Start the new year right! Piano, voice, violin and viola classes are available right here at the Ariel Opera House. Whether you’re a new student or want to expand your abilities, it’s the perfect time to schedule your lessons!
 Judith Cavendish
Piano & Voice Lessons |
 Elaine Swinney
Violin & Viola Lessons |
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Saturday, December 15, 2018
3:00 p.m.
FREE CONCERT!
Enjoy Christmas favorites and holiday standards featuring the Piano, Vocals & Strings students from the Violin Studio of Elaine Swinney, Voice & Piano Studio of Judith Cavendish, and Piano Studio of Barb White!
The annual Voices of Christmas is a favorite of both young and old!
This is a FREE concert, doors open at 2:30p.m.
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October 6, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
$28 reserved seats
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MICHAEL JOHNATHON’S SONGS OF RURAL AMERICA comes to the historic Ariel Opera House for a special concert featuring THE OHIO VALLEY SYMPHONY.
“Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world.” – Oscar Wilde
Among the throngs of musicians in the folk world, few have elevated “dreaming” to such a high art form as Michael Johnathon. From composing the Woody Guthrie Opera to writing the Walden play, creating the national Song Farmers movement to producing the wildly successful broadcast of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, solo concert tours of coffeehouses to recording his song The Dream about the earth at piece with a 61-piece orchestra and choirs in English, French, Spanish and Russian, his accomplishments can easily overshadow a very important point: Michael Johnathon is an excellent musician.
“Once upon a time, rural America was built on the music and conversation of families who relaxed at the end of the day playing music on their front porches,” says Johnathon from his log cabin home in Kentucky. “The front porch was the grand pulpit of every community, the gathering place for family, friends and neighbors. It was the greatest stage in the world, filled with musicians every evening singing together as the sun went down.”
He is quick to point out that America, as a community, has lost its sense of its own front porch.
“As soon as they invented TV and air conditioning, everybody fled inside,” he says. “They don’t even build front porches on new homes any more. For the past 50 years, the great feng shui welcome of a new home was the garage door. The thing you leave by is what welcomes your friends.”
Among his many ongoing accomplishments is the sustained creation of an international, live audience syndicated broadcast called the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour. The show airs on 515 radio stations from Australia to Boston to Dublin, Ireland. It also airs on American Forces Radio Network twice each weekend in 173 nations, every military base and US Naval ship in the world. The shows airs coast-to-coast in millions of TV homes as a public TV series. Now Friday and Wednesday’s on RFDTV. What is especially striking about the production is that it is completely volunteer run and available free of charge to schools and home school families with lesson plans.
World Premiere Performance
It is the success of WoodSongs that makes the broadcast recording of Songs of Rural America so important. It will be not only recorded for broadcast on nearly 600 public radio stations, it will also air on American Forces Radio Network in 173 nations plus be filmed for a public television TV special.
The concept behind this concert tour is to bring a sense of America’s front porch spirit onto classical orchestra stages nationwide. The concert at the historic Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis, Ohio is the world premiere of the tour.
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Saturday, November 3, 2018
at 4:00 p.m.
Free admission ~ donations accepted.
Two Rivers, a World Apart is the autobiography of Dr. Mel Simon; as a young boy who spent most of his life by the banks the Pigalo River in his native country, the Philippines, and as a young man by the banks of the Ohio River in continental USA. Both rivers serve as the backdrop in this story of a young boy searching for the American dream. Against all odds he managed to overcome struggles through sheer determination and hard work. And above all, he has continued to believe that his deep faith and trust in the Almighty has propelled him to higher accomplishments.
Mel’s boyhood pledge to give back to his adopted community, as well as give back to the poor people in his native country, was fulfilled by using as a platform his membership with the oldest and greatest service organization in the world, the Rotary International and Rotary Foundation. Through Dr. Simon’s affiliations “Operation We Care” was born. He along with his team of surgeons, doctors, nurses, and health-care givers, have been able to carry out over thirty years of medical, surgical, and dental missions in the islands of the Philippines. These are in addition to his unceasing efforts to improve villages and curtail gastrointestinal diseases by donating surgical equipment and hospital supplies as well as constructing several deep water wells. He also supports literacy and feeding programs for undernourished schoolchildren.
