Ode to Joy
Friday, April 30, 2027
Our Masterworks season comes to an exciting close with Ode to Joy, the inspiration behind our season title.
After two seasons of collaborating with the Wheeling Symphony Community Choir, we are thrilled this year to introduce them officially as the Wheeling Symphony Chorus, a core part of WSO performances. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was selected with the chorus in mind, bringing them back to the stage as a central part of our Capitol Series. In addition, the choir will be joined by four talented soloists: Monica Yunus, Marianne Cornetti, Victor Cadamone, and Alan Cline.
The WSO will also perform Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture, a joyful collection of German student songs that shows Brahms at his most festive. We round out the program with the thrilling world premiere of Will Dixon’s Les Belles de Lausanne. Dixon was a Black Wheeling native who went on to great musical success in New York City, but whose history and legacy have largely been forgotten. It is our honor to help bring Dixon’s work back into the spotlight. His life, career, and remarkable Wheeling roots will also serve as the subject of this year’s Festival of Ideas.
Featuring
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.
Monica Yunus, soprano
Internationally renowned soprano Monica Yunus has performed on the world’s leading stages. She is acclaimed for her sterling artistry as well as for her leading role as a social entrepreneur and advocate for arts and culture. Known for her “commanding and alluring soprano” (Opera News) and “glorious” interpretive gifts (Daily Camera), Monica has appeared as a principal artist with The Metropolitan Opera for over a decade – the first leading artist from her native Bangladesh to do so. Her Metropolitan Opera productions include L’Elisir d’Amore, Die Zauberflöte, Manon, Don Giovanni, and The Marriage of Figaro, in which she made her debut. Her performances have been enjoyed by millions in the Live From The Met recordings and videos in productions including La Rondine, Le Comte Ory, and The Enchanted Island. In a career that spans over 20 years, she has performed across the globe in concert and operatic appearances in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, collaborating with stars including Jon Batiste, Andrea Bocelli, Joseph Calleja, José Carerras, Joyce DiDonato, Jamie Barton, Plácido Domingo, and Bryn Terfel.
Marianne Cornetti, mezzo-soprano
Marianne Cornetti is internationally recognized as one of the leading Verdi mezzo-sopranos of her generation. She has appeared as Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Princess Eboli in Don Carlos at prestigious opera houses across the world, garnering rave reviews and winning the hearts of audiences globally. Opera Magazine claims, “If her timbre did not sear itself into the memory, her vocal command of this redoubtable role was complete” and Seen and Heard International raves, “[Her] voice is a miracle of power and flexibility from top to bottom. It is the emotion which she imparts into her singing, however, that makes her Azucena so memorable… Cornetti imbues each [role] with an emotional force all its own… The cheers and applause that rained down upon her at the end were well deserved.” Acclaimed performances of iconic leading Verdi roles include engagements as Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Bregenz Festival, Teatro Comunale in Florence, National Theatre of China in Beijing, Teatro Muncipal in Sao Paulo, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, La Coruña in Spain, Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Teatro Regio in Parma, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and in the Teatro Comunale di Bologna's tour in Japan, and as Amneris in Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Hamburg State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, Theatre Royale de La Monnaie in Brussels, Israeli Opera at Masada, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Auditorio de Tenerife, and Choregies D'Orange. ghlights of Cornetti's recent engagements include her debut as Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos in Tokyo as well as acclaimed performances in Parma, Bilbao, Rome, Vienna, and London; Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden; her debut as Dame Quickly in Falstaff at the Palacio de la Ópera in La Coruña, Spain, followed by a reprisal of the role at the San Diego Opera; Fidès in Le prophete at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; Jezibaba in Rusalka and The Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the Minnesota Opera; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Laura in La Gioconda, and Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City; as the title role in La Gioconda at the Rome Opera and Romanian National Opera; and Abigaille in Nabucco at the New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Metropolitan Opera. In 2005, Cornetti sang her first Wagnerian role, appearing as Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. She continued her excursion into this repertoire with her debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and has since sung the role of Ortrud in Amsterdam, Paris, Sao Paolo, and Palermo, and has appeared as Brangäne in Genoa. Cornetti's verismo repertoire includes Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, which she performed at Teatro alla Scala; Princess de Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro di San Carlo, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio in Turin, Opera di Firenze, and Dutch National Opera; and Rosa in Cilea's L'Arlesiana, which she sang to great acclaim at the L'Opera de Montpellier and at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York. She appears frequently in concert in such works as Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Elgar's Sea Picture and De Falla's El Amor Brujo. She has recorded Cilea's L'Arlesiana and Puccini's Edgar opposite Plácido Domingo and was recently featured on a Teatro Regio di Parma recording of Verdi's Don Carlo released in 2017 on the Dynamic record label. Cornetti began her professional career singing supporting roles in such important theaters as the Metropolitan Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. Marianne is now the Artistic Director for Pittsburgh Festival Opera and on the Voice Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. For more information, visit www.mariannecornetti.com.
