The West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra will perform Symphony No. 2 in D major by Johannes Brahms and other works Thursday, Nov. 13, at the WVU Creative Arts Center.
The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre under the baton of Maestro Mitchell Arnold, the new director of orchestral studies at WVU .
The orchestra will be joined by soprano Hope Koehler, a new faculty member in the Division of Music, for two of Gustav MahlersSongs of a Wayfarerand Wolfgang Mozarts exquisite ariaDove sono i bei momentifromThe Marriage of Figaro.Opening the program will be Chou Wen-chungsLandscapes.
Brahmss Symphony gives our outstanding young musicians at WVU an opportunity to not only face and surmount great technical challenges, but to capture the essence of a work that expresses on one hand sunny optimism, and on the other, a sense of melancholy,Arnold said.
Artistic maturity in a young artist can be measured by how well one expresses these two contradictory feelings in a single work and conveys that to the audience,he added.
Other positions Arnold has held include director of orchestras at Northern Illinois University and assistant director of orchestras at Northwestern University. He has also served on the faculties at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music.
He obtained a doctorate in conducting from Northwestern University and has an extensive background in new music.
Koehler joined the WVU Division of Music faculty this semester as an assistant professor of voice.
She has appeared with many opera companies and orchestras, including Nashville Opera; Tennessee Opera Theatre; Blair Opera Theatre; University Opera Theatre in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Northland Opera Theatre Experience; Lyric Opera of the North; Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra; Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra; Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra; and Lexington Symphony Orchestra.
At the Northland Opera Theatre in Duluth, Minn., she appeared in the title roles ofTosca,Carmen,FidelioandMadama Butterfly.In addition, she has appeared as Musetta inLa Boheme,Agathe inDer Freischutzand Giulietta inThe Tales of Hoffmann,among others.
Her other stage credits include operetta and musical theater. She has appeared in such productions asThe Mikado,The Sound of Music,The Pajama Game,Oklahoma,Fiddler on the RoofandWest Side Story.
For concert tickets and information, call the WVU box office at 304-293-SHOW.