Brought to you by:
co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Fox Hunt Club
Tickets:
Orchestra Level Tickets: $40.00
(Cash Bar)
Premium Balcony Level Tickets: $75.00
(open bar and private reception, after the concert, with Peter Wilson, Aaron Clay, Patrick Sheridan and Concertmaster, Susan Black)
Program Includes:
ROTA: “Divertimento Concertante for Double Bass & Orchestra”
Duke Ellington and Gershwin tributes arranged for Tuba & Orchestra
WILLIAMS: “Hymn to the Fallen”
TCHAIKOVSKY: “The Year 1812, Festival Overture”
Featuring:
Aaron Clay
Renowned Double Bass Virtuoso
Aaron Clay distinguishes himself regularly as a uniquely versatile double bassist. He commands great respect as a performer in both the classical and jazz worlds of bass playing, but it was The Washington Post that observed, “What sets [Clay] apart is elegant bowing . . . . His melodic lines have a cello-like glow and flexibility . . . .”
A native of Fairmont, West Virginia, Mr. Clay began his musical training at the age of 10 when he taught himself to play jazz on the electric bass. He later pursued classical training on the upright double bass and, upon graduating from Fairmont Senior High School, attended West Virginia Wesleyan College, where he studied with Richard Manspeaker. In 1989, he was selected to join the United States Navy Band in Washington, DC where he served one enlistment. In 1993, he auditioned successfully for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, where currently holds the rank of Master Sergeant and serves as Assistant Principal Bass.
Mr. Clay makes regular appearances at The White House performing in virtually every type of musical ensemble that is tasked, to include the Marine Orchestra, string ensembles, and jazz/pop combos. He also travels frequently with the Marine Band throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to writing works for violin and double bass duo, Mr. Clay is developing a reputation as a composer of works for larger ensembles. An invitation by the director of the Marine Band to write a work for wind ensemble led to Mr. Clay’s composition “e-volution,” which was premiered by the Marine Band in 2002. His next work, also premiered by the Marine Band, was entitled “Serial Number.”
Mr. Clay serves as Principal Bassist of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra as well as the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and has performed in such jazz and pop groups as The Kenny Rittenhouse Quartet, The Peter Fraize Quartet, and First Light. Mr. Clay is always in great demand as a freelance musician and has appeared with such legendary performers as Aretha Franklin and Joe Williams.
Mr. Clay currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife Cindy Crumb and their dog Zoe.
Patrick Sheridan
Internationally Celebrated Tuba Soloist
Patrick Sheridan is one of the most celebrated tuba soloists in his instrument’s history. He has performed more than 3,000 concerts in over 50 countries in venues ranging from the White House to NBA half-time shows to the Hollywood Bowl. He is a former member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and has been featured on NBC’s “Today Show” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
Mr. Sheridan has served on the music faculties at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, The Rotterdam Conservatory, The Royal Northern College of Music and The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Most recently, Patrick served on the music faculty at the University of California – Los Angeles where he was the director of the wind ensemble and brass ensemble and taught the tuba/euphonium studio. Along with Sam Pilafian, he is the co-author of the world’s best-selling method for instrumental improvement, The Breathing Gym, which won the 2009 EMMY® Award for Instructional/Informational Video Production.
He is the Chief Design Consultant for Jupiter Band Instruments and XO Brass. In the Phoenix community, Patrick is the Music Director of The Salt River Brass. Patrick also frequently works across the United States as a guest conductor with university bands and orchestras as well as high school and middle school all-state and regional honor bands and orchestras. Patrick is a member of ASCAP, an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and a Trustee of The International Music Camp.
Dr. Peter Wilson is an engaging and multifaceted American violinist and conductor whose musicianship has been noted as “first-class” by The Washington Post. He was appointed Music Director of the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and has conducted the National Symphony Orchestra as well as the National Gallery Orchestra.
Highly respected throughout the Nation’s Capital, he is an active soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster, recording artist, and performance clinician throughout the United States. He holds music degrees from Northwestern University and The Catholic University of America where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts.
He is in great demand for his skills and versatility, commanding respect in genres ranging from classical and jazz to country, folk, and pop/rock. He has appeared as violin soloist with such renowned artists as Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, Renée Fleming, Bernadette Peters, Randy Travis, Chely Wright, and Trisha Yearwood and he has performed chamber music in concert with Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, and Peter Wiley. He has soloed in many unique venues including the Presidential Retreat at Camp David, the Vatican before Pope John Paul II, the American Embassy in Paris, and Chicago’s Comiskey Park, where he performed his arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner to open a Major League Baseball game.
Dr. Wilson has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra of Washington, DC, has served as a concertmaster for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and recently appeared on HBO as a member of the orchestra that supported the “We Are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial, which began the Inaugural week of President Barack Obama. Most recently, Dr. Wilson performed with Stevie Wonder in a 21-piece orchestra at the Library of Congress in the World Premiere of Mr. Wonder’s “Sketches of a Life.”
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Our Journey
The WSO was founded in 1996 as the Waynesboro Community Orchestra. In its debut concert, 23 musicians performed works by Lully, Bach and Haydn. Over the past decade the ensemble has grown significantly, having over doubled its core size and often tripling the original personnel for some repertoire, which now includes works by Beethoven, Copland, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner. The ensemble has consistently programmed more challenging literature with each season, growing a repertoire that includes works from all centuries of the classical tradition. Highlights from recent seasons include performances of Beethoven’s 5th and 6th Symphonies as well as Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” The WSO has welcomed members from many communities outside Waynesboro, including Staunton, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, and Richmond, while also performing concerts in Staunton in partnership with Mary Baldwin College as well as fundraising events in Charlottesville. In addition, the orchestra regularly collaborates with professional soloists while remaining deeply committed to the WSO String School, which provides after school lessons to young string players.
Mission Statement
The Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a non-profit organization of professional, amateur and student musicians serving Waynesboro, Staunton, Charlottesville, and other Central Virginia Communities. The WSO provides dedicated instrumentalists with opportunities to collaborate in an intergenerational and educational environment, to share in the joy of music-making and to contribute to the cultural vitality of the region.
The WSO is a 501(c)(3) organization. This allows the orchestra to accept tax-deductible contributions.
For more information about the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra, visit www.waynesborosymphonyorchestra.org
Many Thanks to our Special Sponsors:
T&N
Reo Distribution
PGI
Boys & Girls Club