Mimes Are Coming!

Magic Circle Mime Company Returns to Educate & Entertain During WSO’s Young People’s Concert Tour

The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is excited to continue its annual Young People’s Concert (YPC) Tour. This year’s tour features popular, returning guest artists The Magic Circle Mime Company performing “The Listener” with the WSO. The educational tour reaches more than 4,000 area elementary school students from Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel Counties in West Virginia, Belmont and Jefferson counties in Ohio, and Washington County in Pennsylvania.

“The 2016 Young People’s Concerts will be a unique and engaging experience for students. Collaborating with the fabulous Magic Circle Mime Company on this tour surely will make for a fun ride! The program entitled “The Listener” explores music that makes the orchestra part of many different art forms.  Works such as Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra provide an aural foundation for how the orchestra works and encourages students to listen as part of an audience” said Andre Raphel, WSO Music Director.

The Listener explores the relationship between the audience and the orchestra, highlighting the importance of listening. Learning to listen is a skill that takes practice and training. Area school children will learn and laugh while listening to works by famous composers including: Beethoven, Britten, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Williams. The Magic Circle Mimes will bring the WSO concert experience to life. The mimes’ hijinks include tap dancing during ballet music, and challenging a WSO trumpeter to outplay their bugle.

“Inspiring students while providing early exposure to live orchestral music is invaluable. We hope to reach as many students as possible and encourage area home school groups to attend this fun performance” Lauren Baker, WSO Education Coordinator said.

This year’s tour schedule is:

Monday, April 4 – The Capitol Theatre – 12:30 p.m. performance

Tuesday, April 5 –J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center — 9:30 a.m. & 11:15 a.m. performances

Wednesday, April 6 – Washington Park School — 10:45 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. performances

Friday, April 8 – The Scottish Rite, Steubenville, Ohio — 9:30 a.m. & 11:15 a.m. performances

Space is limited. Please call the WSO office by April 1 (304-232-6191) to make your reservation.

These educational concerts and tour are made possible by the following sponsors: National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works, Helen J. Prince Foundation, Schenk Charitable Trust, Hess Family Foundation, W.E. Stone Foundation, American Electric Power, Robert L. and Helen E. Levenson Charitable Trust, and the Ohio River Border Initiative.