WVSO 22-23 Season: The Search is on! Join us in selecting the WVSO's next Music Director

SEASON THEME GRAPHIC

Join us in selecting the WVSO’s next music director!

Don’t Miss Out! Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series Saturday, September 17, 7:30 p.m.

OPENING SENSATION Janna Hymes, conductor candidate Alexander Hersh, cello

Saturday, March 11, 7:30 p.m.

Symphonie fantastique Daniel Black, conductor candidate Demarre McGill, flute

Saturday, November 19, 7:30 p.m.

AROUND THE WORLD Scott Woodard, conductor candidate Barbara Nissman, piano

Saturday, April 22, 7:30 p.m.

Renewal Maurice Cohn, conductor candidate Rachel Barton Pine, violin

Saturday, January 21, 7:30 pm SYMPHONIC DANCES Sameer Patel, conductor candidate Rachel Lee O’Brien, harp

Saturday, May 6, 7:30 pm BOLD & BRASSY Timothy Verville, conductor candidate Christopher Goodpasture, piano

ZMM Architects & Engineers Pops Series Saturday, October 15, 7:30 pm CALAN Welsh folk band in collaboration with FOOTMAD Grant Cooper, conductor emeritus Saturday, December 3, 7:30 p.m.

Sounds of the Season Michelle Merrill, guest conductor

Saturday, February 11, 7:30 p.m.

Soulful guest conductor TBA Saturday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.

Blockbuster Scores: Music from TV & Film Stuart Chafetz, guest conductor

Special Performances Friday, December 9, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 10, 2 p.m.

Nutcracker Grant Cooper, conductor emeritus co-produced by The Charleston Ballet

Saturday, December 17, 7:30 p.m.

Gloria! with the West Virginia Symphony Chorus David Castleberry, guest conductor

All performances are at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia.

All repertoire and guest artists subject to change.

The WVSO Search Committee has worked tirelessly sifting through applications, attending meetings, offering advice and suggestions, and making tough decisions.

16 community members serve on the Search Committee chaired by WVSO Board Member Skip Gebhart

4 WVSO musicians ­ (2 brass players and 2 string players)

The committee includes

81 resumes reviewed More than

150 hours of performance videos critiqued 16 Zoom interviews conducted 6 finalists selected 1

Each conductor candidate will spend week in Charleston during the upcoming season The WVSO will introduce its

11th Music Director in June 2023

Janna Hymes

Gioachino Rossini: Overture to The Barber of Seville

Opening Sensation Saturday September 17

AntonÍn Dvořák: Violoncello Concerto in b minor, Alexander Hersh, cello Leonard Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from On The Town

Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

Janna’s hallmarks as a conductor are versatility, passion, and innovation. Renowned for her inspiring performances, musical depth, and energetic presence on and off the podium, Janna has developed a reputation as an exciting, detailed communicator. Praised by the press as “an architect, a builder in sound, a conductor with an overall view who never misses details,” Janna has been Artistic Director of Indiana’s Carmel Symphony Orchestra since the fall of 2017.

Janna was born in New York City, where her father was a Lighting Consultant for SNL, The Tonight Show and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and won Emmys in 1965 and 2018. Janna’s mother was a Broadway Associate Producer who won a Tony in 1977 for Porgy and Bess. Janna attended many productions during her early years. She started playing piano at age 8 and in high school, the cello.

At the High School of Music and Art, Janna was in orchestra rehearsal one day when the conductor was late, so she jumped onto the podium to conduct Beethoven Symphony No. 1, and she never looked back.

A Fulbright Scholar and prize winner at international competitions, Janna has conducted many orchestras in the United States as well as France, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Holland.

If you could invite three guests (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be and why?

Mozart: I would ask him what his inspirations were and how was he able to create music at such a rapid pace that was earth shatteringly beautiful and unique. I would ask him how he would have completed the Requiem and if he likes my performances of his music.

Carlos Kleiber: He is my favorite conductor. I would want to discuss score study, preparation, and technique.

