October 2, 2021
at 7:30 p.m.
Concert will be at Wedge Auditorium at Pt. Pleasant WV Jr./Sr. High School.
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We re-open The Ohio Valley Symphony season as we celebrate the life of Ariel Board President Paul Simon when his longtime family friend, Elizabeth Pitcairn, joins The Ohio Valley Symphony in a program of Mostly Mendelssohn.

This season opens with Mendelssohn’s energizing and uplifting Symphony No. 4 and Elizabeth performs the much loved Concerto for Violin, Op. 64, under the baton of Maestro Scott Woodard.

Purchase your season subscription so you don’t miss a single note of this new season!

Sponsored by

Scott Woodard, conductor
Dr. Scott E. Woodard is the Music Director of the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra in Hamilton, Ohio, the Ashland Ballet Orchestra, and is the Founding Music Director and Conductor of the West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly known as the Charleston Chamber Orchestra). Woodard’s study and pursuit of conducting has taken him all over the world. Past podiums include: guest conductor of the Macon Symphony Orchestra (2006), associate conductor (2016-17) and cover conductor (2013-16) of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, finalist in the Pittsburgh Philharmonic Orchestra conductor search (2019), and guest conductor for the Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra (2020). Future podium dates are booked with the Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra in Gallipolis, Ohio (2021) and the Rimini Chamber Orchestra in Rimini, Italy (2022).  Woodard was named First Prize winner of the International Conductor’s Workshop Competition (2006) and First Prize winner at the International Academy of Advanced Conducting in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is now a full faculty member of the Academy.  Dr. Woodard was also honored with a Second Prize in the American Prize competition in Orchestral Conducting.  Celebrated guest artists with whom Dr. Woodard has worked include Victoria Fatu, Romanian violinist Gabriel Croitoru, Israeli tenor Michael Riskin, Cristian Fatu, and Yip Wai Chow.

Dr. Woodard’s primary teachers were Dr. Leonid Korchmar of the Mariinsky Theatre and the St. Petersburg Conservatory and Dr. Oleg Proskurnya, with whom he studied the methods of the Leningrad School of Conducting developed and taught by Maestro Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1932-1999. In 2005 and 2011, Woodard conducted orchestras of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society and the Mariinsky Theatre in concerts throughout the former Russian capitol. He is a member of the Conductor’s Guild and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity.

Woodard received the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Music Education from Marshall University and the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University.  He currently serves as Professor of Music at West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia.

Woodard lives in Scott Depot, WV with his wife Nafi, who is a family practice physician, and their son, Gabriel.

Elizabeth Pitcairn, violinist
American violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn is passionate about youth and education. She serves as President and Artistic Director of the Luzerne Music Center which provides training for gifted young musicians ages 9-18 in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

The artist performs with one of the world’s most legendary instruments, the “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius violin of 1720, said to have inspired the Academy Award–winning film The Red Violin. Pitcairn is featured on the 10th Anniversary edition of The Red Violin DVD in a special feature called “The Auction Block”. Named the Red Stradivarius violin while in the possession of Joseph Joachim, it was a gift from her grandfather in 1990 at Christie’s Auction in London.

Born in 1973 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to a closely-knit musical family (her mother is a Juilliard-trained cellist), Pitcairn began playing the violin at age three and made her debut with orchestra at 14. Her path led her to Los Angeles to study with preeminent violin professor Robert Lipsett at the University of Southern California. Her former teachers include Julian Meyer, Sylvia Ahramjian, Jascha Brodsky, Robert Lipsett and Shmuel Ashkenasi. She was a member of the distinguished faculty of both USC and the Colburn School for 10 years (2000-2010), taught at the Encore School for Strings, and is an alumna of the Marlboro Music Festival, the National Repertory Orchestra, Luzerne Music Center, Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, the Meadowmount School, Point Counter Point, the Encore School for Strings, the YMF Debut Orchestra and the American Youth Symphony under the direction of Mehli Mehta. She served as concertmaster of the New West Symphony under the direction of Boris Brott for 11 years (2000-2011). With Maestro Brott, she appeared with the McGill Chamber Orchestra of Montréal, the National Academy Orchestra in Ontario and the New West Symphony. She has appeared in recital for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and for a special event at the Aspen Music Festival with President and CEO Alan Fletcher and soloist Robert McDuffie. She believes strongly in philanthropy and is a frequent performer for charitable events such as the American Cancer Society, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Helping Hands and Hearts Foundation and the Nakashima Foundation for Peace.

