Bohemian Spirit
Thursday, March 11, 2027
Our March Masterworks program features composers spanning four centuries, from Mozart in the 18th century to contemporary composer Clarice Assad.
The concert begins in celebration of Music in Our Schools Month, as the Wheeling Symphony Youth Orchestra joins the WSO on stage for a side-by-side performance of Sibelius’s Finlandia. Beloved by students and professional musicians alike, this work also serves as this season’s Musician’s Choice selection, nominated by WSO Principal Timpanist Jacob Gutierrez.
We then turn to Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, a vibrant collection of seven folk tunes from Transylvania. Our contemporary offering comes from Clarice Assad, whose music the WSO has programmed nearly every season over the past five years. For this performance, we welcome trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden for Assad’s Bohemian Queen, inspired by the art of American painter Gertrude Abercrombie.
The concert closes with Mozart’s beloved Symphony No. 40, one of his most recognizable and dramatic works. Of the 41 symphonies attributed to Mozart, it is one of only two written in a minor key.
Featuring
Mary Elizabeth Bowden, trumpet
Classical Trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden has built an in-demand career as a soloist, praised for her "splendid, brilliant" playing (Gramophone Magazine) and her "pure, refined, and warm" tone (American Record Guide). A Gold Medal Global Music Award Winner, Opus Klassik Nominee, and Yamaha Performing Artist, she has worked diligently to establish a new repertoire for the trumpet through creative, collaborative commissioning projects and award-winning albums. The 2026/27 season features multiple solo, collaborative, and festival appearances, including concerto engagements with the Montgomery Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, and D.C. Youth Orchestra. A champion of new music, Mary's season includes multiple performances of Jeff Scott's trumpet concerto Athena, as well as the world premiere of Jennifer Oliverio's double trumpet concerto. Mary has cemented her world-class reputation both in the U.S. and around the globe, with recent international projects including a solo recital at the Musikfestspiele Saar in Germany and a month-long tour of Japan with Seraph Brass. She has performed in more than 14 countries total throughout her career, with solo debuts in Turkey, South Korea, China, and Russia. In 2024, Mary released her third album, Storyteller, on Cedille Records, which featured a program of newly commissioned works performed with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Among her many creative projects, Mary is a founding member and artistic leader of both Seraph Brass and the Chrysalis Chamber Players. Mary has served as Principal Trumpet of the Artosphere Orchestra, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and New Zealand's Auckland Philharmonia. She earned her Bachelor of Music from The Curtis Institute of Music and her Master of Music from the Yale School of Music, and currently serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet at Shenandoah Conservatory.
John Devlin, conductor
Conductor John Gennaro Devlin is an ardent champion of American music, an innovator of concert design, and a thought leader in the field of classical music. Currently in his eighth season as Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (WSO), Devlin is only the ninth conductor in its 90-year history to hold that title. In 2025, Devlin began his tenure as the Music Director of the Lancaster (OH) Festival Orchestra. For his work with the WSO, Devlin was named a recipient of the 2023 Georg Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award. Also in 2023, Devlin was honored by Wheeling’s mayor, Glenn F. Elliott, with the Mayor’s Award for “distinguished service, loyalty, and dedication to our city.” Devlin’s primary artistic goal is to advocate for American music from many different types of genres and creators. With this programmatic focus, Devlin has premiered and/or commissioned over 50 new American works, including pieces by Clarice Assad, Adolphus Hailstork, Arlene Sierra, Leanna Primiani, Eric Nathan, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Enrico Lopez-Yañez, Michael Ellis Ingram, Evan Meier, and Quinn Mason. For its commitment to American music, the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra was granted the prestigious Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Award through the League of American Orchestras in both 2023 and in 2025. Devlin has recent or upcoming performances with many significant American soloists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Time for Three, Chris Thile, Sasha Cooke, Clarice Assad, Joshua Roman, Stefan Jackiw, Tessa Lark, Shara Nova, Xavier Foley, Eunice Kim, Third Coast Percussion, Soloman Howard, Madeline Adkins, Tracy Silverman, and Maxim Lando. Music of the stage and of the cinema are also focuses of Devlin’s work with American artists. A lover of all things Broadway, he has collaborated with Sutton Foster, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sierra Boggess, Hugh Panaro, Scarlett Strallen, Capathia Jenkins, Morgan James, Dee Roscioli, Christiane Noll, Debbie Gravitte, Anne Runolfsson, and Ryan Shaw. He is also active as a conductor of films with live orchestra soundtrack, including the Harry Potter series, other John Williams scores such as Jurassic Park, and Disney Films projects. For more information, please visit www.JohnDevlinMusic.com.
