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.

2022-23 Season Subscription! The Ohio Valley Symphony

New Subscribers Buy Here Now!

New subscribers click the purple button to purchase your season subscription or call the Box Office at 740-446-ARTS (2787).  Existing subscribers who wish to keep their current seats call the Box Office to order!

Welcome our 33rd season and one of the most diverse ever planned!

We kick things off with a change in venue. Our first concert will be held at Wedge Auditorium at the Point Pleasant Jr./Sr. High School, 280 Scenic Dr., Pt. Pleasant, WV on November 5th, with the dulcet sounds of Oboes on the Ohio.

The Christmas Show! The Ohio Valley Symphony-2022

December 3, 2022
at 7:30 p.m.
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Is there any Christmas music more beloved than the Nutcracker? On December 3rd hear the suite in its entirety along with other holiday songs of the season such as Silver Bells, Feliz Navidad, Frosty the Snowman and more under the baton of Steven Huang on December 3rd. 

Join in the fun with our annual Maestro for a Moment competition

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.

Maestro for a Moment FUN-draiser 2022-23

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 3rd, 2022, in a rousing rendition of Sleigh Ride! This year’s candidates are Kaiti Dovyak, from the OVS’s first string class and a founding member of the Ohio Valley Youth Orchestra; Robin Fowler, the State Farm Insurance Agent located just down the street on Second Avenue; and Marilyn Wills, the vocal and instrumental teacher with Gallipolis City Schools.

Make your tax-deductible donation now!
Click one – or all! – of the Paypal links above!

J. Mark McVey, October 6, 2007

J. Mark McVey

Ohio Valley Symphony bound for Broadway in season opener There’s nothing like autumn in New York, but there’s no need to wait in an airport line, drive for hours or negotiate cabs and subways. Let the Ohio Valley Symphony take you to the Great White Way for “Broadway and Beyond,” opening concert of the orchestra’s 18th season.

Broadway star Mark McVey joins the OVS — southeast Ohio’s only professional orchestra — at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 on the stage of the historic Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis. The Huntington, W.Va., native joins the orchestra, under music director Ray Fowler, for a tribute to America’s own music. He will perform songs by some of the stage’s greatest composers, from Irving Berlin to Andrew Lloyd Webber and from Leonard Bernstein to Richard Rodgers. Audiences will leave the Ariel humming such classics as “All the Things You Are,” “Anything Goes,” “Music of the Night,” “One,” “Somethings Coming,” and “The Way We Were.”

Mark McVey made his Broadway debut as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” — after having won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor while on tour with the show. He has sung the stirring role nearly 3,000 times, and he was the first American to perform it in London’s West End. McVey has appeared in nationally-televised performances with the Boston Pops and the National Symphony, under Marvin Hamlisch, in a Christmas special for U.S. troops overseas.

McVey has released three CDs, “Broadway and Beyond,” “If You Really Knew Me,” his crossover into the adult contemporary world, and the inspirational “One Among Few.”

After the concert, come to the Dater Centre’s ballroom for a reception, featuring dancing accompanied by live music. Have two left feet? Dr. Joe Li offers a beginner lesson in ballroom dancing from 7-7:30 p.m. Admission to both is included with the price of an OVS concert ticket.

McVey will be offering a Masterclass 10-11 am the day of the concert on the Ariel stage. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults. McVey will be discussing vocal techniques, working in musicals, the business aspects of working on Broadway, etc.

The Morris & Dorothy Haskins Theatre of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre is at 426 Second Ave. in Gallipolis, Ohio. Tickets for “Broadway and Beyond” cost $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and are available at www.ohiovalleysymphony.org or by calling the theatre’s box office at (740)446-ARTS (2787). The box office is open Tuesdays through Fridays 9 am to 4 pm and 90 minutes prior to the show.

Funding for the symphony is provided by The Ann Carson Dater Endowment.

The OVS is also supported by the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

Graceful Ghosts, November 3, 2007

The Ohio Valley Symphony, Nov. 3, 2007

Ghosties, goblins and witches are all part of the brew when The Ohio Valley Symphony presents “Graceful Ghosts” Saturday, November 3 at 8 pm. The Morris & Dorothy Haskins Theatre will host a variety of spectres as the costumed musicians take the stage at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre at 426 Second Ave. in Gallipolis, Ohio. Music Director, Ray Fowler, promises you an evening of hauntingly beautiful and ghoulishly familiar music that will stir your emotions and fire your imagination.

“Graceful Ghosts,” is a program of music that will send more shivers down your spine than a chilly November night. Venture onto Bald Mountain to sneak a peek at a witches’ sabbath in Modest Mussorgsky’s classic tone painting, so real that Walt Disney chose it for the original “Fantasia.” Alfred Hitchcock would smile at his TV theme song, Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod. The program also includes excerpts from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in their spectacular orchestrations by Maurice Ravel. The percussion section is featured in the title selection, Graceful Ghosts.

At the end of the evening the 2007 Maestro for a Moment will be “unmasked” and escorted to the stage to conduct John Phillip Sousa’s Stars & Stripes Forever. Campaigning for the honor are William Beegle and Dr. Nicholas Economides. The annual event is a good natured competition to see who can raise the most funds to help support the orchestra throughout the year. Every dollar is a vote for your favorite and patrons are urged to vote early and vote often.

Funding for the symphony is also provided by Holzer Medical Center and The Ann Carson Dater Endowment as well as a grant from the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

OVS Pops Program Kicks off Holiday Season, November 25, 2007

The elves of the Ohio Valley Symphony are ready to deck the hall — in the historic Morris & Dorothy Haskins Theatre of The Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis, Ohio — with the sounds of the holiday season. Join the orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Maestro Ray Fowler, at 8 p.m. Saturday, December 1, for a program of traditional and familiar Christmas songs.

The evening starts with a grand flourish as the brass section of the orchestra ring in the season with Hark, the Herald Angels Sing and Joy to the World. Antiphonal brass quartets will perform Canzon Septimi Toni by Gabrieli. Selections by Corelli and Bizet provide a classic touch as well as Respighi’s hauntingly beautiful Adoration of the Magi.

Seasonal favorites such as O Tannenbaum and The First Noel are offered up in arrangements by the well loved pops arranger Carmen Dragon. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is the evocative tune sung by Judy Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louis.” The brass are featured again inA Canadian Brass Christmas. The program is rounded out with Winter Wonderland and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.

For the child in all of us, the OVS will perform selections from the popular movie “The Polar Express.” No pops program would becomplete without the crack of a whip as the orchestra dashes out Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride.

The Ohio Valley Symphony’s “Christmas Show” is the perfect way to set your mood for the holiday season. Enjoy the ambiance of our Victorian opera house with the beautiful holiday decor tastefully designed and displayed by Michael Brown.

Funding for the symphony is provided by Holzer Clinic and The Ann Carson Dater Endowment as well as by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

The public is encouraged to attend rehearsals for free on Friday, Nov. 30, from 7-10 p.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 1-4 p.m. OVS Saturday dress rehearsals are an excellent way to introduce young children to symphonic music.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert are $22, $20 for seniors and $10 for students, and are available at the Ariel Dater Hall box office at 428 Second Ave. For more information call (740) 446-2787 (ARTS).