Outside, it’s raining. At the top of Snowshoe Mountain in Pocahontas County, it’s beautiful even in a downpour, with fog and mist curling around the trees.
Inside, in Snowshoe’s “Expo Center,” about 200 people have gathered to hear the West Virginia Symphony.
That was the scene on Saturday night at the WV Symphony Snowshoe Festival. Over the weekend, the symphony played two concerts in the mountains, with guest cello soloist Julie Albers.
There were other activities too – hiking, ski lift trips, banquet meals, plus two other featured events: the WV Butterfly Festival and mountainbike racing.
Some of the symphony festival attendees live in the area, while other people made the trip up the mountain just for the Symphony. They came from all over, including, Florida.
"Oh, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, just getting here, it’s a lot cooler than it is in Florida, so we’re having fun doing that."
And from Montreal Canada, in the case of Justin Deal, who’s originally from Boone County.
"Well, it’s just a great thing. I mean to have a symphony performance at what, 5000 feet, it’s pretty cool. It’s great to be able to do something like this in the mountains of West Virginia."
Even some who can hear the symphony during the year in Charleston also made the trip:
"it’s something amazing, even though we hear the symphony in Charleston, being out here in the mountains and the mountain air, and seeing all the excitement of all the people from outside West Virginia, makes it something special and unique. And then we have the extras -- the beauty and the hiking and walking."
Others live in the area for all or part of the year, and the symphony weekend is just one of many events.
"Every weekend is different, from the Blues and brews, to the chili cookoff, to the bike races, to the freedom fest motorcycle weekend, to the symphony weekend, different people come. We just like the range of different experiences we have here."
For many of the attendees, including Bob and Vicki Forrest, the symphony festival has become a regular part of their summer.
"In the summer time and the winter time, we live here." the couple explains. "In the spring and the fall, we live in Lynchburg, Virginia. We’ve been here for every single symphony festival except for one, all the way from the first one that came."
Al and Peggy Richardson split their time between Erie Pennsylvania and Pocahontas County. For them, the symphony weekend provides a change of pace from the other activities in the area.
"Well, it’s lovely to have something like this," Peggy syas. "When everything else we do around here is rural. And then this is a bit of a difference and sophistication."
That’s tuba player Aubrey Foard, practicing between rehearsals. But it’s not all work for the musicians, according to his colleague, bass trombone player Glenn Proffit.
"This is sort of a working vacation, so we play up here," Proffit explains. "I like to come up here, because I’m a cyclist. And so, living in Cincinatti, which is relatively flat compared to here, I get to ride my bike downhill six miles without pedaling, which is fun, and then work really hard coming back up, which is also fun..
Grant Cooper, the symphony’s conductor and music director, says he notices the difference in the musicians when they’re away from their everyday life.
"There is a different sort of person, sitting in the orchestra, Cooper says. "This is the person who can enjoy all the wonderful recreational aspects of the mountaintop, while they’re here and not in rehearsal, and bring a different kind of energy, and a different kind of focus to what they’re doing."
Harp player Melody Rapier also feels the difference:
"Oh I just love the mountains, it’s such a peaceful feeling when I’m up here. It’s a whole other world, all my troubles just sort of melt away."
Amid all this fun and relaxation, the music is far from frivolous entertainment. The theme for the concert on that rainy Saturday evening was “Tyranny.” One of the featured pieces on the concert was Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto, considered a statement of defiance against Soviet oppression.
Visiting musicologist Dr. Byron Adams explained in a talk before the concert, that Shostakovich represented his own name through a pattern in the music.
"In a totalitarian system where the basic idea is to remove individuality, for Shostakovich to have done that, for him to announce his name at the beginning of it, and at the end of it, is a reaffirmation of the dignity of human individuality, Dr. Adams explains.
According to Grant Cooper, even this troubled music makes sense for the setting.
"When you think about Snowshoe, you do think about it as a recreational place, but it’s also a place that you look out at the mountains and see nature at its finest and purest, it invites reflection, and it invites one to think about one’s place in the world, am I helping or hurting. These are themes that have great place in the symphonic music.”
In the end, Nature worked to match the themes of the music. The rain that pounded outside during the concert of music related to “Tyranny” gave way for Sunday’s concert, and it’s theme of “Tenderness.”