Muskegon, Michigan, September 18, 2023—She left us just five years ago, but Aretha Franklin remains one of the most influential singers of all time. West Michigan Symphony will present a concert tribute to the Queen of Soul at 7:30pm Friday, September 29. Music Director Scott Speck will lead the performance featuring Franklin’s greatest hits, including […]
by CEO Andy Buelow I had a delightful conversation with one of our musicians down in the Frau Lounge after last month’s season finale. This is a player who travels in from Chicago, maintaining an active performance schedule there as well as several other major markets throughout the U.S. She said, “I always wait until […]
Muskegon, Michigan, June 20, 2023—The typical jazz drummer is a hip but restrained figure, seated behind a trap set keeping the beat. He and the bass player are the core rhythm section; their job is to remain out of the spotlight, providing a solid but unobtrusive backing for the band, the pianist, or whoever is […]
Unique Click Clack Moosic for children will be presented at nine district branches MUSKEGON, MI, June 2, 2023—Children love stories , and they love music. Put the two together and it’s sure fire magic. West Michigan Symphony’s (WMS) Click Clack Moosicdoes just that as it introduces children to various orchestral instruments and basic musical concepts—tempo, […]
Muskegon, Michigan, May 31, 2023—Concertgoers will take a musical journey from the ocean to the cosmos when Music Director Scott Speck and the West Michigan Symphony present the 2022-2023 Season Finale, culminating with Gustav Holst’s epic work The Planets. The concert will open with Peter Maxwell Davies’s An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise, complete with solo […]
Edward “Kip” Hickman will perform rarely heard work for trombone and orchestra Muskegon, Michigan, May 3, 2023—Edward Hickman has been the Principal Trombone of the West Michigan Symphony since 2013 and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Trombone since 2001. He is a familiar face to West Michigan concertgoers, and the low brass section he fronts […]
Children from 36 schools in six area counties will play recorders along with West Michigan Symphony MUSKEGON, MI, April 26, 2023—Few things in life are more impressive than getting to play along with a 60-piece live orchestra, no matter what your age. For a fourth grader, it’s more than impressive—it’s life changing. Couple that with […]
Muskegon, Michigan, April 10, 2023—Louis Armstrong’s voice was unmistakable, his personality magnetic, and his artistry astonishing. Celebrated trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling joins the West Michigan Symphony to perform this electrifying homage, featuring “What a Wonderful World”, “Saint Louis Blues”, “Sweet Georgia Brown” and more. Sponsored by Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge, the concert will […]
Muskegon, Michigan, March 14, 2023— Low brass is the term for a special alloy of copper and zinc—but in this case it also refers to the trombone and tuba section of the WMS. The WMS Low Brass section— principal trombone Edward “Kip” Hickman, principal tuba Clinton McCanless and trombonists Joe Radtke and Evan Clifton—will step […]
After months of preparation, WMS Children’s Choir, Debut and Premier Strings take over Frauenthal stage for annual collaborative concert Muskegon, Michigan, March 13, 2023— It’s the thrill of the year for 80 area young musicians and their parents, siblings and relatives when the West Michigan Symphony Children’s Choir, Debut Strings and Premier Strings take over […]