Dr. Simon has been recognized for his work not only by the Rotary International and Rotary Foundation but also by five previous presidents of the Philippines.
Several establishments have been named for Dr. Simon, including the Dr. Mel P. Simon and Lydia Chemistry Lab at the University of Rio Grande, the surgical ward of the Region One Medical Center in Dagupan, Philippines, and others.
Dr. Simon was also nominated for the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame on May 24, 2010, by the Governor of the State of Ohio for establishing the French 500 Free Clinic – a project utilizing five volunteer physicians, as well as nurses, and health-care givers – which extends help to poor, uninsured, or under–insured patients.
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November 3, 2018
at 7:30 p.m.
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Keitaro Harada is a dazzling presence on the podium and conducts the Cincinnati Symphony and around the world. He is bringing with him the stunning violin prodigy Christina Nam to perform Korngold’s lush Violin Concerto. Included in this November 3rd concert, Harada is presenting composer Matt Jackfert for a world premiere of two works.
Conductor Keitaro Harada
Conductor Keitaro Harada continues to be recognized at the highest levels for his artistic abilities and passion for musical excellence. As a three-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award (2014, 2015, 2016), Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview (2013), the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood Music Festival, a student of Lorin Maazel at Castleton Festival and Fabio Luisi at Pacific Music Festival, Harada’s credentials are exemplary.
In his third season as Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops, Harada regularly assists Music Director Louis Langrée and conducts the CSO, POPS, and World Piano Competition, and assists James Conlon and Juanjo Mena for the May Festival. Keitaro also holds the position of Associate Conductor of the Arizona Opera.
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December 1, 2018
at 7:30 p.m.
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Gallipolis’ own Steven Huang will be leading the symphony for the annual Christmas Show! on December 1st with a heartwarming selection of your holiday favorites. Soprano Melissa Brobeck and tenor Kelly Burns will add to the beautiful sounds of your favorite selections. This is one of the most popular concerts of the year, so be sure to purchase extra tickets with your subscription so friends and relatives can sit close by your season seats!
Conductor Steven Huang
Maestro Steven Huang has conducted orchestras and operas across the country and throughout the world. At the age of twenty-one, he served as Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra of Harvard University, where he received his undergraduate degree. While at Harvard, Mr. Huang also directed the Lowell House Opera (the oldest continuously running opera company in New England), in a critically acclaimed production of Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
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September 8, 2018
at 7:30 p.m.
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Tim Berens has graced our stage several times as an OVS soloist, but on September 8th he shows us another facet of his talents as he returns to conduct a fabulous all-Beethoven program. He brings with him colleague Michael Chertock to spark some fireworks with The Emperor piano concerto.
Guitarist, arranger, conductor Tim Berens
Tim Berens’s multi-faceted career gives testament to his lifelong quest to learn, perform and write music. So far, his venture has led him through the worlds of classical guitar, jazz guitar, orchestral guitar, arranging, orchestration, composition, and conducting.
During his years as the guitarist for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Tim played guitar, banjo, mandolin and bouzouki on concerts, recordings, television programs, and tours. Beginning in the late 1990’s, Tim began arranging for the CPO, eventually becoming the orchestra’s principal arranger.
Tim’s arrangements caught the ears of others and he began receiving commissions from many leading conductors and major orchestras. His arrangements are performed hundreds of times per year by orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center to the Hollywood Bowl. Tim’s arrangements receive praise from conductors, musicians, librarians, management, and listeners.
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March 24, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
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American pianist THOMAS PANDOLFI is an exciting virtuoso who, with each passing season, is becoming more and more sought after by audiences worldwide, and showered with superlatives by critics for his passionate artistry and amazing technique. His orchestral appearances often feature not only the beloved masterpiece concerti by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Liszt, but also the equally brilliant ones by Paderewski, Rubinstein and Moszkowski. Additionally in the “Pops” genre, Thomas’ critically acclaimed performances of Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin), Concerto in F (Gershwin), Warsaw Concerto (Addinsell) and the James Bond Concerto (Proctor) are immensely popular.