A champion of new music, Pitcairn commissioned Sweden’s renowned composer Tommie Haglund to compose the violin concerto tone poem Hymnen an die Nacht (Hymns to the Night), receiving a Swedish Grammi nomination in 2009. Other commissions include a sonata for violin and piano by Russian composer David Finko and The Blue Vishuddha (2014) by Sara Carina Graef which was composed for her Fisher Center recital at Bard College.

Pitcairn made her debut with orchestra at age 14 performing the Saint-Saëns Concerto, and has since appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music and at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in the year 2000 with the New York String Orchestra in her New York debut. She has since performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kimmel Center, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Fisher Center at Bard College. She has given performances of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra of China and with conductor Wagner Politschuk in São Paulo, Brazil. Under the baton of Finnish conductor Hannu Koivula, Pitcairn has performed the Barber Concerto with the Vaasa City Symphony, the Jönkopping Symphony of Sweden and given the premiere of eminent Swedish composer’s Hymnen an die Nacht with the Helsingborg Symphony. She gave a nationally televised broadcast of the Bruch Violin Concerto with the Classic FM Radio Symphony Orchestra of Bulgaria conducted by Maxim Eshkenazy. She has also concertized in Italy, France, Germany, the British Isles, Hungary, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, the French West Indies, Austria, Romania and the Czech Republic. She has appeared in recital at the Cayman Arts Festival with pianist Glen Inanga and with the Arkansas Philharmonic and the North Mississippi Symphonies conducted by Steven Byess. She has appeared with the Fort Collins Symphony conducted by Wes Kenney, the Allentown Symphony with Diane Wittry, the Bucks County Symphony, Ridgewood Symphony and Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra of New York led by Gary Fagin, the Marin Symphony conducted by Alasdair Neale and the USC and Richardson Symphonies conducted by Anshel Brusilow. She performed the Brahms Double Concerto with Ronald Leonard, under the sbaton of Yehuda Gilad and Carlo Ponti, Jr. She has performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the San Luis Obispo Symphony music director Michael Nowak, and the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Lara Webber and the Livermore Symphony. In 2010, on the 20th anniversary of the auction of the Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius, she gave a commemorative recital in Cremona, Italy with pianist Igor Longato, whom she met at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998. She has toured northern Italy with the TOCCATA-Tahoe Orchestra performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and in 2017, she will tour Vienna, Salzburg and Prague, as well as Romania and Serbia. Also in 2017, she will perform The Red Violin Chaconne with Maestro Jung-Ho Pak and the Cape Symphony and record the Sibelius Violin Concerto which will be released together with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

Her discography includes the Tchaikovsky and Mozart A Major Concerti with the Slovenia Radio Television Orchestra, Hymnen an die Nacht (Hymns to the Night) by Tommie Haglund with the Helsingborg Symphony for Phono Suecia, the Bruch Scottish Fantasy and Sarasate Carmen Fantasy with the Sofia Philharmonic, the Beethoven and Bruch Concerti (2015), the Brahms and Mendelssohn Violin Concerti (2016) and the Sibelius Concerto (2017) with the Classic FM Radio Orchestra of Bulgaria conducted by Maxim Eshkenazy.

The “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius is fitted with Wittner Finetune-Pegs and travels in a titanium case by GEWA. Her favorite activities are skiing, tennis, horseback riding, wine tasting. For her concert schedule and history of the “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius violin, please visit redviolin.com.

