2023-24 SEASON SUBSCRIPTION! The Ohio Valley Symphony

New subscribers click the purple button to purchase your season subscription.
Existing subscribers who wish to keep their current seats call the Box Office to order!

The Ohio Valley Symphony enters its 34th Season with a delightful and diverse selection of concerts sure to please all music lovers.  The season will see five exciting maestros conducting and feature world class soloists.

We kick things off Around the Campfire with the American Pops Orchestra founder and conductor Luke Frazier. On April 15th Luke is joined by vocalist Hilary Morrow, pianist Jacqueline Schwab and guitarist Garrett Gleason and providing The Ohio Valley Symphony with several world premiere selections as well as the music of Copland, Mussorgsky, and MacDowell.

Maestro Carl Topilow was such a hit when he appeared with The Ohio Valley Symphony a couple years ago that he is back by popular demand in a Salute to Our Veterans on November 4th.  Local singer/songwriter Shana Smith will join for a few songs.  The only question – which color clarinet will Carl choose to play?

Click the “Read More” to view & download the new season brochure!

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE, The Ohio Valley Symphony

September 16, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
PURCHASE TICKETS NOW

The Ariel heats up Around the Campfire with the American Pops Orchestra founder and conductor Luke Frazier.  On September 16 Luke is joined by vocalist Hilary Morrow, pianist Jacqueline Schwab and guitarist Garrett Gleason and providing The Ohio Valley Symphony with several world premiere selections as well as music of Copland, Mussorgsky and MacDowell.

Luke Frazier, conductor
Luke Frazier believes that the future of orchestral music is breaking down barriers between orchestras and audiences. The most important priority for a modern conductor is not only musical excellence, but also creating diverse and engaging programming that brings communities together through the joy of music. Conductors are a bridge between audiences and orchestras and the responsibility that comes with that is something Luke takes to heart every day.

SALUTE TO OUR VETERANS, The Ohio Valley Symphony

November 4, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
PURCHASE TICKETS NOW
Veterans & Active Duty get 10% off! Select ‘veteran’ when choosing seats online.

Carl Topilow was such a hit when he appeared with The Ohio Valley Symphony a couple years ago that he is back by popular demand in a Salute to Our Veterans.  Local singer/songwriter Shana Smith will join for a few songs.  The only question – which color clarinet will Carl choose to play?

Carl Topilow, conductor
Carl Topilow is delighted to be returning to work again with the Ohio Valley Symphony!  Founding conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, his eclectic programs have been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. He enjoys a dual career as both conductor and clarinetist, often finding an occasion to perform a selection with the Pops on one of his brightly colored clarinets.

THE CHRISTMAS SHOW! The Ohio Valley Symphony

December 2, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
PURCHASE TICKETS NOW

Maestro Steven Huang has planned another grand and memorable Christmas Show program the entire family will enjoy, featuring many songs of the season. Get your tickets early as we always sell out! Who will be the next Maestro for a Moment? Join the fun and become a candidate!

Steven Huang, conductor
Maestro Steven Huang is thrilled to return to Southeastern Ohio to the podium of The Ohio Valley Symphony, a Christmas tradition since 2018.

Mr. Huang has conducted orchestras and operas across the country and around the world. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Huang 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). Recently, he successfully concluded a sixteen-year appointment as Associate Professor and Director of Orchestras at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he brought the program to new achievements, including earning competitive accolades and awards, through over 200 performances that included symphonic concerts, opera, musical theater, and Halloween pops.

THE ENIGMATIC ELGAR! The Ohio Valley Symphony

March 16, 2024
at 7:30 p.m.
PURCHASE TICKETS NOW

British composer Edward Elgar’s music will be featured when the Cincinnati Symphony’s principal cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn joins Maestro François López-Ferrer and the OVS for the Cello Concerto, Op. 36. Paired with that is Elgar’s Enigma Variations which continues to capture music lovers attention with its haunting melodies and wistful musical descriptions of his friends for each of the 14 movements.

François López-Ferrer, conductor
Spanish-American conductor François López-Ferrer currently serves as Resident Conductor of the Académie of the Opéra de Paris. Former Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and May Festival, and a 2021-22’ Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, López-Ferrer stepped in for Louis Langrée with the CSO in January of 2022 for the US premiere of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti to great critical acclaim.

BRAHMS AND BEYOND! The Ohio Valley Symphony

April 27, 2024
at 7:30 p.m.
PURCHASE TICKETS NOW

West Virginia native and Cincinnati Symphony violinist Charles Morey will perform the Suite for Violin and Orchestra by African-American composer William Grant Still.  The OVS will play Brahms Symphony No. 2, Op. 73 under the direction of Maestro Scott E. Woodard.  What could be better!

Dr. Scott E. Woodard, conductor
Maestro Dr. Scott E. Woodard was born in Huntington, WV and is proud to be a life-long West Virginian. He is the Music Director of the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra in Hamilton, Ohio, the Founding Music Director of the West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra of Charleston, WV, the Principal Guest Conductor of the Rimini Chamber Orchestra in Rimini, Italy, and the former Cover Conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. His primary teachers were Dr. Leonid Korchmar of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Music and the Mariinsky Theatre and Dr. Oleg Proskuryna. Scott is the recipient of First Prizes at the International Conductor’s Workshop Competition (Macon, GA) and the International Academy of Advanced Conducting (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation).

The Roarin’ Twenties! The Ohio Valley Symphony

MAY 20, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
Purchase Tickets Now

100 years ago a new age was dawning, the skirts were shorter, the money flowed freely and the the Roarin’ Twenties brought in a whole new style of American music. Be at the Ariel Opera House on May 20th to celebrate an entire concert of brand new arrangements of Roarin’ Twenties music by Cincinnati Pops Principal Arranger Tim Berens featuring vocalist Mandy Gaines and pianist Michael Chertock.

Be the first to hear these brand new arrangements as the concert will be recorded live by a Grammy winning recording engineer as he and his team capture it all for public television and radio broadcast as well as a CD. Be a part of this special occasion and purchase your tickets today!

This concert is presented in part by support from The Ohio Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Appalachian Spring, The Ohio Valley Symphony

APRIL 15, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
Purchase Tickets Now
Aaron Copland’s immortal Appalachian Spring is the perfect musical description of April and we are happy to have Maestro Scott Woodard to conduct this monumental concert piece that was lost when a previous season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissioned by the indomitable Martha Graham and her dancers for a ballet by the same name, Appalachian Spring (originally titled Ballet for Martha). The Shaker hymn Simple Gifts is quoted extensively in this piece. The ballet premiered in 1944 for an ensemble of only 13 instruments, Copland later extracted music to form the Suite then expanded the orchestration to the version most of us know it by today.
In keeping with the spring theme, other music included on the program is Johann Strauss, Jr.’s Fruhlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) and waltz lovers will not be disappointed in all the beautiful and romantic melodies in this exquisite piece. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture pays homage to the season as does living composer Daniel Perttu’s To Spring.