Thrill to the sounds of Halloween as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra opens its Canady Symphony Series at West Virginia University with “Halloween Pops: Memorable Music from Stage and Screen” on Oct. 27.

The 2014-15 title sponsors of the Canady Symphony Series at WVU are William and Loulie Canady in memory of Valerie.

A highlight of the Oct. 27 concert will be WVU alumnus and Pittsburgh Symphony trumpeter Chad Winkler, who will be featured in a solo during a piece by Alexander Arutiunian that celebrates the folk music of the composer’s native Armenia.

Resident Conductor Lawrence Loh will lead this supernatural concert which also features music from “Spiderman,” “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” “Game of Thrones” and more, along with beloved concert pieces of this time of the year, such as “Danse Macabre” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre at the Creative Arts Center, on WVU’s Evansdale Campus in Morgantown. Tickets are $27 and $45 and can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900, or by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org/wvu.

Student tickets are $13 per concert. Student tickets can be purchased at www.pittsburghsymphony.org/wvustudent.

Any remaining tickets for the concert may be purchased the evening of the performance, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre lobby.

A pre-concert talk led by Jim Cunningham, artistic director of WQED-FM and host of the station’s “Morning Show,” will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Winkler is a 2000 graduate of the WVU School of Music, where he studied with his father, Dr. John Winkler, professor of trumpet, who has also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Chad earned his Master of Music degree from Duquesne University, where he studied with Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Trumpet George Vosburgh. He joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as fourth/utility trumpet in November 2008, and has recently been featured as a soloist. Prior to winning the Pittsburgh Symphony position, Winkler held positions with the Wheeling Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony and the Erie Philharmonic. He has also performed with the orchestras of Honolulu, Louisville and Jacksonville, as well as serving as the acting principal trumpet with the orchestras of the Pittsburgh Ballet and Pittsburgh Opera. Winkler is currently professor of trumpet at Slippery Rock University and also at California University of Pennsylvania. In 1996, he attended the Interlochen Arts Camp, where he was a winner of the concerto competition. He also performed with Interlochen’s World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Winkler attended the Brevard Music Center from 1998 to 2000, where he was twice the winner of the concerto competition. He spent the summers of 2001 through 2008 as a member of the music staff orchestra at Camp-of-the-Woods in Speculator, New York, where he performed as soloist and principal trumpet. Winkler won the National Trumpet Competition in 1995, 1998 and 2000. In 2013, he was invited to perform as guest soloist at the National Trumpet Competition. Chad and his wife, Elissa, owner of Bethel Park Music Studio, live in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, with their son, Hudson, and daughter, Selah.

Resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and music director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, Lawrence Loh is an engaging conductor of impressive range and talent. As resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Loh works closely with Music Director Manfred Honeck and conducts a wide range of concerts including classical, educational and pops. He is active in the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Community Engagement and Partnership Concerts, extending the symphony’s reach into other communities.

Other concerts in the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Canady Symphony Series include “Piano Superstar Gabriela Montero” on Jan. 24 and “Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev” on March 2.

Season tickets to all three concerts range are available and range in price from $24 to $111. Season tickets also can be purchased through the Pittsburgh Symphony website or box office.

-WVU-

cl/10/20/14

CONTACT: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations, Pittsburgh Symphony
Phone: 412-392-4827; email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

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