Leanne Ford: She is a creative designer who doesn’t follow the pack.

Her style is simple yet fresh, new, and exciting. I would ask her how she finds creativity in her designs at a time when this field has exploded and been overdone.

Do you collect anything?

I love antiques and even had a booth in an antique mall for a while.

Oh, and shoes - lots of shoes!

What is one interesting fact about you?

I was on the soap opera The Doctors when I was in high school.

I was a candy-striper.

What are your hobbies?

Golf, knitting, house renovation/interior design.

Scott was born in Huntington, W.Va., and is proud to be a life-long West Virginian. He is the Music Director of the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra in Hamilton, Ohio, the Founding Music Director of the West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra of Charleston, W.Va., the Principal Guest Conductor of the Rimini Chamber Orchestra in Italy, and the former Cover Conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Scott is the recipient of First Prizes at the International Conductor’s Workshop Competition (Macon, GA) and the International Academy of Advanced Conducting (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation).

Scott picked up the trumpet in the 6th grade. He is a proud Son of Marshall, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. While attending MU, Scott began studying orchestral conducting under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Balshaw. In 2014, he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University, where his dissertation explored the importance of the Leningrad School of Conducting and its founder Ilya Musin.

Scott lives in Scott Depot with his wife Nafi, a family physician, and their son, Gabriel, a trumpet player like his dad!

His hobbies include playing horrible golf, cheering on Gabriel at his Winfield Middle School football games, and trying to figure out how to work on his vintage 1970 Volkswagen Beetle.

Scott Woodard

If you could invite three guests (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be and why?

Queen Elizabeth II: I would pick her brain about her incredible longevity and devotion to her people and her various causes.

Conductor Carlos Kleiber: I have found no conductor, living or deceased, who presented such a living, breathing portrait of the sound he wanted than Kleiber.

Bob Tweel, my high school band director: Mr. Tweel had a powerful impact on my life, and I would love to thank him and for him to see where I have arrived.

Do you collect anything?

Wrist watches. I’m not sure why. I don’t harbor an insane desire to always know what time it is, but I buy WAY more wrist watches than I need!

What is one interesting fact about you?

I spent 10 summers as a whitewater rafting guide on the New and Gauley Rivers.

What are your hobbies?

A great deal of my time is invested in career and family. However, when I have a few minutes, I like to play golf. Also, as a kid in Huntington, my first car was a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. Recently, my mid-life crisis manifested itself in the form of buying another one.

I enjoy tinkering around with it and, occasionally, I get brave enough to take it out for a drive.

Johann Strauss, Jr.: Overture to Die Fledermaus Serge Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor, Barbara Nissman, piano Antonio Vivaldi: Et in terra pax from Gloria Giuseppe Verdi: Va pensiero from Nebucco Nkeiru Okoye: Voices Shouting Out Vassily Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 1 in g minor

Around the World Saturday November 19

Sameer Patel

Sameer’s story isn’t one of great artistic pedigree, but one of great possibility. He doesn’t come from a musical family, and yet he descends from greatness: from teachers, farmers, doctors, community volunteers, from good people with big hearts. He wasn’t raised with a prescribed path to study music, but instead found it one day: Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, played by a community orchestra at a Young People’s Concert in a small town in Michigan. (Love, disguised as sound, racing toward him as if at 100 miles per hour.) His piano lessons started soon afterward, then a chance to play in the band.

It was in a public-school band room where he got his first experiences with an ensemble, where he discovered other likeminded friends with similar interests. Then around the age of 14, he got his first hints that he wanted to be a conductor.

Sameer is grateful for the opportunity to continue to make and share music, from Detroit to Boston, from Fort Wayne to Siena, Italy, from sunny San Diego to Sun Valley, Idaho, and all the way to Charleston, W.Va. He chose a career in music because he believes in the potential of live music to shape us, to inspire us, to bring us together when we need it most: love, disguised as sound, racing toward all of us as if at 100 miles per hour.

If you could invite three guests (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be and why?

