JOHN and NANCY SHUFFLE bring a wealth of performing experience to their theatrical stage and concert appearances, having collectively essayed over 170 roles in their combined careers. They have garnered numerous awards on both the national and regional levels and have produced 8 solo and duet recordings currently to their credit. Two of their CDs, featuring Broadway standards repertoire, were recorded and produced in association with their good friend and colleague, the renowned and legendary Pianist and Musical Director, JOEY SINGER.

John Shuffle’s diverse performing career as a musician and veteran singing actor has included concert and stage appearances in some 32 states, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Finland, England and Israel. His huge performing repertoire, encompassing opera, oratorio, Broadway revues and inspirational venues, includes credits with orchestras, theater companies and Artists Series’ in Chicago, Sydney (AU), Los Angeles, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Phoenix, Brunswick (ME), Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Denver, Birmingham(UK), Geneva (SW), Indianapolis, Helsinki, Auckland, Buffalo, Cleveland, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Boise, Evansville, Eugene, Green Bay, Louisville, Lexington, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Madison, Ann Arbor, Charleston(WV), Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Raleigh, Dayton and Des Moines, among numerous others. Among his favorite stage portrayals are the leading comedic roles in the operas DON GIOVANNI, COSI FAN TUTTE, MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS, DIE FLEDERMAUS, LA CENERENTOLA, GIANNI SCHICCHI, DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT, BARBER OF SEVILLE, ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO and all of the major Gilbert &Sullivan repertoire; as well as his more dramatic portrayals in THE MAGIC FLUTE, LA BOHEME, ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, BORIS GODUNOV, TROUBLE IN TAHITI, TOSCA, CARMEN, LA TRAVIATA, LUCIA, PILGRIMS PROGRESS and TURANDOT. One of his starring vehicles as the Poet/Hajj in the musical KISMET was hailed as a “Critics Pick” by the Chicago music press…“John Shuffle’s wily vagabond is a glorious theatrical achievement.” Performing the “title” role of Henry VIII in the World Premier staged revival of Richard Rodgers’ REX, his portrayal was personally hailed by its original lyricist, Pulitzer Prize-winning Sheldon Harnick.

Nancy Williams Shuffle has regularly delighted her theater audiences with her acting versatility and personal stage magnetism as a leading role singer/actress since 1991 in some 70-plus different musical theater productions, also singing countless other Artist Series engagements in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, California, New York and Indiana, all in addition to several international appearances including Australia, Finland, England and Israel. Inclusive among her most favorite stage portrayals are Marian in THE MUSIC MAN, Hope Harcourt in ANYTHING GOES, Lily in THE SECRET GARDEN, Sarah Brown in GUYS AND DOLLS, Julie Jordan in CAROUSEL, Alice Beane in TITANIC, Rosa Bud in THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, Rhetta Cupp in PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES, Maria in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Cinderella in INTO THE WOODS, Anna in THE KING AND I, Audrey in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, the co-female lead in the satirically brilliant I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, Daisy Hilton in SIDESHOW, Pam in BABY, the puppeteering comic genius Sister Mary Amnesia in NUNSENSE, NUNSENSE II, NUNCRACKERS and NUNSENSATIONS! and Casilda in G&S’s THE GONDOLIERS, among numerous others. She also recently portrayed Catherine of Aragon in the staged, World Premier revival of Richard Rodgers’ musical REX, where the original lyricist, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sheldon Harnick, personally hailed her performance as “particularly wonderful.” Her press reviews have also otherwise glowed, stating “she…(possessed) outstanding vocal and acting talents, showcased in her wonderful portrayal…her voice is awesome…excellent…first-class…a beautiful voice.”

The Voices

JOHN and NANCY WILLIAMS-SHUFFLE

Bass-Baritone and Soprano

Overture to THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (LE NOZZE DI FIGARO) W. A. Mozart

Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo (“Reach out to him, I pray” from COSÌ FAN TUTTE) W. A. Mozart

…..Mr. Shuffle

Je dis, que rien ne m’épouvante (“I say, nothing frightens me” from CARMEN) G. Bizet …..Ms. Williams-Shuffle

Là ci darem la mano (“There will my arms enfold you” from DON GIOVANNI) W. A. Mozart

…..Duet

Cortigiani, vil razza dannata (“Courtiers, you vile race” from RIGOLETTO) G. Verdi

…..Mr. Shuffle

Laughing Song (from DIE FLEDERMAUS) J. Strauss, Jr.

…..Ms. Williams-Shuffle

Waltz Duet (from THE MERRY WIDOW) F. Lehar

…..Duet

INTERMISSION

Overture to KISMET Wright & Forrest

And This is My Beloved (from KISMET) Wright & Forrest …..Ms. Williams-Shuffle

Stranger in Paradise (from KISMET) Wright & Forrest

…..Duet

By Strauss (from AN AMERICAN IN PARIS) G. Gershwin

…..Ms. Williams-Shuffle

Some Enchanted Evening (from SOUTH PACIFIC) R. Rodgers

…..Mr. Shuffle

You Are Love (from SHOWBOAT) J. Kern …..Duet

Overture to THE KING AND I R. Rodgers

The orchestra welcomes the DUKES of Dixieland back to the Ohio Valley on Oct. 6 for an all-new program ranging from traditional jazz to a 21st-century mixture of pop, gospel, country and authentic New Orleans sounds. Ray Fowler, the orchestra’s Music Director, conducts the 8 p.m. performance in Point Pleasant Junior/Senior High School’s Wedge Auditorium.

The program’s sponsor is Ohio Valley Bancorp, a long-time OVS supporter.

It’s a return visit for the DUKES, the country’s oldest continuing Dixieland jazz band. They first joined southeast Ohio’s only professional orchestra in July for a hot night in Gallipolis City Park.

