AMDG
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| A Christmas Concert of the Ohio Valley Symphony |
After celebrating the 25th
Anniversary Concert of the Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra in October, we are
looking forward with anticipation to the joyful and heavenly sounds of
Christmas at the Ariel Theatre (really pronounced AR-ee-L) at 8 pm on Saturday
December 6, the feast day of the original St. Nicholas (Sante Klaas in Dutch), who
died on that date in Myra-Turkey in 343 A.D.
The Christmas Concert of The Ohio Valley Symphony is their most popular concert
of the year as it blends the popular with the sacred.
Now would be a good time to look into
the future of the Ohio Valley Symphony which the people of Gallia, Meigs, Mason,
and even Jackson County can claim as their own although many come from further
out to enjoy it.
To insure the long term survival
and prosperity of the Ohio Valley Symphony long after
the original founders have passed on, a taste for classical music must be
cultivated and nurtured in the population, especially with the youth. The role of the music teacher is crucial……whether
it’s one on one piano lessons or music appreciation at the elementary,
secondary, and college level. After the
founders pass on, then what?
Too
many people right now are oblivious to this fabulous opportunity under their
noses or consider the Symphony to be “nerdy”.
A big help is the annual outdoor symphony at the Gallipolis River Recreation
Festival every year; however this year the grant money dried up and we
had only fireworks. Another big help is
the special discount to students, but that must be publicized. It’s only $10, very competitive with the price
of a movie at the local cinema and it’s live!
Similar performances would cost $25 - $68 in Columbus and much more in
the bigger cities. As an added bonus,
the Assistant Conductor of the Ohio Valley Symphony, Tom Consolo, conducts a half
hour Pre-Concert
Chat at 7:15 before each performance, helping those who attend to
understand the musical compositions and the objectives of the composer.
Would
it be feasible to obtain private or state funds to sponsor the symphony to
appear each year at one of the local high schools? Rotating it among Point Pleasant, Gallia
Academy, River Valley, and South Gallia with Gallipolis Christian High Schools
on a four year cycle would give every kid in the two sister counties at least
one opportunity in their lives to experience a symphony. Maestro Ray Fowler, the Conductor of the Ohio Valley Symphony, is good at explaining the
meaning of each musical selection as the great Maestro Leonard Bernstein did in
conducting “Young People’s Concerts on CBS from 1958-1972 and Public Television
with his New York Philharmonic. Cultivating
a natural hunger for the true, the good, and the beautiful will enrich the
lives of our youth and keep them out of trouble.
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| Maestro Ray Fowler, the Conductor of the Ohio Valley Symphony |
A more practical and less costly
possibility is to have an annual Symphonic
Music Festival for Youth with different schools of the four county area
attending at the Ariel each year.
According to Lora Snow, the Executive Director of the Ariel Centre, the
Symphony could give four performances through the day to a total of 1800 kids
(450 per performance). This perhaps once
in a lifetime educational experience for many would entail only a few dollars
on the part of the school boards to bus the kids plus perhaps a small fee from
each family to cover what the grant does not.
They already pay a $90 fee per year for each sport that a Gallia Academy
High School student plays. If there is a
will, there is a way for the local school boards to make it happen. Maestro Fowler would explain the music at
their level and what the conductor does.
Parents have a great opportunity at
no cost at all to
bring their children to sit in on all or part of the Friday evening (7 – 10
pm) and Saturday afternoon 1 - 4 pm) rehearsals before the Saturday evening
performance of the Ohio Valley Symphony.
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| Lora Snow, Executive Director of the Ariel Centre |
How many small towns of the size of
Gallipolis, Point Pleasant, Pomeroy, or Jackson can boast of having their own
symphony orchestra with world class musicians? The Ohio Valley Symphony really belongs to
all us in the four county area. What a
privilege! Thank you all who have
contributed to the Ohio Valley Symphony during those 25 years whether as a
musician, promoter, sponsor, or spectator.
Patronizing the symphony with your presence at the five concerts per
season is a big help to insure its survival and viability. The price of a ticket only covers part of the
cost. All of you have enriched our lives
and our community and have helped to attract doctors and other professionals to
live in Mason, Meigs, and Gallia Counties.
More detailed information is available for the many cultural
opportunities the Ariel provides and ticket information at arieltheatre.org or ohiovalleysymphony.org.
Gallia County really has the potential of
becoming a regional center for the arts. We
have in place the Ariel – Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in the very center
of downtown Gallipolis and the French Art Colony only a few blocks away within
easy walking distance. On top of that we
have the School of Fine Arts with a faculty of nationally known scholars in
music, theater, and art at the University of Rio Grande about 10 miles away. In fact, the academic background of the new President
of the University of Rio Grande, Dr. Michelle Johnston is music. If each entity would work together, complement
each other, specialize in what it does best, cooperate, pool resources, and
promote each other’s functions, this vision can indeed be achieved. Coordination would avoid conflicts of events on the same date. The fine arts would not only survive in our
region, but prosper with state wide and someday even national prominence as the
people of the surrounding communities are enriched with the true, the good, and
the beautiful.
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