Glorious Gershwin, Richard Glazier

Glorious Gershwin
Richard Glazier, piano

At the age of 9, Richard Glazier was smitten by the music of Gershwin after seeing the film “Girl Crazy.” He wrote a letter to Ira Gershwin and continued to correspond with him for many years. Fueled by that relationship, Glazier dedicated himself the the Gershwin repertoire and became the leading authority on that genre. He has won many international awards and competitions and has the distinction of being selected as a Steinway Artist.

DVORAK, November 7, 2010

Joseph Johnson, cello

Principal cellist of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal cellist-designate of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (2010-2011 season), Joseph Johnson is one of the most exciting solo artists of his generation. Since 1997 he has nurtured a special relationship with Russian culture and people, a relationship that was spawned during his tgour with the American Russian Youth Orchestra. Johnson performs on a 1747 Juan Guillami cello.

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Congratulations to 2013’s Maestro for a Moment!

Ellen Garling was given the honor of being Maestro for a Moment as a result of the 2012-2013 season’s fundraiser, congratulations, and thank you for your support!

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!

Broadway! Steve Amerson, Tenor

Broadway!
Steve Amerson, tenor

Steve Amerson has established a reputation as a superior tenor with a vocal flexibility that allows him to feel at home in both popular/contemporary music and classical literature. With the wealth and depth of his performance experience, he is known as America’s Tenor. He has been featured with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl and at Carnegie Hall. Along with his concert schedule, which includes 50-60 Christmas, Broadway, patriotic and sacred concerts each year, Steve does studio singing for various recording projects, movies, commercials and television shows. His voice can be heard on over 160 feature films.

Press Release: After 115 Years, Dvorak Concerto Gets Regional Debut

By Thomas Consolo

It was a busy year in 1895: In New York City, Antonin Dvorak put the finishing touches on his cello concerto. In Gallipolis, ground was broken for the Ariel Opera House. Fast forward 115 years, and the two finally get to meet.

Dvorak’s concerto, the biggest blockbuster of the solo cello repertoire, receives its regional premiere Nov. 6 as the centerpiece of an all-Dvorak program by the Ohio Valley Symphony. OVS music director Ray Fowler conducts the 8 p.m. performance at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis. Joseph Johnson takes on the challenge of the concerto as guest soloist.

The concert is the orchestra’s “home opener,” since restoration construction at the Ariel made it unavailable in October.

Dvorak is an audience favorite thanks to his seemingly bottomless supply of beautiful melodies. The United States has a special soft spot for his music thanks to the masterpieces — like the “New World” symphony and the “American” string quartet — he wrote during his three years here. The cello concerto was the last major work completed before Dvorak moved back to his native Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), and it shows the composer at the height of his powers. It requires the same mastery of the cellists who play it.

Fowler loves Dvorak’s music, too, but he said he didn’t set out to build an all-Dvorak program. He said the rest of the evening — movements from the Serenade for Strings and from the two sets of Slavonic Dances — fell together naturally around the concerto and Johnson.

Finding Johnson, former principal cellist of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and now in his first season as principal of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, was a lucky accident for Fowler. The conductor said he heard of Johnson because he had worked with a violinist whose playing Fowler likes and respects. Of the cellist, he said, “His playing is so very, very solid.”

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Johnson earned his master’s degree from Northwestern University. In addition to his Toronto position, he is principal of the Sante Fe Opera orchestra. Johnson recently completed a special recording project called the Cello Collection. Published in three volumes, it presents cello literature appropriate for recitals featuring companion recordings by Johnson.

November’s portrait of Dvorak reflects the OVS mission to bring great music played by great artists to southeast Ohio — all while making orchestral music easy to love. The public is encouraged to attend OVS rehearsals for free at 7-10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, and 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6. Open rehearsals are an excellent way for young and old alike to grow comfortable with symphonic music. They’re also a great glimpse behind the scenes at what goes into preparing an orchestral performance.

Single tickets to the Ohio Valley Symphony’s all-Dvorak night are $22, $20 (senior) and $10 (students) and are available through the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre box office, 428 Second Ave., Gallipolis, Ohio. Subscriptions to all four remaining 2010-11 OVS concerts also are still available. For more information, visit the OVS Web site, www.ohiovalleysymphony.org, or call (740) 446-2787 (ARTS).

Further funding for the Ohio Valley Symphony is provided by the Ann Carson Dater Endowment.

2017-2018 Maestro for a Moment Fundraiser

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! in a rousing rendition of Sleigh Ride! This year’s candidates are Jan Bergdoll, representing Pleasant Valley Hospital; Matt Traywick, representing Traywick Financial Services; and Ryan Yavorsky, representing Holzer Health Systems.

Click the “read more” below to learn more about the candidates and to make your tax-deductible donation now!

2012 Hobgoblin Halloween Show

The Ohio Valley Symphony’s Musical Treat
Saturday, November 3, 2012

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.

2011 SUMMER ELIZABETH CONCERT – Deborah Henson-Conant

The grand finale will include the “1812 Overture” and “Stars & Stripes Forever” complete with fireworks.

For the third straight year, the Ohio Valley Symphony will help celebrate the Fourth of July with a free concert in Gallipolis City Park.

Joining the OVS and music director Ray Fowler at 8 p.m. will be Deborah Henson-Conant, the “hip harpist” who will return to the area in October for the OVS’s season opener at Point Pleasant Junior/Senior High School. It will be the first time an OVS soloist has appeared twice in the same year.

“Aside from the fact that she’s perfect for a July 4 event, I’m looking at it as an opportunity,” said Fowler. “There are people who keep peeking into the Ariel and not quite cracking the door open. When they hear Deborah on July 4, though, they’ll want to hear her again.”

Henson-Conant is a composer, performer, singer, songwriter, author, cartoonist, entertainer, comedian and electric harpist — 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 her instrument with a custom-made, 36-string electric “harness harp.”

“We’re thrilled to be able to be back for another Fourth of July concert,” said Lora Lynn Snow, the orchestra’s executive director. “It’s a great time for the whole family, so bring some chairs and head to downtown Gallipolis.”

— Thomas Consolo