The Shadow
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Carnegie Hall will celebrate the holiday season with a performance by the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra in the Hamilton Auditorium on Friday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
“West Virginia Holiday Pops: Sounds of the Season” performed by the WVSO is in conjunction with Lewis-burg’s monthly celebration “Fridays After 5.”
A pre-show fundraiser “A Symphony of Holiday Sweets” will be held before the show at 6 p.m. in the Old Stone Room.
The WVSO celebrates the “Sounds of the Season” under the direction of guest conductor Michelle Merrill and features soprano/mezzo soprano Vanessa Thomas.
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra has grown tremendously from when it started in 1939 as a partnership with local chemical plants in Charleston, W.Va.
Recent WVSO seasons have included collaborations with such world-renowned artists as violinist Midori, soprano Deborah Voigt, pianist Andre Watts, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Concert repertoire has included such challenging works as Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Under the leadership of artistic director and conductor Grant Cooper, the WVSO has risen to a new level of excellence and has been hailed for exciting, dramatic concerts.
In addition to its Charleston series of six symphonic and four pops concerts, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra tours the state each year and has recently presented concerts in Beckley, Elkins, Fairmont, Martinsburg, Lewis-burg, Hurricane, Monroe County, Parkersburg, and other West Virginia communities.
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra maintains a significant commitment to music education by supporting education programs in Kanawha County Schools, bringing Young People’s Concerts to thousands of West Virginia elementary school students annually, and providing support to the West Virginia Youth Symphony.
With the assistance of the Segal and Davis Family Foundation, the WVSO has also issued a series of educational CD-ROMs, designed to integrate the Young People’s Concert experience into the regular school curriculum. This education initiative has drawn nationwide attention.
Before the performance, Carnegie Hall will host a special fundraiser, “A Symphony of Holiday Sweets,” at 6 p.m. Local restaurants and bakeries will compete for the award of Best Holiday Sweet.
Attendees will receive a ticket or token to vote for their favorite dessert and we will crown a winner at the end of the event. Tickets start at $25.
Additional votes may be purchased for $1 each.
Proceeds from the event will help support all of the programming and projects of Carnegie Hall. The goal of the event is to raise money for Carnegie Hall but also to help our area businesses highlight some of their dessert offerings prior to the holidays.
Tickets to the evening performance start at $30 and discounts are available for Carnegie Hall members, students, senior citizens, and military.
Tickets for “A Symphony of Holiday Sweets” are $25.
To purchase tickets, call the Carnegie Hall box office at (304)-645-7917, visit www.carnegiehallwv.org, or stop by at 611 Church St. in Lewisburg.
The Carnegie Hall box office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The headliner sponsor is in memory of Jeanne G. and Lawson W. Hamilton, Jr.
This program is presented with financial assistance from the WV Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
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The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra will present “West Virginia Holiday Pops: Sounds of the Season” Friday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Carnegie Hall’s Hamilton Auditorium in Lewisburg. Here Michelle Merrill guest conducts the WVSO. The performance will be held in conjunction with Lewisburg’s monthly celebration “Fridays After 5.” Tickets to the performance start at $25. (Photo Courtesy Perry Bennett Photography)
