in Community 2025-2026 season
1st Violin: Sally Williams Minnich (Concertmaster)
2nd Violin: Emily Long
Viola: Matthew Kumjian
Violoncello: Katie Van Varick
Flute: Cathy Herrera
Oboe: Barry Kroeker
Clarinet: Brandy Davis
Bassoon: Trina Gallup
Horn: Kathryn Beck
Trumpet: Herb McKinstry
Trombone: Bob LaBarca
Timpani: Kyle Haust
I am delighted to welcome you to the opening of our 2025-2026 Nittany Valley Symphony (NVS) concert season. This is our 59th season here in Central Pennsylvania, and we are excited to look out on the horizon toward our 60th anniversary next year.
Our organization underwent some pretty significant changes at the end of last season. We said farewell to some longtime members of the symphony — violinist Ellie Lewis, who played with us for 33 years; James Dunne, who played French horn with us for 50 years; and our Concertmaster, Joanne Zagst Feldman, who served in that role for 32 years. Trina Gallup also has decided to step down from her role as orchestra personnel manager after 34 years, although she will continue in her role as principal bassoonist.
Finally, we are saying good-bye to Executive Director Gabriel Herrera. While we had hoped Gabe would be with us in this role for a long time, he graduated from Penn State in May with his master of music performance, and accepted an opportunity to pursue a doctorate in music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, supported by a graduate teaching assistantship and Henry Mancini fellowship. We are sorry to see you go, Gabe, although we are happy for you that you are following your passion for music and we wish you all the best.
But offsetting the farewells are some pretty exciting welcomes. You can read about our new concertmaster in Music Director/Conductor Tim Farrand’s message on page 4. Violinist Marie Sorensen will be taking over the role of orchestra personnel manager, and she and Trina Gallup will work together for the first concert to ensure a smooth transition.
I also am pleased to announce that Rebecca Richards has joined NVS as our new executive director. Rebecca earned her Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in nonprofit management from Brigham Young University, and she has a bachelor of science degree in human resource management, also from Brigham Young. So, she literally went to school to study how to be an executive director at a nonprofit organization such as ours.
You can learn more about Rebecca and why we are so excited to be working with her by going to https://bit.ly/2025_NVS_ED_Richards online.
I extend my deepest gratitude to our orchestra musicians, music director and conductor Timothy Farrand, members of our hard-working board of directors, and all who have volunteered tirelessly behind the scenes to bring this season to life. Their dedication and talent are the foundation upon which we build our musical journey, and I am forever grateful for their contributions.
Thank you as well to our audience members, long-time sponsors, and generous supporters of all ages. Sit back, relax, and may our music fill your hearts with joy and inspiration.
Lisa A. Schroeder President, Board of Directors Nittany Valley Symphony
Welcome to the 2025-2026 Nittany Valley Symphony season: Harmony in Community. This year’s programs reflect not only the artistic vision of our orchestra, but also the spirit of connection that defines who we are — a symphony made from our community, for our community.
This season, we celebrate collaboration as we build connections with local artists and organizations, invite new voices into our ensemble, and deepen our role in the cultural fabric of central Pennsylvania. At the same time, nature runs as a thread through the season: as setting, symbol, and source of inspiration. In these programs, you’ll hear the world around us — gardens, countrysides, forests, and dreams — transformed into sound.
We begin with Romance and Reverie, a program that traverses landscape and legend. Delius’s In a Summer Garden evokes the lush serenity of an English garden in full bloom, while RimskyKorsakov’s dazzling Capriccio Espagnol brings the fire and flair of Spain to the concert hall in a virtuosic display akin to a concerto for orchestra. His Antar symphony sweeps us into a mythic desert world, weaving storytelling and music, while Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances bring the program to a close with vibrant colors and rhythmic vitality.
In November, we present Midsummer Night’s Dream, a collaborative reimagining that brings together Mendelssohn’s beloved incidental music with scenes from Shakespeare’s magical play. We are thrilled to partner with VanDance Inc., Tempest Productions, State High Thespians and Dancers, the State High Chorus, and Penn State soloists for this production — a community celebration of movement, drama, and sound.
