Concert Program
MENDELSSOHN | The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)
RODRIGO | Concierto de Aranjuez
CLARICE ASSAD | Impressions
TCHAIKOVSKY | Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy
John Devlin, conductor
Ana Vidovic, guitar
Ticket Information
Prices: Gold $65 / Red $40 / Green $20
Students tickets $10
Youth 17 and under free with an accompanying adult
Biographies
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Conductor John Gennaro Devlin is an ardent champion of American music, an innovator of concert design, and a thought leader in the field of classical music. In his third season as Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, Devlin is only the ninth conductor in its 90-year history to hold that title and, at 36, is one of the nation’s youngest music directors to lead a professional symphony orchestra.
Devlin’s artistry and versatility make him a sought-after guest conductor with major orchestras across the nation. His engagements include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the American Repertory Ballet. Of his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra and violin soloist Joshua Bell, Anne Midgette of The Washington Post wrote that Devlin “led the evening with flair … and was visibly in his element.”
Devlin spent three seasons from 2015‒2018 apprenticing with some of the world’s best conductors, soloists, and orchestras while based in Washington, D.C. During that time, he was the exclusive Cover Conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra,where he served as assistant to world-renowned Music Directors Christoph Eschenbach and Gianandrea Noseda, accompanying the orchestra on its historic 2018 tour of Russia. He served concurrently as the Assistant Conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey, working alongside Music Director Rossen Milanov.
A strong advocate for American music, Devlin has made it a programmatic focus, and has premiered over 40 new American works. His artistic partnerships with contemporary American composers include a decade-long relationship with Eric Nathan, from whom he has commissioned works that he performed at Carnegie Hall and with the National Symphony Orchestra. Devlin has also premiered works by Adolphus Hailstork, Leanna Primiani, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Enrico Lopez-Yañez, Michael Ellis Ingram, Evan Meier, Alexandra Bryant, Nathan Strasser, Tomek Regulski, Daniel Houglum, Timothy Brady, Matthew Levine, Christopher Caliendo, Liza Kravinsky, and David Matthews. In addition, Devlin commissioned the completion of Claude Debussy’s unfinished work, La Saulaie, from British composer and musicologist Robert Orledge. Devlin then conducted the world premiere of the finished work, a cantata for baritone and orchestra.
Also a leader in designing concerts that frame orchestral music in inventive ways, Devlin has partnered with others to generate such forward-looking concepts as Gourmet Symphony, Go-Go Symphony, Seamless Symphony, Interactive Symphony,and the New Retro Project. These collaborations paired artists such as Joshua Bell with gourmet chefs, and legendary musicians like Bootsy Collins, George Clinton,and Larry Graham with symphony orchestras for the first time. Each reflects Devlin’s mission of making the symphonic art form accessible and engaging for all audiences. The Washington Post hailed these projects as “refreshingly unfamiliar” events that deliver “a new audience for classical music” and brought “the sold-out house to its feet, cheering.”
Committed to serving the wider arts community beyond the podium, Devlin is part of the six-member Conductor Constituency Leadership Team of the League of American Orchestras, advocating for conductors nationally. Previously, he served on the Conductors Guild’s Board of Directors and was a featured speaker at the organization’s annual conference, discussing the future of orchestras with the Executive Directors of the National and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. He also delivered the keynote TED talk on “Innovation in Crowded Marketplaces” at a TEDx symposium. The talk, available on YouTube, details the thinking that resulted in the creation of Gourmet Symphony. In 2020, Devlin, alongside fellow conductors Ankush Bahl, Anna Edwards and Enrico Lopez-Yañez, launched Everything Conducting, an inclusive website for conductors to learn, share, and advance their craft. The project includes a vast online article database and the UpBeat podcast hosted by Devlin and Lopez-Yañez, Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony. John Gennaro Devlin is an American conductor of Italian and Irish heritage. He completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in orchestral conducting under the tutelage of James Ross at the University of Maryland. His undergraduate degree is from Emory University,where he graduated summa cum laudewith a double major in Clarinet Performance and Latin. While a student, he benefitted enormously from his time as a member of the New York Youth Symphony, at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and at the Pierre Monteux School. His professional career has been shaped by his time as an assistant to conductors Gianandrea Noseda, Christoph Eschenbach, Rossen Milanov, and Victoria Gau.
