Maestro for a Moment FUN-draiser 2023

Congratulations Maestro for a Moment Nick Young! The Ohio Valley Symphony’s annual Maestro for a Moment Fundraiser is one of the highlights of the season for both audience and orchestra! Each season three candidates vie for the opportunity to conduct the orchestra during the The Christmas Show on December 2nd, 2023, in a rousing rendition of Sleigh Ride! Thank you to this year’s candidates are Selena Hunt, owner of The Flour Girls Baking Company located just down the street on Second Avenue; Bryan Stepp, Exec. VP of Lending/Credit at The Ohio Valley Bank Company; and Nicholas Young, Bands Director at Gallia Academy High School and Middle School.

Learn more about our candidates by clicking “Read More”

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.
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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.
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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 Roarin’ Twenties! The Ohio Valley Symphony

MAY 20, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
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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.
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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.

April Foolishness, The Ohio Valley Symphony

APRIL 1, 2023
at 7:30 p.m.
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We all need a bit of levity in our lives and April 1st is the perfect time for it.  Maestro Peter Stafford Wilson will lead the OVS in an evening of whimsy and farce.  Canon Brent Sturm will join him with tongue planted firmly in cheek narrating The Young Lutheran’s Guide to the Orchestra.  This demos each instrument of the orchestra and the narrator lets us know why a good Lutheran would not want to play it! Also on the program is Vaughan Williams Aristophanic Suite (remember Aristophanes is the father of comedy), William Walton’s Facade Suite No. 1 and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite (music written for one of the earliest sound movies about a fictitious soldier).

Oboes on the Ohio, The Ohio Valley Symphony

November 5, 2022
at 7:30 p.m.
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This opening concert will be held at Wedge Auditorium at Pt. Pleasant Jr./Sr. High School, 280 Scenic Dr., Point Pleasant, WV.

On November 5th the dulcet sounds of the Cincinnati Symphony’s principal oboist, Dwight Parry will be heard on a North American premiere of Carl Vine’s Oboe Concerto with Cincinnati Symphony’s Associate Conductor, François López-Ferrer, on the podium.  The concert also features music by Ravel, Debussy and Poulenc.