In Wednesday’s (2/8) Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), Sara Busse reports, “This weekend, all eyes at the Clay Center will be on the eight finalists in the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Symphony Idol’ competition. The audience will decide who wins the coveted title, but the judges also feel the heat of the spotlight, as they were in charge of selecting the finalists from a field of more than 50 competitors. … On Friday, each finalist performs two songs, chosen with Maestro [Grant] Cooper and arranged especially for the singer and the orchestra. At the end of the night, the group is narrowed to four, as determined by audience voting. On Saturday, all eight will perform another song. The final four will be announced prior to intermission, and the audience will vote. The second half of the program features one additional song by each of the top four as well as one by each of the judges and inaugural ‘Symphony Idol’ winner Ryan Hardiman. The winner is announced at the end of the night.” The winner will perform on a West Virginia Symphony pops program.
Posted February 9, 2012
