THE FABULOUS FLUTE

October 26, 2019
at 7:30 p.m.

You asked for him and he’s back! Maestro Keitaro Harada returns to the podium twice this season on October 26th and March 21st. The Fabulous Flute with soloist Lindsey Goodman, OVS’s own piccolo and flutist, who performs an Ohio premiere of Nancy Galbraith’s Concert for Flute. Independent Streams for percussion and strings is another Ohio premiere – written by the OVS’s principal percussionist Roger Braun (a fitting piece as Lindsey’s husband is also a percussionist). Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 and de Fall’s much loved Three Cornered Hat round out the program.

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.

Jewell Victoria Evans Memorial Donation

Jewell Evans was half of the Bob Evans business dynasty, creating recipes and providing her expertise in developing the restaurant chain that grew to include restaurants all up and down the east coast – all while raising a family of six children.  It all started with Jewell’s recipe for Springfield Farm Sausage, as it was called for the first year and a half of their business.

Jewell loved music and she and Bob were part of the original Ariel Board of Directors formed in the late 1980s.  Jewell and Bob lent their name and support to the fledgling organization that was created to become the home for The Ohio Valley Symphony, a new professional orchestra in Southeastern Ohio.  Jewell rarely missed an Ohio Valley Symphony concert and loved talking about the performance at length afterwards.  She recognized that music can elevate one’s soul in a way nothing else can, and her perennially upbeat mood and positive thinking mirrored what we work towards at the Ariel Opera House.  One could never leave Jewell’s presence without being uplifted.  She was the personification of her name and we will always treasure her time with us.  We will miss her, but recognize how blessed we are to have had the chance to know her.

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

Visit the McCoy-Moore Funeral Homes, Inc. website for obituary.
Visit The Gallipolis Daily Tribune for an article celebrating the life of Jewell Evans.

OVS Songs of Rural America on WVPBS!

Songs of Rural America
Television Broadcast on WV-PBS
SATURDAY JULY 6

Mark your calendars now! July 6th at 6:00 pm ET The Ohio Valley Symphony with Michael Johnathon  will be broadcast on WVPBS Channel 33.  Songs of Rural America was recorded live at the historic Ariel Opera House in Gallipolis, Ohio.

WVPBS can be found by tuning to DishNet and Directv channel 33 or over-the-air channel 33.1.

(Please note that the screening event has been cancelled at the Colony Club due to its closing.)

Orva Walker Heissenbuttel Memorial Service

Saturday
May 18, 2019
at 2 pm

Join the historic Ariel Opera House for a memorial service for long-time friend and benefactor Orva Walker Heissenbuttel.

Ariel’s Piano, Voice, & String Spring Recital

Sunday, May 19, 2019
2:00 p.m.
Ariel Chamber Theatre

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.

For more information about Piano and Voice lessons offered at the Ariel, please visit this link.

For more information about Violin and Viola lessons offered at the Ariel, please visit this link.

Admission is free ~ donations accepted at the door.

OPERA GALA-POLIS!

September 14, 2019
at 7:30 p.m.

The Ariel Opera House lives up to its name at the season opener on September 14th when Opera Gala-polis kicks off the season with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Katherine Rohrer under the able direction of Maestro Steven Huang. Katherine’s Carmen sizzles!

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.

Mr. Huang has worked with musicians around the world, including California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, Haiti, and Romania. He has held the position of Music Director of the University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Central Illinois Youth Symphony, the Gilbert and Sullivan Players of Chicago, and the Bradley University Orchestra. In America, he has guest conducted professional ensembles such as the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Lake Shore Symphony (IL), and the Four Seasons Symphony (CA).

SPRING STRINGS

April 27, 2019
at 7:30 p.m.

To cap off the season Peter Stafford Wilson will conduct the rousing April 27th Spring Strings concert. Soloist Tim Berens encouraged his friend, Grammy nominated American composer Frank Proto, to premiere his newly written double bass concerto in the acoustically superb Ariel Opera House. Frank was in agreement and decided to include Tim on guitar – giving you twice the pleasure at this April 27th concert! The first half of the concert will feature Frank’s music and the second half will feature Tim’s arrangements.

