Roanoke Symphony Orchestra salutes Americana: The orchestra finished its Masterworks season with some New World greats.

The following appears in Tuesday, May 11, 2010 edition of  The Roanoke Times

By Seth Williamson

The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra held up a mirror to America on Monday night, and it was beautiful. From the gritty streets of New York City to lonely Western prairies to the small town we all wish we were from, it was there in the RSO’s final Masterworks concert of the season. Reviewers should be on guard when a program pushes all their personal buttons. So — full disclosure — I’ll say that almost everything Maestro David Stewart Wiley chose for this concert was a particular favorite of mine. Keep that in mind as you read this review.  Nevertheless, it was great.

OK, so I’ve never been thrilled by Joan Tower’s “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman.” Mildly dissonant and brass-intensive, it isn’t negligible. But — ironically for a self-consciously feminist work — most of its notoriety is derived from the title’s deliberate reference to Aaron Copland’s indisputably great “Fanfare for the Common Man.” Next was “The Millcreek at Waxman’s Crossing” by Boones Mill composer Jerome Margolis. In a manner reminiscent of Copland’s so-called “prairie period,” there were tender lyrical passages, open fifths and fourths, and lovely wind sonorities.

After 32 years’ service on the back row, RSO bass trombonist Jim Sochinski retired from the orchestra after this performance. The RSO celebrated his tenure with his “RSO Fanfare No. 6,” which premiered in 1990. Featuring brash horn calls, horn rips, declamatory trumpet passages and a rhythmic figure lifted from Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture,” the piece sounds as fresh as it did two decades ago. Unfortunately, here and later on there were a few egregious horn clams. The seafood was all the more noticeable from a section that normally nails tough passages flawlessly.

George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” complete with acoustic taxi horns and with rather deliberate tempi, got enthusiastic applause. As for the suite from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” you didn’t have a pulse if this performance left you unmoved. This flowering of New World genius is the equal of anything produced by Europe. The RSO’s reading was joyful, heartfelt, exuberant. Ditto the suite from Richard Rodgers’ “Victory at Sea,” crammed with great tunes. It was followed by a standing ovation and shouts of bravo.

After a singalong encore of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” Wiley surprised Sochinski by asking him to conduct John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” with brilliant solo work from the redoubtable Julee Hickox.

What a finale!

Seth Williamson produces “Morning Classics” and “Back Roads & Blue Highways” for public radio station WVTF (89.1 FM) in Roanoke.

David Stewart Wiley Renews Contract with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra Through 2013

Roanoke, Virginia - The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce that Music Director and Conductor David Stewart Wiley has signed a contract renewal through 2013 and that he will continue to lead southwest Virginia’s largest professional orchestra for at least the next three seasons.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with David Stewart Wiley as Music Director and Conductor for the RSO. David’s great energy and commitment have contributed immeasurably to the RSO’s success” says Board President Richard Maxwell.

Wiley’s ongoing popularity has been demonstrated not only through consistent acclaim by critics and audiences alike but through significant multi-year growth in attendance, ticket income and financial support. The RSO has seen the number of subscribers more than triple during the last five years for it’s Picnic at the Pops Series, presenting renowned pops artists and symphony orchestra in concert together, and a 35% increase in the number of Symphony-to-the-Max subscribers (all subscription concerts, including classical programs) during the same period. The RSO has further broadened its programming to provide more “entry points” for diverse audiences to find and enjoy quality performances of live music – at the heart of its mission. This includes new and unique programs in collaboration with rock musicians and visual performers, new commissions, as well as corporate leadership training events created and led by David Stewart Wiley.

“The RSO and I continue to have a great collaborative partnership,” says Wiley. “I am grateful to our dedicated professional musicians, hard working board and staff, wonderful chorus and chorus master, and the many individuals and businesses throughout the region who continue to sustain us and support our vital mission. Our future looks really bright. We continue to experience responsible artistic growth and continue to operate in the black.  I am privileged to serve as Music Director of the RSO.”

Wallace Easter, chair of the RSO Musician Committee stated, “This is a great time for the orchestra and the musicians really appreciate the positive environment in which to make music.”

The RSO is also announcing its 2010-11 season, with top violinists Natasha Korsakova & Akemi Takayama, renowned pianist Norman Krieger, wind virtuoso Elizabeth Roberts, and repertoire ranging from Rachmaninoff’s third symphony to Beethoven’s Ninth “Choral” symphony.   The Picnic at the Pops series features headliner stars Blake Shelton, Boz Scaggs, and Jane Powell with the RSO, and a new “Symphony Spooktacular” program in October will be added.   The RSO will celebrate Maestro Wiley’s 15th anniversary as RSO music director with October’s opening concert of the season.  Wiley also continues as Music Director & Conductor of the Long Island Philharmonic in New York.

The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra celebrates its mission to enrich lives, to educate, and to entertain diverse audiences in western Virginia with the highest quality instrumental and choral music.

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For Immediate Release

Date:  10 May, 2010

Contact:  Rodney Overstreet, Marketing Director

540.343.6221 ext.227 or rodney.overstreet@rso.com