Victor Cadamone, tenor
Hailing from the northeast outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Victor Cadamone earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Youngstown State University, with a double major in applied voice and French horn. He took additional coursework at Ball State University, where he served as a graduate teaching assistant in the voice department, before transferring to the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music and earning both his Master of Music in Vocal Performance and his Artist Diploma in Opera Studies. He has trained with Misook Yun, Jon Truitt, and Tom Baresel. He has coached with Hyery Hwang, Eileen Downey, Kathy Kelly, Marie-France Lefebvre, Grant Loehnig, John Churchwell, Bob Mollicone, and Andrew King, among others. He has studied Schubert lieder extensively (including the songs of 1817, Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, and Schwanengesang) with Ken Griffiths. He has also studied conducting with the late Steve Gage, as well as somatic body movement and The Grief Recovery Method® with Susan Moser. Victor has bowed with Opera Western Reserve, the Warren Philharmonic (Warren, Ohio), New Castle Lyric Opera (New Castle, Pennsylvania), Asheville Lyric Opera, Brevard Music Center, Cincinnati Opera, the Charleston Symphony (Charleston, South Carolina), Wolf Trap Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Opera Project Columbus, Opera Columbus, the Merola Opera Program, the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Santa Rosa Symphony, Livermore Valley Opera, the Glacier Symphony, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Western Plains Opera, Opera Naples (Florida), and the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine). His major role credits include Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Larry Renault (Dinner at Eight), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte / The Magic Flute), and Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore). His major cover credits include Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Steve Wozniak (The Revolution of Steve Jobs), and Shanty (Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio). His major concert credits include Carmina Burana (Orff), Choral Fantasy (Beethoven), Die erste Walpurgisnacht (Mendelssohn), Jephte (Carissimi), Johannes-Passion (Bach), Magnificat (Bach), Messiah (Handel), and The Creation (Haydn). An advocate and champion of new music, he has lent his voice to a number of significant projects over the past few years. Victor was a four-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, sole recipient of the Encouragement Award ($1,000.00) in the 2017-2018 season and Second Place ($3,500.00) recipient in the 2021-2022 season, narrowly missing his chance to sing on the main stage. He was also a four-time Corbett Competition award winner, receiving the Seybold-Russell Award ($10,000.00) in 2018, The Corbett Award in 2019 (top prize, $15,000.00), the Corbett Opera Award ($5,000.00) in 2020, and the Andrew White Memorial Award ($10,000.00) in 2021. He was a Semifinalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition in 2019. He is a proud recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant ($8,000.00) from the Shoshana Foundation in 2022. He was a Tier I Finalist and recipient of the Bonnie Bell Encouragement Award ($2,000.00) in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition in 2023. He was a Finalist and Winner of the Prize of the Audience ($1,000.00) in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition in 2025. He was a two-time Quarterfinalist in the Tbilisi Opera Crown, an international voice competition that takes place in the country of Georgia every 2 years. He was a Quarterfinalist in the 63rd Concurs Internacional de Cant Tenor Viñas. He was a Grand Finals Winner ($10,000.00) of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation International Voice Competition in 2026. He was a former finalist for Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Resident Artist Program and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. He is a graduate of the prestigious Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera.
Alan Cline, baritone
Alan Cline was born and raised in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia in the town of Wellsburg. He was taken with sound at a very young age and participated in nearly every sort of musical ensemble he could through his high school years. He would then begin his studies at West Liberty University, studying with Dr. Linda Cowan, where he continued to hone his skills as a musician. Although he spent time playing in orchestras, wind ensembles, brass quintets and ensembles, jazz combos and bands, marching and pep bands, and winning awards playing the tuba, Alan found his passion in the performance of vocal music. During his undergraduate years, he won National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions at the state, tri-state, and regional levels. He also was a Alpha Chi National Honors Scholarship Society winner at the national level for his scholarly work and performance of songs from the renaissance of British art song in the 19th century. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2014 with a Bachelors of Music Degree in Vocal Performance. Alan chose to continue his studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where he studied with Dr. Robert McIver and Jan Opalach. His primary coaches were Benton Hess and Dr. Russell Miller. While attending Eastman, Alan placed in or won every competition that the school had to offer, including the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Prize, Friends of Eastman Opera Competition, Eastman Concerto Competition, and the Graduate Jury Prize. He also made frequent appearances with Eastman Opera Theater including the roles of Mr. Webb in Ned Rorem’s Our Town, Phillip Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox, and Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. After completing his degree in 2016, he chose to remain in Rochester for a time performing concerts with Rochester Lyric Opera, the Voices Professional Choir, Nickel City Opera, and others. He also spent the summer of 2016 in California and took part in the NAPA Music Festival under the direction of Juliana Gondek, where he performed the role of The Villians in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffman. In the fall of 2017, life brought Alan and his Lara back to West Virginia and Wheeling became their new base of operations. Beginning in this time, Alan spent three consecutive summers and one winter in Italy with Si parla, si canta under the direction of Benton Hess. Some highlights of his time there include the title role in Rigoletto and Gianni Schicchi, and scenes programs including Figaro in Barber of Seville, Tonio in Pagliacci, Marcello in La Boheme, and countless others. Also beginning in 2017, Alan hit the competition circuit and began to compete at the highest level with the best and brightest of the opera world today. Some of his most significant accolades include Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition victories in the Pittsburgh District (2017 and 2019,) and a victory at the Great Lakes Region which sent him to the national semi-finals on stage at the Metropolitan Opera (2018.) More recently, Alan was awarded the Erma Cooper Prize and the Dorothy Kirsten/James Browning Most Promising Singer Prize at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards (2022.) Additional operatic credits include Morales in Carmen with Opera Naples, both the Sacristan in Tosca and Baron Duphol in La Traviata with Finger Lakes Opera, and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte with Midsummer Night’s Opera. Alan is no stranger to the concert stage as well and is at home standing in front of orchestras of all sizes. He has appeared as a soloist in many performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Verdi’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony and Hodie, Faure’s Requiem, Bach’s B Minor Mass and St. Matthew’s Passion, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Bruckner’s Mass in F, and countless performances of Handel’s Messiah.
