The West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra will perform Sergey Prokofiev’s searing and dramatic “Symphony No. 5” during a concert at the Creative Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 25.

The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre under the baton of Maestro Mitchell Arnold, director of orchestral studies at WVU.

“Our students are thrilled to sink their musical teeth into this passionately dramatic work,” Arnold said of the Prokofiev piece.

“Some composers strive to write symphonies that capture all the joy, grief, tragedy and comedy of life. Few succeed as well as Prokofiev. No wonder this is one of the most popular works written in the 20th century,” he added.

Arnold received a doctorate in conducting from Northwestern University and has an extensive background in new music. Prior to his time at WVU, he was director of orchestras at Northern Illinois University and assistant director of orchestras at Northwestern University.

He has also served on the faculties of Oberlin and Baldwin-Wallace Colleges.

The concert will kick-off with spectral miniature “Valse Triste” by Jean Sibelius, and will include “Concerto for Viola and Orchestra” by B�la Bart�k, performed by soloist Maggie Snyder, WVU professor of viola.

“The Bart�k work is music that demands mastery of all the capabilities of the viola, from the deepest sonority to light virtuosic passage work. The Morgantown community is fortunate to have such a talented performer as Dr. Snyder,” Arnold said.

Snyder earned a master of music and graduate performance diploma from The Peabody Conservatory of Music and joined the WVU music faculty in 2007, after teaching at both Ohio University and the University of Alabama.

She has performed as soloist and principal violist under well-known conductors in orchestras throughout the United States in well-known venues including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall and the Seoul Arts Center.

Snyder has also toured internationally as violist with the Metropolitan String Quartet.

For concert tickets and information, call the WVU Box Office at (304) 293-SHOW.

-WVU-

cl/02/19/10

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4841 ext. 3108, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu