Broadway! March 12, 2011

Margaret Carlson, Soprano

Often compared to Julie Andrews and Maureen McGovern, Margaret Carlson is an exciting new voice in the contemporary music. Her eclectic career has taken her from life “on the road” with the band, Summer, to ten years as a stay-at-home mom. Re-establishing her music career in 1986, Carlson’s second CD, This Christmas…my favorite things, received a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category.

BROADWAY
By Thomas Consolo

Melt away the last of winter’s chill in March with The Ohio Valley Symphony.

Southeast Ohio’s only professional orchestra welcomes singer Margaret Carlson to the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre for a heartwarming program of classic songs by a parade of America’s greatest songwriters. OVS music director Ray Fowler returns to conduct the program at 8 p.m. March 12.

Carlson, a Grammy nominee, has selected a line-up by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim — all backed by the lush support only a full orchestra can provide. Concert-goers can look forward to excerpts from favorite Broadway shows and films including “Anyone Can Whistle,” “My Fair Lady,” “The Sound of Music” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

Fowler counts these classic songs as important American music — and music that is slipping through the cultural cracks as schools and community companies move on to more contemporary shows. Carlson, he said, brings a freshness to these standards which will win the audience’s heart.

Carlson’s elegant musical style and onstage presence have been compared to Julie Andrews and Maureen McGovern. In her early years, Margaret toured the United States singing in resorts and clubs, and she was featured on numerous television and radio commercials.

In 1985 Carlson left the music business to focus on raising her two children. When she returned 10 years later, she recorded her first CD, “Once in a Blue Moon,” with pianist-arranger Frank Mantooth. Her second CD, “This Christmas … My Favorite Things,” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. Today, Carlson performs to beautifully orchestrated arrangements by Mantooth with orchestras all around the country. She can be heard at music festivals and as a performer and clinician at schools.

Showcasing America’s living legacy of song is 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 — through education and exposure to great music. As part of that commitment, the public is encouraged to attend OVS rehearsals for free at 7-10 p.m. Friday, March 11, and 1-4 p.m. March 12 at the Ariel. Open rehearsals are an excellent way for young and old alike to grow comfortable with symphonic music, and they offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what goes into preparing an orchestral performance.

Single tickets to The Ohio Valley Symphony’s “Broadway!” are $22, $20 (senior) and $10 (students). Tickets and more information are available through the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre box office, (740) 446-2787 (ARTS), at 428 Second Ave., Gallipolis, and through the OVS Web site, www.ohiovalleysymphony.org. The concert is sponsored by the Gallia County Medical Society. Further funding for The Ohio Valley Symphony is provided by the Ann Carson Dater Endowment.