The West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra of the region’s top collegiate ensembles—will go on tour this fall to Maryland, northern Virginia and eastern West Virginia, during Oct. 2-4.

This is the Symphony Orchestra’s first tour of this kind, reflecting the growing status of the WVU School of Music as one of the region’s most important music programs.

Under the direction of Mitchell Arnold, conductor, who directs the Orchestral Studies program at WVU, the ensemble will present two full-length concert performances and visit several high schools, offering performances and master classes.

The orchestra will perform at the George Mason University Center for the Arts in Fairfax, Va., on Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. and at Potomac State College’s Church-McKee Arts Center in Keyser, W.Va., on Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.

WVU alumni, area residents and students are all invited to attend these performances.

They are sponsored by the WVU College of Creative Arts, Dean Dr. Paul K. Kreider, and the WVU School of Music, directed by Dr. Keith Jackson. The performance at Potomac State is also sponsored by Highland Arts Unlimited.

The orchestra is known for performing with precision and intense passion and these performances celebrate great music played by a young, vigorous and dedicated group of musicians.

“We feel our ensemble is worthy of broader public exposure,” Arnold said. “It is time for us to reach a more widespread audience, to celebrate both the music we play and the important cultural position that both the WVUSO and the WVU School of Music play in the region.”

According to Arnold, the program is headlined by perhaps the most powerful work of the 20th century, Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5 in D Minor.”

Two songful preludes from Giacomo Puccini’s first opera, “Edgar,” and Wolfgang Mozart’s sparkling Overture to the opera “The Magic Flute” will complete the evening.

Music lovers in the Morgantown area can hear the same concert by the orchestra at the WVU Creative Arts Center’s Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, on Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for that event are available by calling the WVU Box Office at 304-293-SHOW (7469) or at the door the evening of the concert.

For more information about the tour, visit the website at http://wvuso.weebly.com/ or find the orchestra on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WVUSO

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.