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While West Virginia music often gets associated with country & western, old-time, or bluegrass, you can find about any international style of music. Here are a prominent musicians who have made names for themselves in the classical world.
The Charleston Ballet, West Virginia's official state ballet, was started by Belgian immigrant Andre Van Damme. Van Damme came to Charleston from Europe in the late 1940s and started the American Academy of Ballet. He dreamed of creating a dance c...
This operatic soprano from Sutton (Braxton County) was the first West Virginian to perform at the Metropolitan Opera (The Met) in New York. Her career took off on December 26, 1935, when she sang the main role of Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly at...
This Wheeling native operatic soprano Eleanor Steber (1914–1990) studied music and won the prestigious Metropolitan Opera radio auditions in 1940. She made her official debut at the Met that same year in the opera Der Rosenkavalier.She remained a ...
This Putnam County native made beautiful violins and cellos. After serving in World War II, Hayslett worked as a pipefitter for Union Carbide in South Charleston. As a hobby, he began building instruments. He opened Hayslett Violins in 1954, and ...
After graduating from Wellesley College, the Clarksburg native made her major debut in 1946. She joined the New York City Opera in 1953, singing many roles, including all the main female roles by Mozart. She became known for singing new, modern op...
This Charleston native started music at age 17, performing his Poem for Orchestra with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (now West Virginia Symphony Orchestra), with both his parents playing in the group. After high school and earning several coll...
Larry Combs is one of the world's best orchestral clarinet players. He was born in South Charleston on December 31, 1939.Combs was learning woodwind instruments by age 10. By 13, he was playing regularly with the Charleston Symphony (now the West ...
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (WVSO) started in 1939 as the Charleston Civic Orchestra, giving its first concert on November 14, 1939. In 1943, its name was changed to the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. During World War II, the orchestra cr...
The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (WSO) started at a meeting in fall 1928 at Eleanor Caldwell's home. The orchestra performed its first concert on June 30, 1929, at Oglebay Park, with Enrico Tamburini at the baton.Over the years, many conductors hav...
Music: Blues and Jazz Performers
This Exhibit has 11 Sections
Music: Country & Western Music
This Exhibit has 20 Sections
This Exhibit has 21 Sections