Repertoire

75 years ago at the end of World War II the music style of the Big Band era was flourishing and Cleveland Pops conductor Carl Topilow will lead the The Ohio Valley Symphony through a rousing romp of the stylings of Glenn Miller, Hoagie Carmichael, Irvin Berlin and other big band greats.

In this Veterans Day celebration, Carl will invoke the spirit of Benny Goodman when he picks up his clarinet and joins in the fun.
Veterans get a 10% ticket discount, order tickets online today!

Sponsored by

Carl Topilow, conductor and clarinetist
Carl Topilow is renowned worldwide for his versatility, whether he is holding a conductor’s baton or his trademark red clarinet. He is a multi-talented virtuoso who is equally at home in classical and popular music both as conductor and instrumentalist. Carl’s pops performances blend the music of Broadway and Hollywood, as well as popular music, light classics and jazz, often finding an occasion to include a number on his array of brightly colored clarinets. His unique approach to pops programming includes extensive audience involvement and true showmanship.

Carl is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, with a degree in clarinet performance and a masters degree in music education. He has held conducting fellowships with the National Orchestral Association with Leon Barzin and the Aspen Music Festival with under Jorge Mester. Carl began his professional career as Exxon Arts Endowment Conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra.

Following his longtime dream of conducting his own pops orchestra, Carl founded the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. The orchestra, currently in its 24th season, plays its subscription series in Severance Hall and performs in several other locations throughout Ohio. The Cleveland Pops Orchestra’s diverse, innovative and electrifying programs have been critically acclaimed. The orchestra has three CDs, Music to Grow On, an exciting collection of music for children and adults of all ages, Live at the Pops, a stirring compilation of music taken from live performances, and a 20th anniversary CD, which includes a selection of live performances taken from concerts over a span from the past decade.

In 2008, Carl was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, based in Sandusky, OH. During Topilow’s tenure with the orchestra, there has been increased community involvement and audience engagement. Featured soloists have included pianists Sergei Babayan, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and Daniil Trifonov, violinists Danielle Belen, Andres Cardenes, Jaime Laredo, Kurt Nikkanen, cellist Sharon Robinson, guitarist Jason Vieaux, trumpeters Michael Sachs and Alan Siebert, and winners of the Sphinx Competition and Cleveland International Piano Competition.

After more than four decades as Music Director and Conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra, a summer music festival based in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado, Topilow maintains an active role as Music Advisor. Through this festival he has assisted in the training of talented young musicians and conductors for positions in symphonic orchestras in the United States and abroad.

Carl has also served as Principal Pops Conductor for the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra in Ft. Myers, Florida, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Mansfield (OH) Symphony Orchestra.

Carl served as Conductor and Director of the Orchestral Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music for 37 years. Graduates of his masters program in orchestral conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music hold or have held positions with these orchestras and others:

Annapolis Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Orchestra of Limoges (France), Louisville Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica de Minas Gerais (Brazil), Ohio Light Opera, Richmond Symphony, US Army Band “Pershing’s Own.”

He was named Faculty Emeritus after his years of service at CIM.

Repertoire

Takes you on a musical visit to 19th century Paris when Phantom of the Opera star Geena Jeffries Mattox joins The Ohio Valley Symphony for some Perfectly Parisian music. Carline Waugh joins in the fun as well and both sopranos finish off the evening with some delicious duets.

Steven Huang, conductor
Maestro Steven Huang is thrilled to return to Southeastern Ohio to the podium of The Ohio Valley Symphony. He has conducted orchestras and operas across the country and throughout 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). Most 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 from Ohio Music Educators Association and Columbus Roundtable Awards, through over 200 performances, including symphonic concerts, opera, musical theater, and Halloween pops.

Widely respected as a music educator and conducting pedagogue, Mr. Huang is the founder and director of International Conducting Masterclasses, Inc., which has trained scores of conductors over the last two decades. He is currently working on a book about conducting.

