, keeps us from gathering to mourn and to celebrate, keeps us from sharing the beauty of the music of The Ohio Valley Symphony. When we can safely return to the stage and once again elevate people to that place only music can take us, we will do a concert to honor Paul Simón and our journey together to make the Ariel Opera House what it is today.

A private family service was held on Monday, March 1st, 2021 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Point Pleasant, WV, followed by memorial service and interment at the Ohio Valley Memory Gardens in Gallipolis, OH. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting the organizations that Paul was passionate about: the Ariel Ann-Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis, OH, the Community Foundation of Mason County in Point Pleasant, WV and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Point Pleasant, WV.

To donate to the Ariel and The Ohio Valley Symphony in memory of Paul, please click the Paypal link below.

From the Ariel Board of Directors…

(Paul’s online obituary can be found here.)