Our winter Family Program continues the theme of collaboration as we welcome the talented young musicians of State High’s Advanced Strings in a side-by-side performance. The program includes two works by Aaron Copland — An Outdoor Overture and Down a Country Lane — that echo the season’s nature theme and foreshadow our American music celebration later this season. We look forward to showcasing this year’s Ann Keller Young Soloist Competition winner, followed by Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, a humorous and poetic exploration of the animal kingdom featuring soloists Amy Gustafson and Erin Chen.
In March, we celebrate a major milestone: the 250th anniversary of the United States. Our program highlights the richness and diversity of American music, showcasing the range of American creativity across film, theater, and the concert hall. We will feature William Grant Still’s evocative Poem and Leonard Bernstein’s cinematic On the Waterfront Suite alongside selections by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, John Williams, and more.
Our season finale, Hearts on Fire, brings love, loss, and transcendence to the fore. Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture evokes the passion and drama of Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy. We welcome George Carpten IV as soloist for Oskar Böhme’s expressive and virtuosic Trumpet Concerto in F Minor. And we close with the grandeur and triumph of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 — a testament to resilience and hope.
This season also marks a meaningful transition in our orchestra family. We bid a heartfelt farewell to Joanne Zagst Feldman and celebrate her years of dedicated service and artistic excellence as our concertmaster. We now warmly welcome Sally Williams Minnich as she takes up the mantle, leading us into this next chapter.
Whether you’ve been with us for many seasons or are just discovering what makes this orchestra special, I invite you to join us in the concert hall this year. Together, let’s celebrate harmony — in nature, in music, and in community.
Timothy Farrand NVS Music Director and Conductor
From garden paths to desert legends, a journey through scent, song, and story.
Sunday, September 21, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
Bellefonte Area High School
Delius, Frederick: In a Summer Garden
Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai: Capriccio Espagnol
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai: Symphony No. 2 in F-sharp Minor “Antar”
Borodin, Alexander: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
A journey through music, movement, and Midsummer mischief, featuring Mendelssohn’s beloved score and scenes from Shakespeare’s play.
Sunday, November 16, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
State College Area High School Performing Arts Center
Mendelssohn, Felix: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Incidental Music
This is a collaboration with VanDance Inc., Tempest Productions, State College Area High School
Thespians and Dancers, Chorus, and Soprano soloists blending scenes from Shakespeare’s play with Mendelssohn’s Incidental Music.
The NVS Tapestry Chamber Concert Series provides an opportunity to hear NVS musicians perform works outside of the usual concert repertoire in a relaxed small venue setting, followed by light refreshments and conversation.
This three-concert series will be held on Sunday afternoons in the fall, winter and summer, at a variety of small, local venues.
Visit our website at https://www.nvs.org/outreach to learn more about our Tapestry Kickoff Concert held in May 2025, as well as our upcoming concert plans.
A celebration of rising talent and musical imagination.
Sunday, February 22, 2026, 3:00 p.m.
State College Area High School Performing Arts Center
Copland, Aaron: An Outdoor Overture
Copland, Aaron: Down a Country Lane
Ann Keller Young Soloist Competition Winner
Saint-Saens, Camille: Carnival of the Animals
Amy Gustafson and Erin Chen, soloists
Celebrating American music in its most iconic forms: jazz, film music, and the symphonic tradition.
Thursday, March 19, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Penn State Eisenhower Auditorium
The program will feature a range of American musical idioms including Jazz, Classical, Film and Musical Theatre that highlight how American music shaped the 20th century. Included on this program will be Bernstein’s On the Waterfront Suite and Overture to Candide in addition to William Grant Still’s Poem for Orchestra alongside works by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and John Williams.
Romantic tragedy, lyrical beauty, and the triumph of spirit.
