WV Symphony Newsletter: Volume 2, Number 2

Fall 2018

Volume 2, Number 2

... to perform with Lee Greenwood in

A Salute to America.

... to be the inaugural concert in the newly renovated Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center

... to present 11 exciting WVSO perfomances in 2018–19.

Lee Greenwood: Salute to America

Lawrence Loh, conductor October 20, 2018 • 8:00 PM Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center October 20th will be an All-American Night as Lee Greenwood joins the WVSO on stage for an incredible performance at the newly remodeled Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.

Greenwood is best known for the most recognizable patriotic song in America, God Bless the USA, which he wrote in the back of his tour bus in 1983. God Bless the USA has been in the top five on the country singles charts three times (1991, 2001 and 2003), giving it the distinction

of being the only song in any genre of music to achieve that feat.

“I wanted to have something that would unite Americans from coast to coast and to instill pride back in the United States,” said Greenwood, an Academy of Country Music Male Vocalist of the Year. “The song represents my family, my community and those men and women who have paid the price for the freedoms we all love and enjoy.”

TO PURCHASE TICKETS WVSO Pops and Grand season ticket holders will receive vouchers for the Lee Greenwood: Salute to America performance in the mail with their tickets to the WVSO’s 2018-2019 season at the Clay Center. These vouchers MUST be exchanged for concert tickets with seating at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Subscriber vouchers can be exchanged at no cost for Star area seats. For an additional cost, vouchers can be upgraded for VIP table seating on the coliseum floor.

To exchange vouchers for tickets or reserve a VIP table on the floor: Visit the WVSO Office at 110 Wyoming Street or contact Amanda McDonald at 304.957.9880 or amcdonald@wvsymphony.org.

To purchase Stars and Stripes tickets: Go to tickemaster.com, charlestonwvciviccenter.com or call 1.800.745.3000.

The Ultimate Concert Experience You won’t want to miss this ultimate concert experience!

Join the WVSO and award-winning country music legend Lee Greenwood on October 20 at the newly remodeled Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center and enjoy food and beverages at special VIP tables on the floor while listening to phenomenal music, including your favorite patriotic song: God Bless The USA. Choose your table: • Platinum tables include 10 concert tickets, a meet and greet with Lee Greenwood, preconcert dinner for 10, upgraded beverage service, jerk shrimp and bourbon bacon, deviled eggs, cheeseballs and crackers, chocolate-drizzled fruit, chef’s party mix and bottled water. Cost: $10,000. ($7,000 is tax deductible)

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• Gold tables include 10 concert tickets, preconcert dinner for 10, four bottles of house wine, jerk shrimp and bourbon bacon, deviled eggs, cheeseballs and crackers, chocolate-drizzled fruit, chef’s party mix and bottled water. Cost: $5,000. ($3,500 is tax deductible)

VIP patrons will enjoy a delicious spread of food that includes chocolatedrizzled fruit, cheeseballs and crackers, wine and more.

• Silver tables include 10 concert tickets, three bottles of house wine, deviled eggs, cheeseballs and crackers, chocolate-drizzled fruit, chef’s party mix and bottled water. Cost: $2,500. ($1,350 is tax deductible) • Bronze tables include 10 concert tickets, two bottles of house wine, cheeseballs and crackers, chocolate-drizzled fruit, chef’s party mix and bottled water. Cost: $1,750. ($650 is tax deductible) • Individual table seats are available on the floor for $100 per person and include access to food and beverages at an additional cost.

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Presenting a New Way to Give to the WVSO We are happy to introduce our Music Makers Monthly Giving Club as a new option for Annual Sustaining Fund donors to support the orchestra you love. Pledge a monthly gift by credit card through our secure system, and you’ll never need to renew again. In addition to receiving great Annual Sustaining Fund donor benefits, you will also enjoy exclusive Music Makers monthly e-newsletters with listening recommendations shared by Music Director Lawrence Loh and WVSO musicians, a season calendar with important WVSO dates, and invitations to special Music Makers events.

Whether you’re most excited to see Lee Greenwood’s Salute to America at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center in October, hear our Symphony Chorus along with the West Virginia State University and Fairmont State University Choruses sing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in March or bring your family to Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II in April, we are thrilled that you choose to help the WVSO play on by joining our Music Makers Monthly Giving Club. Please use the enclosed envelope to send your gift or call James Shamblin at 304.957.9881 for more information.

The Hopta Family Keeps the Music Playing in West Virginia Music is an essential part of Emily Hopta’s life. Having grown up in Bluefield without a resident orchestra, this wife and mother of two knows how fortunate the Charleston community is to have a professional orchestra that enriches the lives of its residents. Emily and her extended family, which includes WVSO Board Member Steve Hopta, and his wife, Barbara, and longtime WVSO supporters John and Sarah Hoblitzell, have been long-time supporters of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Now, Emily and her husband, Jack Hoblitzell, have decided to join the WVSO’s new Music Makers Monthly Giving Club, a decision that is crucial to the WVSO’s ability to make life better in the Mountain State.

Like her parents before her, Emily and Jack make sacrifices of time and money to instill within their own children a love of symphonic music. Their daughters, Ellie and Charlotte, are members of the Cadet Strings in the West Virginia Youth Symphony. They also are studying violin under the tutelage of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s acting assistant concertmaster Jennifer Wood, who, like so many orchestra members, not only shares her amazing musical talent, but also serves the community as a teacher, friend, neighbor, business owner, and volunteer.

