West Michigan Symphony receives Extended Grant status, highest possible designation from Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs

Muskegon, Michigan, November 9, 2020—West Michigan Symphony(WMS)has been awarded a grant of $22,500 from the State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). The grant was awarded through the MCACA peer review process.  Among more than 500 applications, WMS’s proposal received a rating of 95 out of 100 during the review process, thus […]

Internationally acclaimed young pianist Claire Huangci to make West Michigan debut in Beethoven’s famed “Emperor” concerto

Friday evening virtual concert with Symphony at the Frauenthal will be followed on Saturday night with a solo virtual performance from The Block. Muskegon, October 19, 2020—Continuing its fall series of virtual concerts, West Michigan Symphony will present young American pianist Claire Huangci in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5—the famous “Emperor” concerto—in a webstreamed performance […]

Muskegon Area District Library collaborates with WMS to present free online series

Muskegon, Michigan, September 146, 2020—Muskegon Area District Library and West Michigan Symphony are collaborating on a free online series of musical offerings. Called “Saturday Series with the Symphony,” these online musical moments will begin on Saturday, September 19 at 7 pm. The first program will include excerpts from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, featuring violin soloist […]

Harmony Park is coming to Muskegon Area Parks

Permanent, weather-proof outdoor instruments installed in Nelson, McLaughlin neighborhoods and at Johnny O. Harris Park in Muskegon Heights Muskegon, Michigan, September 15, 2020—More than 30 permanently-mounted outdoor musical instruments are being installed right now at eight different locations in Muskegon and Muskegon Heights. The instruments came to the community via Watch Muskegon Play, a two-year […]

West Michigan Symphony concerts going online this fall

Muskegon, Michigan, August 24, 2020— This fall, West Michigan Symphony will be bringing Beethoven, Grieg, Tchaikovsky and other great classical composers to people directly in their living rooms. The 2020-2021 Season will proceed as scheduled, but at least through the remainder of the calendar year performances will be offered exclusively online—in a series of virtual […]

Debut Strings to Rehearse at Farmers Market this Fall

Grant from Wheeler Fund at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County provides private lessons for financially challenged students Muskegon, Michigan, August 4, 2020—The West Michigan Symphony Debut Strings program—which normally meets weekly in The Block throughout the school year—will hold its rehearsals at the Muskegon Farmers Market this fall, beginning September 14 and continuing until […]

Byron Stripling’s “Mardi Gras in Muskegon” WMS concert to be offered virtually

Muskegon, Michigan, July 16, 2020—You’ve heard of Christmas in July; now Mardi Gras is coming to Muskegon—in August! Trumpeter Byron Stripling will present his lively program, originally scheduled for last April, as a video performance in the WMS’s new Virtual Concert Hall.  Sponsored by Raymond James and Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge, the virtual concert […]

Violinist Chee-Yun joins Scott Speck and WMS for long-awaited concert

Vivaldi and Piazzolla Four Seasons will be offered as online video concert Muskegon, Michigan, July 7, 2020—Originally slated for a mid-May live appearance, violinist Chee-Yun will at long last perform with Music Director Scott Speck and West Michigan Symphony in a video webcast premiering 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 17.  Featuring Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and […]

West Michigan Symphony announces new schedule, program changes for remaining concerts

Muskegon, MI, April 24, 2020 — West Michigan Symphony has postponed all concerts previously scheduled for May and will extend its performance season—which originally concluded in June—into mid-August. Executive Director Andy Buelow announced the new schedule today in response to the continuing Coronavirus pandemic and the extension of Governor Whitmer’s “Stay home, stay safe” order […]

Link Up Concerts Cancelled Due to School Closure

MUSKEGON, MI, April 5, 2020 — As a result of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order to extend the closure of Michigan’s K-12 schools through the end of the school year, West Michigan Symphony (WMS) has cancelled the live orchestra concerts that mark the culmination of the 2019-2020 Link Up program, Executive Director Andy Buelow announced […]

Michigan Arts & Culture Council
National Endowment for the Arts