Press Release: 2007-08 OVS Season

OHIO VALLEY SYMPHONY

2007-08 SEASON

From Baroque to Broadway and from goblins to Christmas cheer, join the Ohio Valley Symphony for the 2007-08 subscription season. The 18th season of southeast Ohio’s only professional orchestra lights the stage of the historic Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis for five programs — all under the direction of music director Ray Fowler — that will stir your emotions and fire your imagination. All concerts take place on Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. in the Morris & Dorothy Haskins Theatre of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre at 426 Second Avenue in Gallipolis, Ohio.

You’ll hear young and exciting guest artists ranging from Broadway’s Mark McVey to award-winning Canadian-Korean ’cellist Soo Bae and pianist Lori Sims. They’ll bring to life beloved, familiar music by favorite composers from the 17th through the late 20th century.

Mark McVey joins the OVS on Oct. 6 for “Broadway and Beyond,” a season-opening tribute to America’s own music: Broadway. He and the orchestra will perform songs by some of the stage’s greatest composers in works from the Great White Way’s Golden Age and its current heyday.

From Irving Berlin to Andrew Lloyd Webber, from Leonard Bernstein to Richard Rodgers, audiences will leave the Ariel humming such classics as “All the Things You Are,” “Anything Goes,” “Music o the Night,” “One,” “Somethings Coming,” and “The Way We Were.”

Let your Halloween last — at least until Nov. 3, when the OVS offers a night of “Ghostly Hallows,” 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.

Then get an early start on happier holidays with “A Christmas Show” on Dec. 1. Brass music from the late 1600s by Giovanni Gabrieli and the “Farandole,” including the “March of the Kings,” by Georges Bizet start the program with a classic touch. Then, the OVS warms you up with a variety of favorite modern holiday carols and songs.

In Spring, it’s not just a young man’s thoughts that turn to romance. Join the OVS and pianist Lori Sims on March 29, 2008, for “The Romantics,” a program of titans of classical music. Triumph meets tragedy in two pillars of symphonic music as Sims solos in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Fowler leads the orchestra through Tchaikovsky’s final masterpiece, the Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique.”

Soo Bae helps the OVS celebrate the end of the season May 3, 2008, performing Robert Schumann’s soulful Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. Fowler then brings the year to a sunny, rousing end with Johannes Brahms’ massive Symphony No. 2.

Season tickets are $100 and Senior Citizens are $90. Student tickets are $50 or the entire family can purchase a season ticket for $275. Select balcony tickets with limited leg room are available for $50. Call 740-446-ARTS (2787) for more information.

Quartetto Gelato, October 2, 2010

Poster featuring OVS logo and photo of Quaretto Gelato

Quartetto Gelato Ensemble

The mere name of this foursome suggests yummy desserts, and the Quartetto Gelato delivers! For over a decade, this dazzling ensemble has enchanted audiences worldwide with their exotic blend of musical virtuosity, artistic passion, and charismatic anecdotes. Classical in training…eclectic by design…this Canadian quartet has become a dominant force on the music scene.

A Grand Piano, Yuliya Gorenman

A Grand Piano
Yuliya Gorenman, piano

Award-winning Russian-born American pianist Yuliya Gorenman has rightfully been called a “pianist without fear.” Now firmly established in her performing career, Gorenman first achieved international acclaim as a prizewinner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium in 1995. Since then she has been continually invited to perform solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts throughout the United States and in Europe, and, in the process, has earned consistent praise for her artistic fire, for her fluid and unpretentious technique, and for the lyrical honesty and generosity of her playing.

The Trumpets Shall Sound, March 10, 2012

“Like Father Like Son”

Vincent and Gabriel DiMartino, trumpet

Arrangements for trumpets and orchestra.

Vince and Gabriel DeMartino are respected trumpet performers and teachers equally at home with an orchestra, band, or jazz combo. Vince has performed and recorded with many major U.S. orchestras, and he has played lead with a who’s-who of jazz greats. Gabriel is carrying on the tradition, recording at Syracuse University, where he teaches, and performs with a variety of groups.

The Romantics, April 28, 2012

CHIN KIM, violin

Violinist Chin Kim began playing at age 5 and made his professional debut at 9. A top prize winner in the world’s major violin competitions, Kim has performed and recorded with orchestras around the world.