“The WVSO gives the community the opportunity for shared experiences, for education, for quiet moments and for louder celebrations.”

— Emily Hopta

Emily strongly believes cities grow and thrive through access to the arts “and the West Virginia Symphony is a critical component of that equation. We support the WV Symphony Orchestra because it’s an important part of the Charleston community and financial giving is a way to help the organization sustain and grow.”

The WVSO is Turning 80 We’d Love to Hear Your Stories The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is working on a book to celebrate our 80th anniversary in 2019 that tells the story of our evolution from the Charleston Civic Orchestra to the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and ultimately the WVSO. While the book will focus on the music, musicians, and conductors, plus some behind-thescenes players, we recognize that the orchestra does not exist without the support of enthusiastic audiences and generous patrons like you — those folks for whom the symphony has become an integral part of their lives. And that’s where you come in.

• The West Virginia We’ve reviewed an incredible amount of resource Youth Symphony material. What we still need are audience members’ most memorable symphony experiences in words • The West Virginia Symphony Chorus • Partner organizations, such as the Charleston Ballet and in photographs. Please take a moment to recall a • The WVSO on the road (Parkersburg, Morgantown, highlight of your interaction with the symphony, and in Fairmont, Lewisburg and beyond …) case you need a hint to get you started: • Favorite guest artist or most memorable • Women’s Committee/Symphony League events performance (fashion show, annual ball, auction …)

• Symphony Sunday 4

Your contributions need not be lengthy—a brief paragraph will suffice.

Please e-mail your stories or photos to P.J. Dickerscheid at pdickerscheid@ wvsymphony.org or mail them to the WVSO, P.O. Box 2292, Charleston, WV 25328. If you have questions, please call P.J. at 304.957.9871. And please sign your work. We’d love to hear from you

by October 31, 2018!

Historian Pat McClure, who is writing the WVSO’s 80th anniversary book, sifts through papers of the late John Lambros, former WVSO concertmaster who played with the WVSO for 55 years.

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SYMPHONIC SERIES

Lawrence Loh, conductor

Opening Night Spectacular Lawrence Loh, conductor Jon Nakamatsu, piano September 29, 2018 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston September 30, 2018 • 3 PM Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

Photo: Bill Westmoreland

TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s18)

A Percussive Surprise Lisa Pegher, percussion

Sounds of the Season Michelle Merrill, guest conductor December 8, 2018 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston with the WVSO Chorus Parkersburg Symphony Chorus December 9, 2018 • 3 PM Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

Tony DeSare: Sinatra and Beyond Lawrence Loh, conductor February 9, 2019 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston February 10, 2019 • 3 PM Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

November 17, 2018 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston November 18, 2018 • 3 PM Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg Something Old, Something Blue Nikki Chooi, violin January 12, 2019 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston

Warner Bros. presents

NINE! Gabriel Cabezas, cello

George Daugherty, guest conductor April 13, 2019 • 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston

March 23, 2019 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston

Bugs Bunny at The Symphony II

Double Treble Christina and Michelle Naughton, pianos May 4, 2019 • 7:30 PM Clay Center, Charleston

To Purchase Tickets

Lewisburg: carnegiehallwv.com or Charleston: wvsymphony.org or 304.645.7917

304.561.3570 Parkersburg: wvsop.org or 304.485.4200

May 5, 2019 • 3 PM Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

CASUAL CLASSICS

WVSO Extends Enormous Gratitude to John Elliot as Cindy McGhee Assumes Responsibilities as the Board Chair After six years as chair of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors, John Elliot is passing the gavel to Cindy McGhee.

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Under John’s leadership, the WVSO made the necessary and difficult decisions to transform the orchestra into a stronger, more sure-footed organization, one that will serve many future generations of West Virginians. He and his wife, Fonda, also have been loyal and generous supporters of the WVSO, helping to ensure the orchestra remains a very special part of West Virginia’s cultural fabric.

“It’s nearly impossible to mention the many ways in which John and Fonda have contributed their time, talents, and resources to the WVSO,” said WVSO President Joe Tackett. “We would not be the organization we are today without them, and there aren’t enough words to fully express our gratitude to these two truly remarkable people.”

Cindy, who joined the board in 2004, is a passionate and longtime patron of the WVSO with nearly 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.

“I have no doubt Cindy will lead us to many exciting opportunities to share the joy of music with all West Virginians,” said Vice President of Development Pam Murchison.

Lawrence Loh, conductor

President Joe Tackett presents outgoing WVSO Chair John Elliot with a framed collage of photos and original John Auge sketches during the WVSO’s annual meeting in July 2018.

Pipe Dreams Bradley Welch, organ October 13, 2018 • 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM First Presbyterian Church, Charleston

WVSO su p left, and porter Mary Kay F B the 2017 onda and John E ond, lliot at WVSO G ala.

My Harp Will Go On Emily Levin, harp February 23, 2019 • 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM Saint Marks United Methodist Church, Charleston February 24, 2019 • 3 PM Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg

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wvsymphony.org

Jim & Keith Straw

Bernard H. & Blanche E. Jacobson Foundation

Daywood Foundation

Herscher Foundation

John & Ruth McGee Foundation

Dr. Jimmie Mangus West Virginia Foundation

The Honorable Jim Douglas & Phyllis Veith

First Presbyterian Church, Charleston

Christ Church United Methodist