2012 Hobgoblin Halloween Show

The Ohio Valley Symphony’s Musical Treat
Saturday, November 3, 2012

Some of the ghosts and goblins that will haunt the Ohio Valley on Halloween won’t go home right away. They’ll hide in the dark corners of the Ariel Theatre, waiting for one more night of fun with The Ohio Valley Symphony.

The orchestra’s members — including music director Ray Fowler on the podium — trade their tails and bow ties for whimsical or ghoulish costumes as they offer concert-goers a full plate of musical tricks and treats. This year’s musical mayhem begins at 8 p.m. November 3 at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis.

It’s all part of the OVS philosophy of making orchestral music easy to love, according to the orchestra’s executive director, Lora Lynn Snow. “It gives the audience a chance to see all the people up there on stage performing live music and it gives us a chance to show off our individual personalities.”

The eclectic musical menu serves up equal measures of audience favorites from the concert hall and the movie theater. Centerpiece to the program is the suite from Igor Stravinsky’s breakout ballet, The Firebird. Full of first-ever musical effects, it retells the old Russian tale of a magical creature who helps a young prince defeat an evil sorcerer to win the princess he loves. The suite has been an audience favorite since its first performance.

Also from the classical world, Fowler and the OVS offer Johann Strauss’ sparkling Overture to Die Fledermaus (The Bat), the Infernal Galop — better known as the Can-can — from Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and an excerpt of American composer Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, the Romantic, used in the sci-fi horror classic Alien. The concert’s namesake piece, “Hobgoblin,” comes from the Symphonic Sketches by the pioneering American composer George Chadwick.

The rest of the program celebrates the American tradition of spooky movies with suites from Jaws, the film that kept America out of the water, and Harry Potter, both written by the dean of American film music, John Williams. And since magic isn’t all scary, there’s a take on “Witchcraft,” the Cy Coleman standard from 1957.

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, Nov. 2, and 1–4 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Ariel. Open rehearsals are a great way to grow familiar with symphonic music, and they offer a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse at the preparation of an orchestral performance.
Single tickets to the Ohio Valley Symphony’s HOBGOBLIN cost $22, $20 (senior) and $10 (student). Tickets and more information are available at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre box office, 428 Second Ave., Gallipolis; by phone, (740) 446-2787 (ARTS); and through the Ariel website www.arieltheatre.org.

Funding for The Ohio Valley Symphony is provided in part by the Ann Carson Dater Endowment. Further support is provided through the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically, with funding by the National Endowment for the Arts.