The Ohio Valley Symphony Presents “The Voices” – March 9th

You will be enchanted by this bass-baritone and soprano duet as they bring classical and broadway numbers to the Ariel Theatre stage along with the one and only Ohio Valley Symphony. Read more for Bio & Full Song List.

The Ohio Valley Symphony kicks off its 22nd season with a combination of hip style and traditional flair

by Thomas Consolo

For its 2011-12 series opener, southeast Ohio’s only professional orchestra welcomes Deborah Henson-Conant back to the
Ohio Valley for “Hip Harp,” a night with the world’s first electric harpist. Ray Fowler, the orchestra’s music director, leads the 8 p.m.
performance Oct. 8 in the Lillian & Paul Wedge Auditorium at the Point Pleasant Jr./Sr. High School in Pt. Pleasant WV.

The program’s sponsor is Ohio Valley Bank, a long-time OVS supporter. As a part of the bank’s “Year of Celebration”, OVB
will be giving away symphony tickets at their Main Office during the week of October 3rd-7th. Stop by their office to register for
free tickets and join them as they celebrate a very special anniversary.

It’s the fourth year the OVS has performed in Point Pleasant, including a concert that helped dedicate the facility’s completion.
“We can’t expect everyone to come to us,” said Lora Snow, the orchestra’s founder and executive director, “so we’re happy to go
to them to share our beautiful music.”

That organization has, over more than two decades, built a reputation for offering a lineup of world-class guest artists performing music
ranging from R&B to classical mainstays to holiday favorites. That variety is key both to the OVS’s mission and its two decades of
success, said Snow.

“Great music comes in all kinds of packages,” she said, “and we try to show people all the things an orchestra can do. It’s a lot more than
just symphonies.”

That will be clear at “Hip Harp.” Henson-Conant — a Grammy-nominated performer, composer and songwriter — has built a renegade
image on her evocative singing voice and the 36-string, custom-built electric harness harp she plays. Her programs fuse theater, stories
and virtuosic playing skill and cover genres from ballads to jazz to flamenco.

She’ll put on a different program on October 8.

It’s the first time a guest artist has appeared with the OVS twice in the same year. For Fowler, Henson-Conant was an obvious choice
for the honor.

“This is a person who will reach right into the heart and soul of the audience,” he said. “She’s just so natural on stage.”

Henson-Conant is a composer, performer, singer, songwriter, author, cartoonist, entertainer, comedienne — all rolled into one! She’s put
on a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, opened for Ray Charles, toured with the Boston Pops and released
a dozen albums from Latin jazz to Celtic to blues.

She’s also revolutionized the harp — usually though of as a genteel instrument — with a custom-made, 36-string electric “harness harp.”
When she turns on the “fuzz box,” though, audiences know they’re in for a different kind of evening.

It’s more than showmanship, Fowler continued. “I was so impressed with how thoughtful she was about her choice of pieces,” he said.
“She wanted to choose just the right repertoire to reach our audience.”

Fowler hopes some people who saw Henson-Conant in July will want to experience her and the orchestra indoors. “There are people
who keep cracking the door of the Ariel open but not quite coming in. We knew that, when they heard Deborah on July 4, they’d want
to hear her again.”

Also on tap for the Saturday evening performance is the conclusion to the annual Maestro for a Moment fund-raising campaign. Find out
which of this year’s finalists earns a spot on the podium to conduct the OVS by raising the most for the orchestra. Mike Brown, Joe Li
and Darlene Ringhand are vying for the honor.

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. 7, and 1-4 p.m. Oct. 8 at
Wedge Auditorium. 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.

Single tickets to the Ohio Valley Symphony’s “Hip Harp” cost $22, $20 (senior) and $10 (student). Subscriptions to all five 2011-12
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. 8 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 website arieltheatre.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 Grand Piano, November 5, 2011

Lori Sims, piano

Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 2; Beethoven, Symphony No. 2.

Internationally known pianist Lori Simms has performed in recital, with chamber groups, and with orchestras in the United States, Europe, and China. The Colorado native is a Yale graduate who now teaches at Western Michigan University. She is the gold medal winner at the 1998 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.