Wheeling Symphony Orchestra Hosts 2026 Festival of Ideas
The festival features a week of panels, discussions, recitals, and other events designed to complement one of the company's Masterworks performances.
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 15, 2026
Wheeling Symphony Orchestra will hold their Festival of Ideas on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Each year, the WSO presents Festival of Ideas, a week of panels, discussions, recitals, and other events designed to complement one of the company's Masterworks performances.
Festival of Ideas allows the WSO team to deeply examine the themes surrounding a concert, often collaborating with WSO musicians, scholars, experts, and community leaders.
This year’s theme is “Resiliency, Reflection, Remembrance: The Wheeling Symphony Five Years Post-Pandemic.” While some may feel reluctant to discuss such a dark period of history, we believe that it’s important to look back on how we navigated that difficult time. In the midst of fear and uncertainty came moments of connection, hope, creativity, and the unextinguishable drive of the human spirit, often accompanied—or even caused—by music. We will discuss these topics throughout the week, culminating in All My Memories, a concert that features both a soloist and a composition that were originally scheduled and subsequently cancelled for the year 2020.
All events, except for Saturday’s concert, are free to attend.
Schedule For Festival of Ideas
Monday, Jan. 12, 12:00pm – Lunch with Books Extra, Ohio County Public Library
– Performance and panel discussion with music director John Devlin, WSO Principal Bassoon Andy Sledge, WV Poet Laureate Marc Harshman, Professor of Sociology Dr. Daniel Renfrew, and Psychologist Dr. Dee Nazzaro
Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2:00pm – WSO String Quartet, Trinity West in Steubenville, OH
– Music and discussion with John Devlin, Assistant Conductor Yoona Jeong, Principal Second Violin Juan Jaramillo, violinist Rochelle Agnew, Principal Viola Jennifer Gerhard Mangone, and cellist Lily Moershel.
Thursday, January 15, 7:00pm – Piano Recital with Maxim Lando, Waddington Room at Oglebay Mansion Museum
– Soloist Maxim Lando performs an intimate chamber recital, followed by discussion with Maestro John Devlin. RSVP for the recital is requested. Please RSVP by clicking here.
Saturday, January 17, 2:00pm – All My Memories, Capitol Theatre
– Festival of Ideas ends with our Masterworks concert titled All My Memories. The performance will feature Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres, Prokofiev’s Piano Concert no. 2 feat. Maxim Lando, and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 7
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