Classically Speaking

This Friday, the Wheeling Symphony performs the final concert of its 80th season.

The Wheeling Symphony is joined by pianist Angela Cheng (interview) to play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 (familiar to some as the “Elvira Madigan”).  The concert features  the Adagio for Strings and Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance by American composer Samuel Barber, in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of his birth, and the evening concludes with Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. 

Maestro Andre Raphel Smith, music director of the Wheeling Symphony, spoke with me at the beginning of the season about each of the concerts.  Here is our discussion of the music for this concert:

Previously:

* Angela Cheng interview (September 2008)
 
* Previous Wheeling Symphony concerts from the 2009-2010 season:
      - Wheeling Symphony and Zuill Bailey 
      - Dancing with the Wheeling Symphony
      - Baroque Jewels in Wheeling

* Wheeling Symphony 2010-11 Season Preview 

Greetings all, and welcome to my first Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra tour blog post! I'm very excited to be a part of the blogging team, and very much looking forward to traveling in Europe and performing in great halls with my fabulous colleagues.

In the days to come, I'll be blogging and hopefully, posting a few pics for you to peruse. I hope that you will be able to get an inside look into what goes on "behind the scenes.”

For now, it's off to Basel, Switzerland for me!

Chad Winkler is a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra trumpet section.  He is a native of Morgantown, West Virginia, and he received his Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University. He then earned his Master of Music degree from Duquesne University, where he studied with PSO Principal Trumpet, George Vosburgh.

Chad will be sending dispatches to Classically Speaking as he travels through Europe with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on their BNY Mellon 2010 European Tour.  You can read more about Chad Winkler and about the tour on the PSO website.