Among his engagements during the 2015-16 season, were as guest soloist with The National Philharmonic,
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Friday, April 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. and
Saturday, April 14, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
$5 Purchase at the Door
A stormy night on Lake Michigan leaves twins Sebastian and Viola shipwrecked and each believing the other dead. Viola finds her way as a single woman in the small town of Illyria outside Chicago in 1920 by disguising herself as her brother and working for the prestigious Orsino. Shakespeare’s work lends itself to accommodate any time period as has been proven over and over again in theatrical presentations and film adaptations. The students in Dr. Elizabeth Brown’s Shakespeare in Performance class at the University of Rio Grande have enthusiastically worked toward recruiting fellow students, teachers, and community actors to explore the staging of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in a jazzy What You Will underground club owned by the elegant Olivia. Come and be entertained by celebrated verse complemented by a little roar.
General Admission seating $5 at the Ariel Opera House Box Office the night of the show!
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April 28, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
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American soprano Risa Renae Harman, as noted by The New York Times, “is that rare creature among singers, a really good recitalist.” A versatile singer who navigates a wide range of repertoire, she has appeared as soloist in Samuel Barber’s The Prayers of Kierkegaard at the Kennedy Center with The Washington Chorus, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with The Philadelphia Singers at the Kimmel Center and Alice Tully Hall, Handel’s Laudate pueri with The National Cathedral Choral Society, Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate at the Kennedy Center, Verdi’s Requiem with The Oratorio Society of New Jersey, Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51 with The Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, and solo recitals at the Brooklyn Library and the acclaimed Trinity Church.
Recent engagements for Miss Harman include
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On Sale Now!
In 1987 Lora Lynn Snow had a vision to form a professional orchestra and invited her friend and colleague Ray Fowler to be the Music Director. Over the years they created a wonderful organization that has stood the test of time and the OVS is now entering our 29th season. Though Maestro Fowler moves to Director Emeritus following his retirement at the close of this season, the symphony will continue bringing outstanding live professional performances to the southeastern Ohio region.
The 2018-19 Season will see on the Ariel stage five exciting maestros conducting The Ohio Valley Symphony and featured soloists for each of the subscription concerts.
In addition to The Ohio Valley Symphony’s regular subscription season, we will be performing with folk singer Michael Johnathon in the world premiere of his new televised show “The Songs of Rural America” to be recorded live on the stage of the Ariel Opera House! Subscibers who purchase tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime event will receive a 10% discount off the regular price – just order the tickets on your subscription form and we’ll make sure you get your regular season seats for the concert if you return your order by May 31st!
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
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Sunday, May 6, 2018
2:00 p.m.
Ariel Chamber Theatre
Free Concert, No Ticket Required
The historic Ariel Opera House presents a Piano Recital of students of local instructor Barb White. Join us for this free Sunday afternoon concert to be held in the 3rd floor Ariel Chamber Theatre.
Admission is free ~ donations accepted at the door.
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Tuesday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m.
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Clawhammer Banjo, Appalachian Fiddle, & Stories of the Road
Dan is one of this year’s recipients of the coveted Arizona Master Artist Award grants from the Southwest Folklife Alliance for his lifetime of achievements in the tradition of Appalachian Old Time music.
A modern day troubadour in the truest sense of the word, Dan is a full time musician who travels the country with fiddle and banjo, singing songs and telling stories of the road, his musical journey and his Southern Appalachian roots.
Dan is native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He now makes his home in Tucson, Arizona year round when he is not on the road.
Reserved seat tickets $15 adults & $10 students.
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May 19, 2018 at 6 p.m.
Free Concert, No Ticket Required
Join the historic Ariel Opera House in welcoming the Tri-County Gospel Sing, presented by Pastor Rick Barcus of the Addison Free Will Baptist Church.