Toni Morrison because I think she was the greatest writer of the past 100 years, Trevor Noah because of his thoughtful and comedic brilliance, and Andre Agassi because I’ve always been a fan of his tennis and his work off the court in education. I think it would be a lively and fascinating discussion.

Dai Wei: The Dancing Moonlight

Symphonic Dances Saturday January 21

Alberto Ginastera: Harp Concerto, Rachel Lee O’Brien, harp Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Do you collect anything?

I’m very good at collecting books I haven’t yet gotten around to reading.

What is one interesting fact about you?

If I weren’t in music, I would likely have forged a career in international relations or in medicine (though I don’t know if I would have gotten very far with my math and science skills!)

What are your hobbies?

I love spending time with my family, playing with my young children, and, in what little spare time I have, I love reading and learning about the world. I’m also a big tennis fan, and though I don’t play as much as I would like, I really enjoy watching it.

As a conductor. Daniel delivers vital and engaging performances, particularly of newer works and staples of the Russian repertoire, including the world premiere of Contact by Pulitzer prize-winning composer Kevin Puts.

Daniel’s recent guest-conducting engagements include the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Basically Beethoven Festival, San Antonio Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, Texarkana Symphony, and more. His compositions have received international recognition; his latest composition, a song cycle titled Six Love Songs of Pablo Neruda premieres in May in Buenos Aires.

Daniel joined The Florida Orchestra as Assistant Conductor in 2018, and was quickly promoted to Associate Conductor and then Resident Conductor. Before that, he served as Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony in Texas, conducting more than 150 performances. He has conducted operas in China, Ukraine, Detroit, and Chicago, and was awarded the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award three times.

Born in Wisconsin, Daniel grew up in southern California and has lived in Russia, Canada, and across the United States.

His other interests include history, literature, baking, science fiction, languages, travel, and dance. When not on the podium, Daniel can usually be found at local establishments, relaxing with a good cappuccino, or after hours, a nice glass of red wine, preferably in the company of friends or musical scores.

Daniel Black

If you could invite three guests (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be and why?

Wow, there are so many names I’d love to put on this list! Here are three that come to mind: Mary Oliver (if nothing else, to hear her recite her poetry); Albert Einstein, just to hear him talk; and Hector Berlioz, judging by his memories, I think he’d be the life of the party!

Do you collect anything?

Besides scores? I’ve got an awful lot of stamps in my passport!

What is one interesting fact about you?

I have lived in (not just visited) three different countries: the U.S., Canada, and Russia.

What are your hobbies?

I enjoy all kinds of creative pursuits: I occasionally write poetry; I cook, and bake a lot (sourdough was one of my pandemic projects). I enjoy fitness and taking care of my health. I used to love swing and salsa dancing, although I haven’t been dancing regularly in a long while. Various digital projects: video/sound editing (especially since the pandemic), the occasional video game.

Antonio Vivaldi: Domini Fili Unigenite from Gloria Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Confutatus and Lacrymosa from Requiem Michael Tilson Thomas: Notturno Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, Demarre McGill, flute Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Symphonie fantastique Saturday March 11

Maurice Cohn

Born and raised in the prairie town of Galesburg, Illinois, Maurice grew up surrounded by people who had wide-ranging interests in all kinds of music. Thanks to a wonderful teacher, he fell in love with the cello at age four. Middle school and high school included important affairs with other instruments ­— notably piano and trombone — but cello won the day, leading to a B.M. in cello performance at Oberlin Conservatory.

While at Oberlin, Maurice worked as a cello teacher and conductor for the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras. After graduation, Maurice earned an M.Mus. in conducting from the Eastman School of Music and spent two summers as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. A 2020 recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Maurice currently serves as Assistant Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and is a regular guest conductor with the Chicago-based contemporary ensemble Zafa Collective.

Recent and upcoming engagements include returning to conduct Oberlin Conservatory’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, serving as cover conductor for the Atlanta and National Symphonies, and a return to the Aspen Music Festival as Assistant Conductor. Maurice earned a B.A. in history and mathematics from Oberlin College. When not conducting or playing cello, you can find him reading mystery novels, playing tennis, or continually searching for the best podcast app.

