West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Announces Next Music Director and the 2023-24 Season: Live and Loving it!
/
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (6/4/2023) – The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (WVSO) is thrilled to announce Maurice Cohn as the organization’s 11th Music Director as it enters its 85th season, Live and Loving it!
Maurice Cohn will assume the position on June 4th at AVN Corp. Symphony Sunday 2023 and will move to Charleston in September.
“I am beyond thrilled to be joining the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra family,” said new Music Director Maurice Cohn. “When I came to perform here in April, I was immediately struck by the energy and passion for music—both from members of the orchestra and everyone in the WVSO community. This is a place that cares deeply about the power of music to transform our lives, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to be a part of that exciting project.”
Cohn was selected after an almost two-year long search process which included applicants from across the country and around the world. From the initial applicant pool, six final candidates were chosen to spend a week in Charleston learning about the WVSO and its role in the community and conducting the WVSO musicians in an Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series concert.
WVSO Music Director Maurice Cohn is a two-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award and most recently served as Assistant Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Cohn was the Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Music Festival in 2022 and will return for another season in 2023.
Cohn spent two summers as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, where he received the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize and the Aspen Conducting Prize, and he received an M.M. in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where he worked frequently with the Eastman orchestras and OSSIA New Music Ensemble. He holds a B.M. in cello performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a B.A. from Oberlin College, where he studied history and mathematics.
Season tickets for Cohn’s first season with the WVSO, Live and Loving it! are now available and start at $155 for the Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series and $129 for the ZMM Architects and Engieers Pops Series. The starting price for the Grand Subscription Series, which includes six Symphonic concerts, four Pops concerts and the Magnificent Messiah, is $269. Single tickets will be available for sale on August 1 for both the Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series concerts starting at $14 and the ZMM Architects and Engineers Pops Series concerts starting at $25. Tickets are available at wvsymphony.org or by calling 304.561.3570.
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is West Virginia’s premier performing arts organization, presenting classical, pops, family and chamber-music concerts annually throughout the Mountain State. Currently entering its 85th season, the WVSO is a proud member of the community and enriches the region by providing affordable, high-quality concerts, collaborations with West Virginia arts organizations and a nationally award-winning education program.
ELLIOT FOUNDATION SYMPHONIC SERIES
OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION
Sept. 9, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Sept. 10, 2023, 2:30 p.m.
Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg
Astral Artist Byeol Kim, piano
Aram Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite
Clara Wieck Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, op.7, featuring Astral Artist Byeol Kim, piano
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op.92
HOMETOWN HORN
Oct. 14, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
WVSO Principal Horn, Albert Houde
Ethel Smyth: Overture to The Boatswain’s Mate
Reinhold Glière: Horn Concerto in B-flat Major, op.91, featuring WVSO Principal Horn, Albert Houde
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op.43
MAGNIFICENT MESSIAH
Dec. 16, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Featuring the WV Symphony Chorus
Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243
George Frideric Handel: Messiah
MUSICAL SWEETS & TREATS
Jan. 12, 2024, @ 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Astral Artist Iwo Jedynecki, accordion
Johannes Brahms: Tragic Overture
Astor Piazzolla: Concerto for Bandoneon, featuring Astral Artist Iwo Jedynecki, accordion
Jessica Hunt: Resonance | Rush | Ride
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D Major
A NEW WORLD OF MUSIC
March 9, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Sara Davis Buechner, piano
Duke Ellington: Black, Brown, and Beige Suite
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, featuring Sara Davis Buechner, piano
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
April 13, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Carline Waugh, soprano
Richard Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite
Richard Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder, TrV 296 with Carline Waugh, soprano
Choruses from Famous Operas featuring the WVSO Chorus
A GRAND FINALE!
May 4, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
May 5, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg
Melissa White, violin
Side by side piece with WV Youth Symphony: TBA
Florence Price: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major featuring Melissa White, violin
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
ZMM ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS POPS SERIES
MOUNTAIN STAGE WITH THE WVSO
Nov. 18, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Join us for an evening of collaboration between two of the premier music organizations in the Mountain State: the WV Symphony Orchestra and Mountain Stage! Hosted by Kathy Mattea with special guest Judy Collins, plus the Mountain Stage Band and more. Mountain Stage is produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed by NPR Music.
SOUNDS OF THE SEASON
Dec. 1, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg
Dec. 2, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Dec. 3, 2023, 2:30 p.m.
Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg
Santa and friends ring in the holidays with music, fun, and magic!
GREAT MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS
Feb. 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and other great movie hits! Come celebrate the evening in costume!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG & FRIENDS
March 23, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Clay Center, Charleston
March 24, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg
“What a Wonderful World” and other hits by the King of Jazz.
THE NUTCRACKER WITH THE CHARLESTON BALLET
Dec. 8, 2023, 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 9, 2023, 2:00 p.m., Clay Center, Charleston
###
