Wheeling Symphony Orchestra
Season Calendar 2017-2018
BLOCKBUSTER BROADWAY
Thursday, September 21, 2017 – 7:30pm
André Raphel, conductor
Scott Coulter, vocalist/host
Jessica Hendy, vocalist
Kelli Rabke, vocalist
John Boswell, vocalist/pianist
Program:
The Wheeling Symphony opens its 88th Season with an evening of Broadway’s biggest hits. Join the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, along with some of New York’s top vocalists, as they perform timeless show stoppers from Broadway’s smash hit catalogue, including selections from Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Annie, Jersey Boys, The Sound of Music, Chicago, Cats, The Lion King, A Chorus Line. They’re the songs we all know and love, so grab a seat for the hottest ticket in town, and we’ll see you there!
RUSSIAN MASTERPIECES
Thursday, October 12, 2017 – 7:30pm
André Raphel, conductor
Stewart Goodyear, piano
Program:
Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
The 88th season continues as we explore the colorful sounds of Russia’s greatest composers. The program begins with Hector Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture. Returning guest artist, Stewart Goodyear, who the Los Angeles Times declared “a phenomenon,” will join the WSO performing Prokofiev’s inventive and witty Piano Concerto No. 3. The evening will conclude with Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2, one of his best-known works. The evening will truly showcase the masterful brilliance of Russia’s finest composers with the beautiful artistry with Maestro Raphel and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra.
BACH DOUBLE AND MOZART
Thursday, November 9, 2017 – 7:30pm
André Raphel, conductor
Rachel Stegeman, violin
Juan Jaramillo, violin
Program:
Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in d minor
Danielpour: Adagietto for String Orchestra
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”)
This concert will feature an evening of Wheeling Symphony Orchestra finest musicians. Stavinksy’s Pulcinella Suite opens the program. He calls this work his “discovery of the past” and “gateway” to future compositions. Wheeling Symphony Orchestra musicians, Rachel Stegeman and Juan Jaramillo, will showcase their virtuosity in Bach’s timeless Double Violin Concerto. Danielpour’s 2004 commission Adagietto for Springs returns to the symphony. He said the work is “an exciting fusion, being written as it is for Wheeling – one of the smallest cities to maintain an orchestra of this caliber.” Mozart’s final Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) will close this magical night, highlighting the sheer brilliance of this masterful composer’s work.
BACK TO BACK
THE MUSIC OF ELTON JOHN & BILLY JOEL
Friday, February 9, 2018 – 7:30pm
Jeans ‘n Classics
André Raphel, conductor
Jean Meilleur, vocals
John Regan, piano
Program:
Our 88th season celebrates the piano’s 88 keys with the music of two contemporary piano legends, Elton John & Billy Joel. Returning guest artist, Jeans n’ Classics will sing us the songs of the piano men, including the hits Movin’ Out, Always a Woman, Philadelphia Freedom, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Circle of Life, and Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me. Jeans ‘n Classics will put us in the mood for a melody and have us feelin’ alright!
EAST MEETS WEST
Friday, March 16, 2018 – 7:30pm
André Raphel, conductor
Jennifer Frautschi, violin
Program:
Tan Dun: Symphonic Poem of 3 Notes
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
This masterful program fuses the music and culture of East and West traditions. The evening features the percussive sweeping rhythm of Tan Dun’s Symphonic Poems of 3 Notes, two-time Grammy-nominated violinist Jennifer Frautzchi performing Beethoven’s lyrical and dramatic Violin Concerto with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, and the dazzling, colorful orchestration in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Audiences won’t want to miss this celebration of music, culture and life!
APPALACHIAN RHAPSODY
Friday, April 13, 2018 – 7:30pm
André Raphel, conductor
Nate Strasser, piano
Matt Combs, violin
Chris De’Sean Lee, vocals
Program:
Wheeling native, Nate Strasser, returns to his roots performing the West Virginia Premiere of his signature Appalachian Rhapsody. He holds a successful career as a television/film composer, songwriter, and virtuoso pianist. Nate will be joined on stage by violinist and collaborator Matt Combs, a featured performer of the Grand Ole Opry, and Chris De’Sean Lee, the current Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Chicago production of Hamilton. Nate, Matt, and Chris will join André Raphel and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra to perform orchestra compositions that feature piano, jazz, and popular music for this homecoming concert.
RESPIGHI’S PINES
Friday, May 18, 2018 – 7:30pm
André Raphel, conductor
Deborah Selig, soprano
Program:
Dvorak: Carnival Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4
R. Strauss: Five Songs with Orchestra
Respighi: Pines of Rome (Pini di Roma)
The Wheeling Symphony’s 88th Season finale opens with Dvorak’s rousing Carnival Overture followed by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4, an engaging and powerful work from arguably his most beautiful period. Soprano Deborah Selig will join the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra by performing Five Songs with Orchestra. Ms. Selig has been hailed by the Boston Globe, “an impressively nimble, lustrous soprano.” The season concludes with Respighi’s majestic and expressive Pines of Rome, painting a musical portrait of scenes around The Eternal City. A powerful and magical ending to an impressive musical journey, where it is clear that “Music is the Key.”