For more information, including recordings and upcoming concerts, please visit www.JohnDevlinMusic.com
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Ana Vidovic is an extraordinary talent with formidable gifts taking her place amongst the elite musicians of the world today. She is known for her beautiful tone, precise technique, well-defined phrasing and thoughtful artistry and musicianship.
Her international performance career includes frequent recitals, concerto engagements and festival appearances in most of Europe’s cultural destinations including Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, London, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Salzburg, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb. Her tours have also taken her to Australia, Brazil, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Equally impressive is the fact that she has recorded 6 CDs. Mel Bay Publications has released Ana Vidovic’s DVD entitled “Guitar Artistry in Concert,” a journey through the music of Torroba, Piazzolla and Pierre Bensusan, Sergio Assad, Stanley Myers, Villa-Lobos and Agustin Barrios Mangoré, and “Guitar Virtuoso,” a performance of works by Bach, Torroba, Paganini and Walton.
During recent seasons Ms. Vidovic’s prolific career has taken her to London where she has performed at King’s Place twice; Bordeaux and Paris, Carthage (Tunesia), Cuenca (Equador), Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Avezzano and Pescara (Italy), Aachen, Ansbach, Baden-Baden and Ettlingen (Germany), Japan, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney (Australia), Hong Kong, Bulle (Switzerland), Uppsala (Sweden), Istanbul, Tel Aviv, in addition to the Canadian cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Kitchener, Toronto and Winnipeg. She has performed throughout the U.S. at major performance venues in Austin, Baltimore, Bethesda (The Strathmore), Boston, Champaign, IL (Krannert Center), Cleveland, Dallas, Dayton, Ft. Worth, Houston, the Hawaiian Islands, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Portland (OR), St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Fe, Seattle, Washington, DC and New York City where Ms. Vidovic has performed in recital at the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes College of Music, Baruch College, 92nd St. Y and Le Poisson Rouge. Her dazzling concerto performances have taken place with the Asheville Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Evansville Philharmonic, Glacier Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, Knoxville Symphony, Missoula Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony (Oregon), Orchestra Iowa, Westmoreland Symphony (PA), West Virginia Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; and with the Slovene Orchestra and Zagreb Philharmonic. Festival appearances include Le Domaine Forget (Quebec), International Guitar Festival (London), Big Sky, Montana, Caramoor Festival (Katonah, NY), Colorado Music Festival and Lake Tahoe Summerfest.
Following Summer 2019 engagements in Lichtenstein and Dubrovnik, Ana Vidovic’s 2019-20 season included appearances at An Die Musik in Baltimore, MD as well as soloist with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra; recitals in Jacksonville (FL), Los Angeles, Clarksville (TN), and Sedona (AZ); and overseas in Paris, Aachen and Bad Aibling (Germany). During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of Ms. Vidovic’s engagements were redesigned to take place including the 92nd St Y in NYC, Philadelphia and in San Francisco (Omni Concerts) where she performed at the venue in a live-streamed concert. Live, in-person concerts resumed in 20-21 to audiences in Hamburg, Split (Croatia) and in Knoxville and Utah State University. Her 2021-22 season is highlighted by returns to the London Guitar Festival at King’s Place, NYC’s 92nd Street Y for in-person concerts with live audiences, as well as in San Francisco, Austin and St. Louis. Ms. Vidovic’s on-line masterclasses in Athens during the pandemic continue on a monthly basis throughout the season.
Ms. Vidovic has won an impressive number of prizes and international competitions including first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy and the Francisco Tarrega competition in Benicasim, Spain. Other top prizes include the Eurovision Competition for Young Artists, Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy, Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In Croatia, the guitarist has performed Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio and Television, as well as having been featured in three television documentaries by the eminent Croatian film director Petar Krelja.
Ana Vidovic comes from the small town of Karlovac near Zagreb, Croatia, and started playing guitar at the age of 5. At age 7, she gave her first public performance and at the age of 11 she was performing internationally. She became the youngest student at age 13 to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. Ms. Vidovic’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study with Manuel Barrueco at the Peabody Conservatory from which she graduated.