West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Announces Next Music Director and the 2023-24 Season: Live and Loving it!

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (6/4/2023) – The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (WVSO) is thrilled to announce Maurice Cohn as the organization’s 11th Music Director as it enters its 85th season, Live and Loving it!

Maurice Cohn will assume the position on June 4^th at AVN Corp. Symphony Sunday 2023 and will move to Charleston in September.

“I am beyond thrilled to be joining the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra family,” said new Music Director Maurice Cohn. “When I came to perform here in April, I was immediately struck by the energy and passion for music—both from members of the orchestra and everyone in the WVSO community. This is a place that cares deeply about the power of music to transform our lives, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to be a part of that exciting project.”

Cohn was selected after an almost two-year long search process which included applicants from across the country and around the world. From the initial applicant pool, six final candidates were chosen to spend a week in Charleston learning about the WVSO and its role in the community and conducting the WVSO musicians in an Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series concert.

WVSO Music Director Maurice Cohn is a two-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award and most recently served as Assistant Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Cohn was the Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Music Festival in 2022 and will return for another season in 2023.

Cohn spent two summers as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, where he received the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize and the Aspen Conducting Prize, and he received an M.M. in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where he worked frequently with the Eastman orchestras and OSSIA New Music Ensemble. He holds a B.M. in cello performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a B.A. from Oberlin College, where he studied history and mathematics.

Season tickets for Cohn’s first season with the WVSO, Live and Loving it! are now available and start at $155 for the Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series and $129 for the ZMM Architects and Engieers Pops Series. The starting price for the Grand Subscription Series, which includes six Symphonic concerts, four Pops concerts and the Magnificent Messiah, is $269.  Single tickets will be available for sale on August 1 for both the Elliot Foundation Symphonic Series concerts starting at $14 and the ZMM Architects and Engineers Pops Series concerts starting at $25. Tickets are available at wvsymphony.org or by calling 304.561.3570.

The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is West Virginia’s premier performing arts organization, presenting classical, pops, family and chamber-music concerts annually throughout the Mountain State. Currently entering its 85th season, the WVSO is a proud member of the community and enriches the region by providing affordable, high-quality concerts, collaborations with West Virginia arts organizations and a nationally award-winning education program.

ELLIOT FOUNDATION SYMPHONIC SERIES

OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION

Sept. 9, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Sept. 10, 2023, 2:30 p.m.

Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

Astral Artist Byeol Kim, piano

Aram Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite

Clara Wieck Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, op.7, featuring Astral Artist Byeol Kim, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op.92

HOMETOWN HORN

Oct. 14, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

WVSO Principal Horn, Albert Houde

Ethel Smyth: Overture to The Boatswain’s Mate

Reinhold Glière: Horn Concerto in B-flat Major, op.91, featuring WVSO Principal Horn, Albert Houde

Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op.43

MAGNIFICENT MESSIAH

Dec. 16, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Featuring the WV Symphony Chorus

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243

George Frideric Handel: Messiah

MUSICAL SWEETS & TREATS

Jan. 12, 2024, @ 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Astral Artist Iwo Jedynecki, accordion

Johannes Brahms: Tragic Overture

Astor Piazzolla: Concerto for Bandoneon, featuring Astral Artist Iwo Jedynecki, accordion

Jessica Hunt: Resonance | Rush | Ride

Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D Major

A NEW WORLD OF MUSIC

March 9, 2024, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Sara Davis Buechner, piano

Duke Ellington: Black, Brown, and Beige Suite

Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, featuring Sara Davis Buechner, piano

Antonín Dvo?ák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95 

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

April 13, 2024, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Carline Waugh, soprano

Richard Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite

Richard Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder, TrV 296 with Carline Waugh, soprano

Choruses from Famous Operas featuring the WVSO Chorus

A GRAND FINALE!

May 4, 2024, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

May 5, 2024, 2:30 p.m.

Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

Melissa White, violin

Side by side piece with WV Youth Symphony: TBA

Florence Price: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major featuring Melissa White, violin

Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

ZMM ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS POPS SERIES

MOUNTAIN STAGE WITH THE WVSO

Nov. 18, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston                                                                        

Join us for an evening of collaboration between two of the premier music organizations in the Mountain State: the WV Symphony Orchestra and Mountain Stage! Hosted by Kathy Mattea with special guest Judy Collins, plus the Mountain Stage Band and more. Mountain Stage is produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed by NPR Music.

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON

Dec. 1, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg

Dec. 2, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Dec. 3, 2023, 2:30 p.m.

Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

Santa and friends ring in the holidays with music, fun, and magic!

GREAT MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS

Feb. 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and other great movie hits! Come celebrate the evening in costume!

LOUIS ARMSTRONG & FRIENDS

March 23, 2024, 7:30 p.m.

Clay Center, Charleston

March 24, 2024, 2:30 p.m.

Blennerhassett School, Parkersburg

“What a Wonderful World” and other hits by the King of Jazz.

THE NUTCRACKER WITH THE CHARLESTON BALLET

Dec. 8, 2023, 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 9, 2023, 2:00 p.m., Clay Center, Charleston