“While concerts and festivals through most of the summer are canceled or postponed, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is still going forward with plans for its 2020-2021 season,” writes Bill Lynch in Sunday’s (5/10) Charleston Gazette Mail (Charleston, WV). “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WVSO was forced to cancel its spring shows…. Music Director Lawrence Loh said, … ‘When we started planning the new season, we wanted it to be absolutely spectacular,’ he said.… The season begins with … Beethoven’s overture to ‘Egmont,’ Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 and the iconic 5th Symphony….. In November, it’s a ‘Celebration of Strings,’ featuring Barber’s Adagio for Strings and a violin concerto by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez with guest violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. ‘It’s literally hot off the presses,’ Loh said…. A concert showcasing American-made music [will feature] a new composition from local composer and West Virginia Public Broadcasting classical music host, Matt Jackfert…. [A March] concert will include Missy Mazzoli’s ‘River Rouge Transfiguration,’ Mozart’s Requiem with the West Virginia Symphony Chorus, and Gliere’s Harp Concerto with returning guest harpist Emily Levin… Loh said [during the pandemic] ‘We’re paying attention to what is allowable and what is safe…. We just didn’t want to postpone indefinitely.’ ”
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