Wilmington Symphony Orchestra

10/20/2022

We can’t wait!

10/20/2022

The Queen's Cartoonists EPK

Imagine The Queens Cartoonists on the Wilson Center stage backed by the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra! For the first time ever, The Queen's Cartoonists will be accompanied by an orchestra and we are excited to be a part of this fun production!

JOIN US this Saturday evening at 7:30pm at Wilson Center - Cape Fear Community College for a night of cartoonists, laughs, and live music!

Tickets: https://wilsoncentertickets.com/show/?id=49201

The Queen’s Cartoonists play music from classic cartoons and contemporary animation. The performances are synchronized to video projections of the original f...

10/17/2022

We are excited to accompany The Queen's Cartoonists this Saturday at 7:30pm at Wilson Center - Cape Fear Community College! Get ready for a fun and exciting time!

Tickets: https://wilsoncentertickets.com/show/?id=49201

This week, hear Rhonda speak with Joel Pierson of the The Queens Cartoonists, who will perform with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra on October 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Wilson Center - Cape Fear Community College LISTEN HERE: https://bit.ly/3EEkt8B

10/12/2022

There are 4 weeks until our next Masterworks concert Brahms: Symphony No. 4 + Amit Peled!

Join us on November 12 at Wilson Center for an exhilarating and beautiful program featuring Brahm’s heroic Symphony No. 4, and Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 and Bruch’s Kol nidrei with Amit Peled.

Tickets: starting at $25, visit www.WilmingtonSymphony.org or call Wilson Center at (910) 362-7999

10/11/2022

Only 18 more days until the A Feast of Music gala! Hosted at Country Club of Landfall, A Feast of Music will include courses of fine food between performances by musicians from the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestras. There will also be a silent auction.

Tickets are $150 and sponsorships are still available. RSVP by October 14 online at www.wilmingtonsymphony.org or call our office at (910) 791-9262.

Proceeds from A Feast of Music will support our vital music education and artistic programming, reaching 44 schools in the Cape Fear region and impacting thousands of North Carolinians each year. Support from individuals like you strengthens our community connections and broadens the reach and accessibility of symphonic music to children and their families in Southeastern North Carolina.

10/10/2022

Join the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra for an exciting, fun, and hilarious concert!

"So, how do you take jazz and classical music and make it more accessible to everyone? Through cartoons!"
- Joel Pierson, piano, The Queen's Cartoonists

The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra will accompany The Queen's Cartoonists on Saturday, October 22 at Wilson Center at CFCC and we would love to have our Wilmington Symphony Orchestra audience members join us for this fun concert! The Queen’s Cartoonists is a 6-piece band that plays jazz and classical music to cartoons from around the world. The Wilmington Symphony Pops Orchestra is led by our conductor, Dominic Talanca.

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY by visiting www.wilsoncentertickets.com or call (910) 362-7999!

10/07/2022

We want to give a special thank you to Philip Singleton and Mary Gheen with Cape Fear Community College for hosting our Youth Orchestra students last night!

10/01/2022

Tonight is the night! Our 2022-23 Opening Night concert is tonight (Oct. 1) at Wilson Center at CFCC at 7:30pm. Featured is Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos performed by guest artists Domonique Launey and Elizabeth Loparits.

Also featured on this program is a new work by UNCW Department of Music professor Dr. Sameer Ramchandran, Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, and Swan Lake Suite by Tchaikovsky.

Tickets: https://wilsoncentertickets.com/show/

Wilson Center - Cape Fear Community College

09/25/2022

We have an exceptional lineup for our 2022/23 season. Make sure to book your tickets! Pricing starts at $25, click the link to browse our upcoming concerts and buy tickets: https://buff.ly/3FJABnS

October 1: Featuring Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos performed by Domonique Launey and Elizabeth Loparits.

November 12: Amit Peled will perform Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C and Bruch's Kol nidrei

February 4: Featuring a new work based on the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage with storyteller and singer Ron Daise. This concer will also feature winners of the 2022 Richard R. Deas Young Artists Concerto Competition.

April 15: Our Classical Connections concert is a mix of movie scores and broadway tunes with compositions by composers Strauss, John Williams, Wagner, and Stephen Sondheim.

May 13: Kebra-Seyoun Charles (2022 Sphinx Organization 1st place competition winner) will perform Andrés Martín’s Concerto No. 1. This concert will also feature Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.

In addition to this we are hosting A Feast Of Music on October 29 which includes fine dining in between performances by musicians from the WSO and WSYO. Proceeds will benefit the artistic and education programs of the WSO.

AND

Wilson Center's The Queens Cartoonists concert featuring the WSO, led by our new Wilmington Symphony Pops Orchestra conductor, Dominic Talanca.

Get your tickets, before they sell out!

09/24/2022

Meet Mat Boatright

Meet Mat Boatright, he plays the french horn with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and has been a member for over 10 years. Mat has served as the Principal Horn since 2019. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. During his time at UMN he studied with the former Principal Horn of the Boston Symphony, Charles Kavalovski!

Mat honorably and faithfully served as Marine Musician for the United States Marine Corps for 30 years and retired in 2016. In addition to his role as marine musician he also served as Section Leader, Drum Major, Conductor and Bandmaster at U.S. military installations located in California, Japan, Virginia and North Carolina. He volunteered to deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as a Marine Corps Liaison at the American Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and as the Senior Enlisted Leader for the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.

As we're sure you can tell, Mat has a heart to serve our country and has lovingly served the Cape Fear community for many years with the WSO.

Next time you see Mat, ask him what is favorite ice cream favor is.

09/23/2022

As we draw closer to our first concert for the 2022/23 season we'd like to take a second to thank our Premier Season Sponsors. Without them this wouldn't be possible!

