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.