West Virginia Couriers • Randy Parsons
Victory River Quartet • Singing Shafers
Karen Polcyn • Rick & Ginny Towe
New Covenant • Mike Cadle
New Creation • Vicki Moore
Brian’s Family Connection • The Dollys
Lisa Browning • The Neal Family
Ricky & Marie Alley • New Salvation
And more!
This year Old Hymns of the Church will be featured!
The concert is free to the public. A love offering will be collected. Doors open at 5 pm and the concert starts at 6 pm.
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Sunday, June 3, 2018
2:00 p.m.
Ariel Chamber Theatre
Free Concert, No Ticket Required
The historic Ariel Opera House presents a recital featuring Piano and Voice students of Judith Cavendish and String students of Elaine Swinney. Join us for this free Sunday afternoon concert to be held in the 3rd floor Ariel Chamber Theatre.
Admission is free ~ donations accepted at the door.
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Click Here to Pre-Register Now!
Singers of all ages can come join the fun! Tryouts will be held at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre on April 19th at 7:00 p.m. Rehearsal schedule will be each Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. until the concert.
Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 6:30pm
FREE CONCERT! – 6:30 p.m. at the City Park
No tickets required.
A fun time to be had by all! Join us at the 2018 Chautauqua in Gallipolis City Park to celebrate history with the joyful sounds of The Ariel Singers!
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Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 4:00pm
Click Here to Pre-Register Now!
Tuba and Euphonium players of all ages can come join the fun! Musicians will meet at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre at 4:00 p.m. for an on-stage rehearsal. Summer Tuba-Time music books will be available for purchase ($15 incl. tax) at rehearsal.
Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 6:30pm
FREE CONCERT! – 6:30 p.m. at the City Park
No tickets required.
A fun time to be had by all! Join us at the 2018 Chautauqua in Gallipolis City Park to celebrate history with the joyful sounds of the Ariel’s Summer Tuba-Time!
Summer Tuba-Time concerts are presented with permission from the Harvey Phillips Foundation, Inc.
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Sunday, January 21, 2018
2:oo p.m.
3rd floor Ariel Chamber Theatre
Buy Tickets at the Door
The historic Ariel Opera House is please to welcome Marshall University faculty members Dr. Júlio Ribeiro Alves, guitarist, and Dr. Wendell Dobbs, flutist who form Violauta Duo.
This program features popular tunes by Rossiniana and will be performed on authentic 19th century instruments.
Tickets are $10 and available at the Chamber Theatre door on performance day.
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Sunday, February 11, 2018
at 2:00 p.m.
3rd Floor Ariel Chamber Theatre
Free admission ~ donations accepted.
The Ohio Valley Symphony Woodwind Quintet will perform music of African American composers including that of William Grant Still.
Everyone welcome!
This is a free event!
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Saturday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.
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The historic Ariel Opera House is pleased to present METHENEY: A Night of Country with guest Chris Keesey.
The Southeastern Ohio favorite METHENEY is known by many for its radio hit Drunk on Memories and others. Metheney has played at the CMA fest in Nashville and has opened across the tri-state for nationally recognized recording artists.
Vocalist, singer and songwriter Matt Metheney is joined by Keith McGrath, lead and rhythm guitar and vocals, Dan Turrner, bass guitar, and Chris Johnson, drums. METHENEY has songs available on ITunes and Google Music. Has played the CMA fest in Nashville, and opened for national recoding artiest all across the tri state. Visit METHENEY on Facebook @metheneymusic.com
Chris Keesey is a songwriter from the Appalachian Foothills of Southeastern Ohio. He writes music about growing up, growing old, living and loving in rural America. He draws songwriting influence from the greats of classic country and modern Americana to create songs and sounds based on the stories and raw truths of living in the country. Visit chriskeesey.com to learn more about Chris.
Reserved seat tickets are $10
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Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre
home to The Ohio Valley Symphony
426 Second Avenue
Gallipolis, Ohio
740-446-ARTS 