As they support the arts and support us, we encourage you to support these businesses where you can. Thanks for seeing the value and vision we have of enriching the lives of the Cape Fear area!

Here's to our Season Sponsors (Brightmore of Wilmington Carolina Bay Independent Living & Bradley Creek Health Center & Reeds Jewelers) and a great concert season ahead!

09/21/2022

Join us next Saturday, October 1 for our Opening Night concert at ! Featured is a new work by UNCW Department of Music professor Dr. Sameer Ramchandran, Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Swan Lake Suite by Tchaikovsky, and Poulenc’s Concerto For Two Pianos performed by Domonique Launey and Elizabeth Loparits!

Tickets starting at $25. Visit WILMINGTONSYMPHONY.org or call Wilson Center Ticket Central at (910) 362-7999.

09/17/2022

One of the things we love seeing within the WSYO is the friendships that are formed over a love for music and working together as a team.

While contributing to the WSYO students gain musical and interpersonal technical skills - they learn to listen to and watch each other closely, sometimes leading, and other times following. The students develop a musical imagination and self-confidence as they test their creative ideas together, and they learn to give and be open to constructive criticism.

Being able to lead and be lead by your friends is a unique and powerful thing. Do you have lifelong friendships that were formed during rehearsals?

Americans for the Arts

09/15/2022

So many of us have had musical training, either as children, budding musical teens or perhaps you've loved orchestral music for as long as you can remember.

Well, which ever category you find yourself in, if you're a past WSYO student we want to stay connected with you, to cheer you on and for you to share in community with other WSYO alums. Join our alumni community and share your story - https://buff.ly/3qIY7e0

Here's what one of our alums, Emma Tracy, had to say about her time with the WSYO: "I am so grateful for the experience I got being in youth symphony, playing challenging music in what feels like a professional setting made me feel much more comfortable playing at the collegiate level at Appalachian State University."

Emma is currently earning a degree in Cello Performance at ASU and we couldn't be more proud of her!
Americans for the Arts

09/14/2022

This week we're amplifying our education programs for National Arts Education Week, so let's chat about our Wilmington Symphony Junior Strings! Junior Strings is led by Lisa Gattuso and is our youngest ensemble with students in grades 4-8. This year we have 49 Junior Strings students representing 24 public, private and parochial schools throughout New Hanover, Pender and Onslow counties. Junior Strings performs 3 concerts a season along with our Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestra and Wilmington Symphony Rockestra.

Our goal for the Junior Strings is to enrich the lives of Cape Fear area youth by providing talented young string players with unique orchestral training and performing opportunities.

We love our Junior Strings!

Americans for the Arts

09/12/2022

For National Arts Education Week we'd like to shine a spotlight on our wonderful education programs! In addition to feeding their love for music, our education programs provide space for young musicians to learn alongside each other, play as one and of course provide a feeder to the WSO and its future audience and supporters.

Through the generosity of our "Music For Youth" sponsors and foundation partners, WSO provides school and community youth groups free tickets to its concerts at Wilson Center -- over 1,000 children every year enjoy our Wilmington Symphony concerts. Pictured here is Randall Goosby and his Wilmington fan club! Goosby performed Bruch's Violin Concerto in January 2022 with the WSO.

Americans for the Arts

09/08/2022

Friends and Family of Jane Tierney (longtime WSO musician and educator) have set up a GoFundMe page (https://buff.ly/3KZCEGN ) to help support her and her husband, Hiroshi Sueyoshi, as they battle Parkinson's Disease. Hiroshi began to experience symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease in 2011, which has become an around-the-clock, intensive caregiving challenge for Jane. She needs support to hire respite caregivers so that she can maintain her own health and be with him.

Jane played in the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra for 45 years and founded our Wilmington Symphony Junior Strings. During Hiroshi's four plus decades career as a master potter, he became the first Artist-in-Residence at the Cameron Art Museum and co-creator of the non-profit Orange Street Pottery. Together Jane and Hiroshi have created art and music and shared their gifts with thousands of students and art-lovers, giving enormous joy to their community.
Please consider donating to provide quality care for Hiroshi and respite time for Jane, so that they can stay in the familiarity of their home for as long as possible.

https://buff.ly/3KZCEGN

09/07/2022

With the last of our WSYO auditions just a day away, your children are no doubt in full preparation mode, so here's an article with tips and audition suggestions that you may want to look at or share with your children. https://buff.ly/3ASZonf

It's a great way to see if your kids are on the right track with preparations.

Good luck to everyone auditioning tomorrow!

09/01/2022

Say hi to our newest addition to the WSO team, Amy Sandlin! She has taken up the role as Orchestra Operations Coordinator, and is primarily assisting with ex*****on of rehearsals, performances, retreats, etc for the WSO & WSYO.

Let's get to know Amy a little better:

Growing up in a family of creatives, with her mother being a painter and father and brother as trumpet players, she was destined to love the arts.

Amy is a member of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and the Wilmington Symphonic Winds, where she plays Oboe and English Horn, and also performs at area churches and community concerts. In addition to music, Amy also enjoys several artistic hobbies, such as painting and cake decorating.

Amy has a Masters in Music Education from East Carolina University in Greenville and also earned National Board Certification in 2003. Amy recently retired after 28 years of teaching band, 27 of which were in New Hanover County.

During her tenure as a band teacher, Amy held several leadership positions in the North Carolina Bandmasters Association Eastern District, including Solo and Ensemble Chairperson, Webmaster, and President. She also mentored several music education students from UNCW, helping them on their journey to become music educators.

Amy is an incredible asset to our team, and we're honored to call her family.