The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and Music Director André Raphel announced their 2011-2012 Season featuring the music of towering composers such as Brahms, exciting co-commissioned works, the thrill of cirque, and the cool swinging sounds of jazz and blues.

The season announcement was held Tuesday at a reception for subscribers, donors, community leaders and the press at the Capitol Theatre Ballroom.

Appropriately titled “Celebrating the Past, Orchestrating the Future,” the season highlights important musical friendships between composers Dvorak and Brahms, and a world premiere by composer Richard Danielpour. The Danielpour work is a co-commission with the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. The season also focuses on unique collaborations with artists, welcoming back Pops favorites Five By Design with legendary alto saxophonist Richie Cole and the breath-taking acrobats of Cirque de la Symphonie.

Masterworks performances include the young, up-and-coming violinist Caitlin Tully and pianist Jeffrey Biegel performing Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Shadows, a global co-commissioned work for piano & orchestra.

“The 2011-2012 Season celebrates music of the past with traditional favorites and new music of our time,” said Mr. Raphel. “It’s a season that features exciting works by Copland and Ravel and a season in which we commemorate an important milestone in American history, the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.”

The WSO 2011-2012 Season includes:

Masterworks I: Carnival at the Capitol
Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 8 p.m.
André Raphel, conductor
Caitlin Tully, violin

Dvorak: Carnival Overture
Chausson: Poeme, op.25
Ravel: Tzigane
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Acclaimed violinist and rising star Caitlin Tully will perform Chausson’s mysterious and nostalgic Poeme and Ravel’s gypsy-inspired Tzigane. Tully made her debut with the Vancouver Symphony at the age of 10, displaying a musical maturity and inspiration far beyond her years. Upon hearing her, Yehudi Menuhin said she “plays with more integrity than any young violinist I have ever heard.” Since then, Tully has collaborated with conductors including Kent Nagano, Hans Graf, Pinchas Steinberg, Peter Oundjian, Bramwell Tovey, Peter Bay, Jeffrey Kahane, Daniel Hege, Murry Sidlin and Benjamin Zander. She has appeared with, among many others, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Toronto Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, and at the Britt Festivals.

Pops I: Cool and Swingin’
Friday, October 14, 2011 @ 8 p.m.
André Raphel, conductor
Richie Cole, saxophone
Five By Design, vocals

This concert will be cool and swingin’ with vocalese jazz from Five By Design and featuring sax master Richie Cole. Set in the format of a radio broadcast, this concert will feature music from the American Song Book and sax master Cole’s amazing music career, spanning 40 years from his days touring with legends Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton.

Masterworks II: 11.11.11 – An American Salute
Friday, November 11, 2011 @ 8 p.m.
André Raphel, conductor
Randall Scarlata, baritone
Elisa Kohanski, cello

Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Danielpour: Come Up From The Fields Father, World Premiere
Copland: Symphony No. 3

This Veteran’s Day performance will be a grand salute to those who have served our country featuring Copland’s monumental Symphony No. 3, which includes the popular “Fanfare for the Common Man.” This program also includes the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Civil War-inspired “Come Up From The Fields Father”. The work based on poetry by Walt Whitman features critically acclaimed baritone Randall Scarlata; and Elisa Kohanski, principal cellist of the Wheeling Symphony and the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra.

Pops II: Cirque de la Symphonie
Friday, Feb. 10, 2012
André Raphel, conductor
Cirque de la Symphonie

Cirque de la Symphonie brings the magic of cirque to the concert hall. First performing with the WSO in the 2008-2009 Season, Cirque de la Symphonie is returning this season by popular demand. This thrilling adaptation of cirque performances on a stage shared with the symphony showcases many of the best artists in the world, bedazzling audiences with aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen. These are among the most accomplished veterans of exceptional cirque programs throughout the world. The artists are the best in the business, and they include world record holders, gold-medal winners of international competitions, and some of the most original talent seen anywhere. Each artist’s performance is choreographed to the music that will be performed.

Masterworks III: Piano Forte with Biegel and Zwilich
Friday, March 9, 2012 @ 8 p.m.
André Raphel, conductor
Jeffrey Biegel, piano

Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Shadows (co-commissioned work for piano & orchestra)
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 (The Great C Major)

The WSO goes global with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Shadows. The orchestra joins other orchestras from all over the world for this co-commissioned work that reflects the migration of the human spirit. Renowned for his electrifying technique and mesmerizing touch, pianist Jeffrey Biegel was able neither to hear nor speak, until corrected by surgery at the age of 3. The ‘reverse Beethoven’ phenomenon can explain Biegel’s life in music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years.

Pops III: Blues in G Minor
Friday, April 20, 2012 @ 8 p.m.
Shakura S’Aida, vocalist

Canadian vocalist and entertainer Shakura S’Aida was a hit at the Heritage Music Blues Fest in Wheeling in 2010. S’Aida brings cross-over potential to the WSO, appealing to blues enthusiasts and symphony-goers alike in a blues orientated program with orchestrations.

Masterworks IV: Sohn Shines
Friday, May 11, 2012 @ 8 p.m.
André Raphel, conductor
Livia Sohn, violin

Berlioz: Overture to Benvenuto Cellini
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 (Classical Symphony)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe, Suite No. 2

Audiences will be thrilled by Tchaikovsky’s magnificent melodies as performed by the orchestra and violin sensation Livia Sohn. Sohn performs widely on the international stage as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and festival guest in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand.

The orchestra also will present several special event concerts, including Tchaikovsky’s holiday favorite The Nutcracker on December 16 and 17, 2011, the July 4th free concert at Heritage Port, the free Music Under the Stars concert at Oglebay Park, and Young People’s Concerts in Spring 2012.

All regular season concerts will be held at the historic Capitol Theatre in downtown Wheeling. Subscriptions are available in the choice of any three, four or all seven concerts.

Wheeling Symphony concerts are presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

For more information on the Wheeling Symphony’s 2011-2012 Season or to become a season subscriber, call 304.232.6191 or 800.395.9241.