Conductor Peter Stafford Wilson

Now in his seventeenth season as Music Director of Ohio’s Springfield Symphony Orchestra, PETER STAFFORD WILSON is one of the most exciting and talked about conductors of his generation. Concurrently, he holds the post of Music Director of the Westerville Symphony. He also fulfills his seventh season as Principal Conductor of Tulsa Ballet, leading three productions, including the annual holiday performances of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, with choreography by Artistic Director Marcello Angelini.

Peter Stafford Wilson’s leadership of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra continues to elicit praise from the public, musicians and press. Its 2005 Agriculture and the Arts Growing Together brought international attention to the organization, as did the sequel, American Made: Celebrating Our Manufacturing Heritage, which premiered in November 2007. The orchestra’s innovative series, “Night Lights,” has enjoyed steadily increasing sales and attendance. The recent endowment of the Music Director chair with gifts totaling one million dollars is further testimony to the community’s expanding support. Mr. Wilson and the SSO are the recipients of a 2009-2010 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming.

15th Annual Tri-County Gospel Sing

May 4, 2019 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.

Featured guests include:

Kingdom Road * West Virginia Couriers
Forever Blessed * Singing Shafers
The Neal Family * Victory River
Mike Cadle * Karen Polcyn * Rick Towe
Scott Fraser * Vicki Moore * James Hess
And others!

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.

TV Premiere! Songs of Rural America with OVS! At the Colony Club!

Television Debut on RFD-TV!
February 22 at 6pm ET
At the Colony Club!

Mark your calendars now! Feb. 22 at 6:00 pm ET The Ohio Valley Symphony with Michael Johnathon of Woodsongs will be on RFDTV in a premiere showing of Songs of Rural America recorded live at the historic Ariel Opera House in Gallipolis, Ohio.

Plan dinner and drinks out and enjoy this television premiere on the big screen at the Colony Club on Second Avenue, two doors down from the Ariel Opera House.

Or watch at home by tuning to Directv channel 345; DishNet Channel 231; Suddenlink Channel 370.

GAHS Band Concert

Thursday, March 7, 2019
7:00 p.m.

Join the historic Ariel Opera House in welcoming the Blue Devil Marching Band from Gallia Academy High School.

This is a FREE concert, doors open at 6:30p.m.

THE RED VIOLIN

March 30, 2019
at 7:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Pitcairn asked if she could come back to perform on our 30th Anniversary concert March 30th, and of course we said a resounding Yes! She will bring her legendary Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius and will be joined by Maestro Miriam Burns on the podium for a wonderful evening of beautiful music you won’t soon forget.

Conductor Miriam Burns

Miriam Burns was on staff with the New York Philharmonic as one of their Cover Conductors from 1999-2007, having been appointed by Kurt Masur as a result of a competitive audition by-invitation-only. In this capacity, she accompanied the orchestra on tour to the Far East as the tour Assistant Conductor to then new Music Director, Lorin Maazel, and for eight years was entrusted as an assistant conductor on call for countless specific, fully prepared programs under many guest conductors of international repute.

A New Resolution! Music Classes!

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

Holiday Voices of Christmas!

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.

Michael Johnathon’s Songs of Rural America, The Ohio Valley Symphony

October 6, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
$28 reserved seats

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.

Mel Simon, M.D. Book Signing for TWO RIVERS A WORLD APART

Saturday, November 3, 2018
at 4:00 p.m.

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.

HOLLYWOOD SOUNDS

November 3, 2018
at 7:30 p.m.

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.

THE CHRISTMAS SHOW! 2018

December 1, 2018
at 7:30 p.m.

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.

THE EMPEROR

September 8, 2018
at 7:30 p.m.

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.

The Piano featuring Thomas Pandolfi, piano

March 24, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

TWELFTH NIGHT – Presented by Rio Grande University

Friday, April 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. and
Saturday, April 14, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

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!