The WVU Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 2010-2011 season on Sept. 23 under the direction of Maestro Mitchell Arnold in a diverse program of short, intriguing works featuring two gripping overtures, a foot-tapping tribute to the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence and a virtuosic Bach concerto.

The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre of the WVU Creative Arts Center.

"Bach, Wagner, and Viva Mexico!"
Thursday, Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre
Richard Wagner – Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto for oboe, violin and strings, with Cynthia Anderson, oboe, Mikylah Myers McTeer, violin
Jos� Pablo Moncayo – Huapango
Percy Aldridge Grainger – Blithe Bells
Richard Wagner – Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin

“We were so appreciative of the packed house at our last concert (featuring Beethoven’s 9th Symphony) and hope to see both our long-time and new audiences back in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre for this exciting season opener,” said Dr. Arnold, now beginning his fourth year at WVU as director of orchestral studies.

Arnold will be sharing the conducting duties with assistant Alejandro Pinzon, a doctoral student studying conducting at WVU.

“When Alejandro pointed out that this month marked the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence, it wasn’t long before we decided that performing ‘Huapango’ was the best way to celebrate,” he said. “As a native of Mexico, he is only too happy to lead the orchestra in a thrilling dance work that is virtually Mexico’s national piece.

“The remainder of the program should be as exciting for the audience as it is for us to play,” he added.

“There is both virtuosity and simple beauty in the Bach concerto, featuring two of our many outstanding faculty_ oboist Cynthia Anderson and violinist Mikylah McTeer as soloists, ecstatic passion in the first prelude from the opera ‘Lohengrin,’ a thrill ride in the second ‘Lohengrin’ prelude, and a intriguing, quirky ‘ramble’ on a famous Bach song in Grainger’s ‘Blithe Bells.’

“I suppose if this performance were a ball field, you could say we were touching all the bases,” Arnold said.

Cynthia Babin Anderson is an active performer on oboe and English horn in Pittsburgh and throughout the Pennsylvania and West Virginia region, as well as internationally. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Opera and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestras, and is Solo Oboe and English Horn with both the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Orchestra and PNC Broadway Across America Orchestra.

She has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony and Wheeling Symphony Orchestras. International appearances include the Mexico City Philharmonic, the Lyrico Opera Sperimentale in Spoleto, Italy, and performances and a CD recording with the Aiolos Collective, a double reed ensemble based in Amsterdam. At WVU, she is a member of the Laureate Wind Quintet and is associate professor of oboe and music theory, as well as director of graduate studies in music. She has performed as recitalist in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma and Massachusetts. She studied at Northwestern University and at the Manhattan School of Music.

Mikylah Myers McTeer is assistant professor of violin at WVU, violinist of the WVU Faculty Piano Quartet and coordinator of the WVU String Area. Before joining the WVU music faculty in 2007, she was concertmaster of the San Juan Symphony and assistant professor of violin and viola at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. She was also the founder, artistic director and conductor of the Durango Youth Symphony. An award-winning chamber musician, McTeer was formerly the violinist of the Red Shoe Piano Trio at Fort Lewis College and of the Moores Piano Trio in Houston, Texas, which was the silver prize-winner at the 2000 Carmel Chamber Music Competition.

She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. She spends her summers performing at music festivals throughout the United States and Europe. She is currently a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and is a 15-year-member of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Ore. McTeer received her doctoral and master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and her bachelor of music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

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

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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