Gifted musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will share their expertise with students from the West Virginia University School of Music in three masterclasses scheduled for Monday, Feb. 8.
Lorna McGhee, principal flutist, will lead a masterclass for the flute studio from 1 to 3 p.m. in 424A Creative Arts Center. Gretchen Van Hoesen, principal harpist and Virginia Campbell Chair, will lead four WVU harpists in a masterclass at 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in 215A Creative Arts Center. First Violin and Nancy and Jeffrey Leininger Violinist Christopher Wu will lead four WVU violinists in a masterclass at 5 to 7 p.m. in Bloch Learning and Performance Hall, 200A Creative Arts Center. The masterclasses are free and open to the public.
In addition to her duties with the PSO, McGhee has performed as guest principal with Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Before emigrating to North America from Scotland in 1998, McGhee was co-principal flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in England. As a soloist, she has given concerto performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the UK; Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia and Victoria Symphony in Canada; and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra in the United States.
Van Hoesen has been principal harpist of the PSO since 1977. She has appeared as soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions, both on the subscription series and on tour. She has also been soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestral Association, the Greenwich Philharmonia and the Westmoreland Symphony. She has concertized in the metropolitan New York area at Carnegie Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Brooklyn Museum, and has presented concertos at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
Wu enjoys a diverse career as an orchestral and chamber musician, teacher and soloist. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, he joined the first violin section of the PSO in 1988, and holds the Nancy & Jeffery Leininger First Violin Chair. He has previously served as concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Riverside Orchestra and has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, and the Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonics. An active chamber musician, Wu has played with a wide range of artists including Nancy Wilson, Joshua Bell, and the Muir String Quartet.
The PSO will present the last of this year’s Canady Symphony Series concerts at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre. For tickets and information, please call the WVU Box Office at 304-293-SHOW.
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CONTACT: David Welsh, WVU College of Creative Arts
304.293.3397; David.Welsh@mail.wvu.edu
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