It won’t be 100 degrees at the concert this time, but the DUKES will bring plenty of their own heat. Bright and brassy or smooth and dark as cane syrup, the group brings a time-honored authenticity to all of the hits of Dixieland music.

Since 1975 in Chicago’s Grant Park, the DUKES have collaborated with great orchestras, including the Boston and Cincinnati Pops, with sizzling arrangements that play off the two traditions’ strengths. It’s a formula that has worked for players and audiences alike. The DUKES have sold out venues including the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian.

Audiences can expect to hear everything from rags to Gospel classics like “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” to more modern favorites, including Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” With a band from New Orleans, there will be some sounds of Mardi Gras in the air, too.

This marks the fifth year the OVS has performed in Point Pleasant, including a concert that helped dedicate the hall’s completion. The annual Point Pleasant concert is a chance for the orchestra to find new fans on the other side of the Ohio River. “We can’t expect everyone to come to us all the time,” said Lora Snow, the orchestra’s founder and executive director.

The OVS, based at the historic Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis, has built a reputation for offering its audiences a lineup of world-class guest artists performing all varieties of music, ranging from R&B to classical mainstays to holiday favorites. That variety is key both to the OVS’s mission and its more than two decades of success, said Snow.

“The important thing is that the music be good,” she said, “and good music comes in all kinds of packages. We show people that orchestras can be very versatile.”

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, Oct. 5, and 1–4 p.m. Oct. 6 at Wedge Auditorium. 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 “Dukes of Dixieland” cost $22, $20 (senior) and $10 (student). Subscriptions to all five 2012-13 OVS concerts, including the always popular Christmas concert, are available for $100, $90 (senior) and $50 (student). Family subscriptions for two adults and children are $275.

Single-ticket buyers who decide they want to lock in their seats will be able to buy pro-rated subscriptions for the four remaining OVS performances at the Oct. 6 concert.

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 OVS Web site, www.ohiovalleysymphony.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.

The program, now a southeast Ohio tradition, is at 8 p.m. in the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis. Locally-based Holzer Health System is the long time sponsor of the evening’s festivities

OVS Music Director Ray Fowler has again assembled a holiday-sized spread of musical cheer for the concert. He and the orchestra will offer a menu of old favorites — both carols and winter holiday songs – and of some surprises that audience members will be adding to their list of favorites. Among the traditional carols will be arrangements including “Away in a Manger” and “What Child is This?”

Songs from America’s holiday traditions will include “Jingle Bells,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Winter Wonderland.” Look forward as well, to an American flavor, thanks to William Bergsma’s “Carol for Twelfth Night,” Lucas Richman’s “Reindeer Variations” – one for each of Santa’s four-legged helpers – and “A Quint of Carols” by Ohio native Don Waxman. Classical composers Gustav Holst and Sergei Prokofiev (another sleigh ride, this time in Russia) also will be represented.

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. 30, and 1-4 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Ariel Theatre. Open rehearsals are a great way for young and old alike to grow familiar with symphonic music, and they offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse at the preparation of an orchestral performance.

Concert-goers have another unique opportunity to make a personal connection with the music, too. Thomas Consolo, OVS Assistant Conductor and program annotator, offers a free pre-concert chat in the third-floor Ariel Chamber Theatre, just upstairs from the concert site. The casual get-together will put a more personal face on the night’s music and answer questions about the program, the OVS or the orchestral experience in general. The talk begins at 7:15 p.m. Dec. 1.

Single tickets to “The Christmas Show” with The Ohio Valley Symphony cost $24, $22 (senior) and $12 (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 OVS web site, www.ohiovalleysymphony.org.

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

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: “Baltacigil is a highly individualized solo artist. His gorgeous sound, strong personality, and expressive depth suggest an artist about to have a major career.” Mr. Baltacigil won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, The Peter Jay Sharp Prize, and the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize.

Meet the Artist:

Turkish cellist Efe Baltacıgil was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike in February 2005 when he and pianist Emanuel Ax performed Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No.1 at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert with only 10 minutes of rehearsal. Mr.Baltacigil, the Orchestra’s Associate Principal Cellist, and Mr. Ax, the evening’s soloist, were called upon when a winter snowstorm prevented most of the Orchestra from reaching the concert hall. After that performance,

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: “Baltacigil is a highly individualized solo artist. His gorgeous sound, strong personality, and expressive depth suggest an artist about to have a major career.”

Mr. Baltacigil won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He was also awarded The Peter Jay Sharp Prize, which presented his New York debut in December 2005, and the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, which presented his Washington, DC, debut in April 2006.

This season, he also debuts at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He appears at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in Richard Goode’s Perspectives series and gives performances at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, the North Dakota Museum of Art, Mayville State University (ND), and the Buffalo Chamber Music Society.

Mr. Baltacigil has performed the Brahms Sextet with Pinchas Zukerman, Midori and Yo-Yo Ma at Carnegie Hall for Isaac Stern’s memorial, and participated in Mr. Ma’s Silk Road Project. He has also appeared as soloist in the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Curtis Chamber Orchestra conducted by Otto-Werner Mueller. He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and is a member of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two.

Mr. Baltacigil was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He started studying the violin at the age of five and changed to the cello at the age of seven. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Mimar Sinan University Conservatory in Istanbul in 1998 and an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 2002, where he studied with Peter Wiley and David Soyer. He was the recipient of The Curtis Institute’s Jacqueline DuPré Scholarship.

His hobbies include windsurfing, sailing, drawing and volleypong.

Thanks also goes to our other two fabulous candidates, Patrick O’Donnell and John Holland!

And of course to everyone who donated funds for their chosen candidates!

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.