If you could invite three guests (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be and why?

Cellist Pablo Casals, because I admire him; composer/pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, because there are so many questions I would like to ask her; and composer Franz Joseph Haydn, because I think he’d tell lots of jokes.

Renewal Saturday April 22

Antonio Vivaldi: Quoniam tu solus sanctus and Cum sancto spiritu from Gloria Ludwig van Beethoven: Hallelujah from Christ on the Mount of Olives Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Rachel Barton Pine, violin Angélica Negrón: What Keeps Me Awake Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

What is on your bucket list?

Getting back into woodworking. I did a bunch in high school but have gotten away from it.

What is one interesting fact about you?

I lived in Thailand for a year in middle school.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, playing tennis, trying to play pool (I’m bad at it, but it’s fun)

Born in western Oklahoma, Timothy spent part of his youth growing up about as far as one can be from the concert hall: on a farm where his family raised and trained show horses.

Eventually, they moved back to “the city,” where he began playing many forms of music. During college, he was just as likely to be on stage performing the classics as he was playing electric bass in a blues or Latin jazz band at a local watering hole. He has performed on orchestral and commercial recordings with regional and worldwide releases.

Timothy first began conducting at the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and continued on to venues around the world, including Japan, Russia, and Panama.

Currently Music Director and Conductor of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, his performances are hailed as “aweinspiring” and for “bringing down the house.” Besides conducting classics, pops, and special performances, Timothy designs the NEA-supported “Sensory Friendly” performances for children with autism and their families.

Previous positions include Associate Conductor/Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Chamber Orchestra and founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Arizona Pro Arte.

Timothy earned degrees in music from the University of Oklahoma, Arizona State University, and the Boston Conservatory. He is also a proud alum of the Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival. He currently resides in Georgia with his wife and children.

If you could invite three guests (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be and why?

Inventor Nikola Tesla: I’d be curious to find out what grand ideas he would dream up today.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson: I greatly appreciate his intellect and ability to take the complexities of our world and universe and explain them with depth and clarity.

Soprano/conductor Barbara Hannigan: I’d like to take in her perspectives in music presentation and performance.

Do you collect anything?

I’ve collected various things over the years. My record collection was once about 3,000 discs, but I’ve trimmed it down a bit. Does having about a thousand records still count as a collection?

What is one interesting fact about you?

I completely tore down and rebuilt a car engine, and I played in a reggae band in college, so take your pick!

What are your hobbies?

I have an interest in cars and computers/computing, even though I haven’t had much time for either since starting a family.

Timothy Verville

Mikhail Glinka: Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila with the West Virginia Youth Symphony Arturo Márquez: DanzÓn No. 7

George Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F Major, Christopher Goodpasture, piano Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in f minor

Bold & Brassy Saturday May 6

Calan

Welsh folk band

in collaboration with FOOTMAD

Saturday, October 15 • 7:30 pm Grant Cooper, conductor emeritus Traditional Folk music from the old country with a modern twist!

Sounds of the Season Saturday, December 3 • 7:30 p.m.

Michelle Merrill, guest conductor A concert to get you in the holiday spirit. A cast of hundreds and a visit from you know who.

Soulful Saturday, February 11 • 7:30 pm Guest conductor TBD From Smokey Robinson to Outkast, a celebration of 50 years of great pop music from Black artists. R&B, Motown, Funk & Disco — get ready to groove!

Blockbuster Scores: Music from TV & Film Saturday, March 25 • 7:30 pm Stuart Chafetz, guest conductor Music from Downton Abbey, The Simpsons, Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park and so much more!

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES Nutcracker December 9 • 7:30 p.m.

December 10 • 2:00 p.m.

Grant Cooper, conductor emeritus

co-produced by The Charleston Ballet Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia

Gloria!

with the West Virginia Symphony Chorus

December 17 • 7:30 p.m.

Antonio Vivaldi: Gloria David Castleberry, guest conductor Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia