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 is a highly in-demand 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, Bowden works diligently to establish a new repertoire for the trumpet through creative, collaborative commissioning projects and award-winning albums. Bowden has performed as a soloist across the U.S., appearing with ensembles including the Erie Philharmonic, Chautauqua Symphony, Waynesboro Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Peninsula Symphony (California), Chameleon Arts Ensemble (Boston), Springfield Symphony (in both Missouri and Ohio), Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and San Juan Symphony, and at Montana’s Big Sky Festival. In 2019, she made her German debut in Eisenach at the Wartburg Castle, and her French debut at the Château de Courances, both through the World and European Brass Association. She made her Russian debut with a performance in Sochi with famed trumpeter Otto Sauter’s handpicked “10 of the Best” trumpet soloists from around the world. Other international solo engagements have brought her to China’s Hunan Symphony Orchestra, Croatian Army Wind Band at the Velika Gorica Brass Festival, Lieksa Brass Week in Finland and The Banff Center in Canada, as well as residencies in Courances, France, and both Guadalajara and Cancun, Mexico. Bowden has collaborated in chamber music programs at the Marlboro Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, the Banff Centre, and the Sydney Opera House (under the baton of Håkan Hardenberger). Bowden has released two acclaimed solo recordings on Summit Records: her debut album, Radiance (featuring new American works), and her second solo album, Rêverie, with the Kassia Ensemble. Rêverie was featured as one of the Top Albums of the Year for the Global Music Awards and on Textura Magazine’s Top Ten Classical Albums of the Year. An engaging orchestral musician, she is currently Principal Trumpet of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra and a member of the Iris Collective. She previously held a position with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and served as Principal Trumpet of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, Lakes Area Music Festival Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, Daejeon Philharmonic in Korea, Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland, and Seraphic Fire’s Firebird Chamber Orchestra. Bowden earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with David Bilger, then principal trumpeter of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She earned her Master of Music degree in 2006 from the Yale School of Music, where she studied on a full scholarship with trumpeter Allan Dean. Bowden is currently Assistant 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.