Friday, May 1, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Bellefonte Area High School
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Böhme, Oskar: Trumpet Concerto in F Minor
George Carpten, IV, soloist
Sibelius, Jean: Symphony No. 2 in D Major
The Nittany Valley Symphony is a community orchestra that has performed in Centre County since 1967. Our mission is to inspire and enrich our diverse community through live concerts of the highest caliber symphonic music performed by professional and amateur musicians. Our musicians come from all walks of life. While our “day jobs” may include everything from real estate agents to professors to small business owners to artists, we all share a love of creating beautiful music. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are longstanding fundamental values of the Nittany Valley Symphony. We strive to actively incorporate these values into our organization through our musicians, board, associated activities, music selections and our marketing efforts, which are focused on a variety of diverse audiences. We actively foster an environment of respect and belonging for musicians, board members, and members of the communities we serve.
The Nittany Valley Symphony was organized in 1967 by Ann Keller of State College, PA, to perform at the first Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. The symphony has performed every year since then, with the exception of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, which were canceled due to the COVID pandemic.
Bellefonte Area High School
830 East Bishop Street, Bellefonte
State College Area High School 650 Westerly Pkwy, State College
Penn State Eisenhower Auditorium 102 Eisenhower Rd, University Park
Tickets to Nittany Valley Symphony concerts are $25 for adults and $5 for students, and may be purchased in advance by going to our website at https://www.nvs.org/concerts or using the camera app on your smartphone to scan the QR code to the right.
Tickets also may be purchased at the door on the day of the concert. For season subscription information, please see page 11.
The Nittany Valley Symphony is a nonprofit symphonic orchestra receiving partial funding from private foundations, businesses, individual donors, and grants. Special thanks goes to the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts) and the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau. Please consider joining our family of supporters to keep programming high and ticket prices low.
Maestro’s Circle ($4,000 or more): Includes up to four complimentary season tickets.
Orchestra Partner ($1,000-$3,999): Includes up to four complimentary season tickets.
Honorary Conductor ($750-$999): Includes up to three complimentary season tickets.
Benefactor ($500-$749): Includes up to two complimentary season tickets.
Associate ($200-$499): Includes one complimentary season ticket.
Patron ($100-$199): Includes recognition in all concert programs.
Maestro Sponsorship ($6,000): Benefits negotiable.
Season Concert Sponsorship ($4,000): Recognizing the contribution our community orchestra makes to the quality of life in Central Pennsylvania, individuals, regional companies and foundations gladly participate in a high-profile commitment to the season Concert Sponsorship. For a gift of $4,000, this select group of businesses and individuals will be recognized for their support. Benefits negotiable.
Orchestra Section Sponsorship ($3,000): Benefits negotiable.
Principal Chair Sponsorship (As listed): Our chair sponsorship program is used to sponsor the principal musician of a specific section of the orchestra. The sponsorship provides a nominal compensation for this position so the Nittany Valley Symphony can attract and keep the most talented musicians in the area. Sponsorship levels are: Concertmaster: $3,000; Principal players: $2,000; Additional players: $1,500. Benefits negotiable.
Ann Keller Young Soloist Sponsorship ($1,000): Each year, the Ann Keller Young Soloist Competition attracts about a dozen extremely talented students from area high schools. The competition is closed to the public, but the winner is asked to perform with the Symphony at the Family Concert. Competitors are also invited to perform at a CPYO concert.
To support the Symphony, please contact the NVS office by phone at (814) 231-8224, donate securely on our website at https://www.nvs.org/support or use the camera app on your smartphone to scan the QR code to the right.
Value Comparison: Single Adult tickets at the door are $25. # 4-Concert Series (Adult) @ $90.00 = $ # 4-Concert Series (Student) @ $20.00 ........................................................ = $
Maestro’s
Honorary Conductor ($750-$999) Orchestra Section Sponsorship ($3,000)
Benefactor ($500-$749)
Principal Chair Sponsorship (Varies)
Associate ($200-$499) Ann Keller Young Soloist ($1,000)
Patron ($100-$199) Contribution
