RSO & Chorus Feb., 1955
The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1953, is the largest
professional orchestra in Virginia west of Richmond. In 1986 the
Roanoke Symphony hired its first full-time, resident music director,
Victoria Bond; established its professional status; and made a public
commitment to artistic excellence and meaningful educational programs.
Since that time, the orchestra has been recognized nationally for its
artistic achievements, its innovative education programs and its unique
outreach to diverse audiences.
A NEW ERA
The orchestra and chorus have entered a new era in artistic growth under the baton of Music Director & Conductor David Stewart Wiley.
Wiley took the podium begining in the 1996-97 season following a
two-year conductor search which drew 198 applicants from around the
world. Maestro Wiley's inaugural season resulted in sold-out
performances and stellar reviews. This success has continued in the
subsequent seasons, and into the new millennium.
MISSION
The Roanoke Symphony Society's mission is to enrich lives, to educate,
and to entertain diverse audiences in western Virginia with the highest
quality instrumental and choral concerts, and to enhance traditional
performances with innovative programming in a welcoming acoustical
environment.
GUESTS
A diverse roster of guest artists have performed with the orchestra,
including:
classical artists: pianists Awadagin Pratt and Norman Krieger,
clarinetist Richard Stolzman, violinists Livia Sohn and Judith
Ingolffsohn, soprano Leontyne Price, and cellists Julie Albers and Zuill
Bailey
pop artists: jazz greats Dr. Billy Taylor and Marian McPartland,
guitarists Liona Boyd and Chet Atkins, trumpeter Doc Severinsen and
vocalists Roberta Flack, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson, Bruce Hornsby, Al
Jarreau, Olivia Newton John, Michael McDonald, Wynonna, Aaron Neville
and Art Garfunkel, among others.
SUCCESS
Milestones for the orchestra include: a performance with the Moody
Blues, a public performance and private recording of Quincy Jones' Black
Requiem with Ray Charles, the orchestra's first (live) recording,
Beethoven's Symphony No.9 in 1997, followed by "American Piano
Concertos" - a special recording project involving two works by American
composers, which began national distribution in 1998, as well as the
RSO's 2007 Delos International
release of "Zuill Bailey Live with the RSO." Participation in
commissions and world premiere events have earned the Roanoke Symphony
national recognition in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on
"NBC Today Show," and "NPR's Performance Today."
As the only professional orchestra in western Virginia, the RSO serves
the largest geographic audience of all orchestras in the state. The
orchestra tours to many locations and has gained significant support and
new audiences from communities throughout western Virginia, making it
"Virginia's Orchestra."