Mr. Huang has collaborated with orchestras around the world, including California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Ohio, Haiti, Moldova, 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. He has served as guest conductor with multiple appearances with Brasov Philharmonic (ROMANIA) and the National Philharmonic of Moldova. 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). Mr. Huang debuted with The Ohio Valley Symphony at the 2018 Christmas Show.

Geena Jeffries Maddox
Ms. Geena Jeffries Mattox has performed for more than two decades throughout the United States and Europe. Credits include, featured Soprano Soloist – Mozart’s Regina Coeli, Schubert’s G Major Mass,  Rutter’s Magnificat at Carnegie Hall under conductor John Rutter; Featured Soprano Soloist – Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s The Bells at Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra; Featured Soprano Soloist – Dubois’ Seven Last Words, Handel’s Messiah with the Colorado Symphony.  Leading roles with Tulsa Opera, Opera Colorado, Chicago Light Opera and Featured Soprano Soloist for ESPN’s ESPY Awards at Radio City Music Hall; Winner of Bel Canto Competition, San Francisco Opera Competition and Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Semi-Finalist.  Ms. Jeffries Mattox made her Broadway Debut at the Majestic Theater as Carlotta in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, The Phantom of the Opera. She later originated the role of Carlotta in the Las Vegas production of Phantom of the Opera, A Las Vegas Spectacular. She received her BA from Rockmont College, her MM from University of Colorado and she is currently pursuing her DMA at West Virginia University. She has a passion for service and has worked extensively with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1992 and is thrilled to be joining us this season at the Ariel Opera House.

Caline Waugh, soprano
Carline Waugh is a Jamaican-born soprano who is praised for her ability to mesmerize audiences. As a powerful singing actor, Ms. Waugh continues to thrill audiences around the world. She has given recent performances in Russia, Finland, Italy, Austria, throughout the United States, and the Caribbean.

Ms. Waugh has recently sung leading roles in the Italian premiers of the operas Buffalo Soldiers, Songo Di Una Notte Di Mezza Estate, and the cantata Hilegard Von Bingen and Black Madonna. Her other recent roles include Mimí in Puccini’s La Boheme, Gretel from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Liu from Turandot, Zerlina from Don Giovanni, Valencienne from The Merry Widow, Polly from Die Dreigroschenoper, and Gianetta from The Gondoliers.

Her concert repertoire includes André Previn’s Honey and Rue, Barber’s Knoxville Summer of 1915, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ, Handel’s Messiah,  Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor, and Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, and J.S. Bach’s Magnificat in D Major.

Ms. Waugh currently serves Marshall University and the region as a performer, and teaching artist. She is delighted to make her debut with the Ohio Valley Symphony.

Repertoire

In this season of hope and renewal The Ohio Valley Symphony will warm your hearts with their annual Christmas Show under the baton of Steven Huang. Traditional carols along with newer holiday favorites will awaken your holiday spirit.

Gather family and friends and get your tickets early as it is always sold out!

And if you have ever had a secret desire to lift the baton and bring out beautiful music, you too could be a Maestro For A Moment at this annual symphony fundraiser. Contact us to be a part of this fun and wonderful event.

Sponsored by

Steven Huang, conductor
Maestro Steven Huang is thrilled to return to Southeastern Ohio to the podium of The Ohio Valley Symphony.  He has conducted orchestras and operas across the country and throughout 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).  Most 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 from Ohio Music Educators Association and Columbus Roundtable Awards, through over 200 performances, including symphonic concerts, opera, musical theater, and Halloween pops.

Widely respected as a music educator and conducting pedagogue, Mr. Huang is the founder and director of International Conducting Masterclasses, Inc., which has trained scores of conductors over the last two decades.  He is currently working on a book about conducting.

Mr. Huang has collaborated with orchestras around the world, including California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Ohio, Haiti, Moldova, 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.  He has served as guest conductor with multiple appearances with Brasov Philharmonic (ROMANIA) and the National Philharmonic of Moldova.  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).  Mr. Huang debuted with The Ohio Valley Symphony at the 2018 Christmas Show.

Repertoire