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Maestro Cooper bids farewell to symphonic concerts with WV Symphony after 15 years

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Maestro Grant Cooper’s final symphonic concert with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra will be an emotional one.

“Yes, I’ll be emotional, but all my experience of more than 40 years as a professional musician is going to come making sure that didn’t allow that to spill over into, actually, becoming detached from the task at hand,” Cooper said ahead of his last concert before retirement.

Maestro Grant Cooper
Maestro Grant Cooper

Cooper, who announced his retirement last September, will take the stage at the Clay Center Saturday at 8 p.m.

His concert, “Maestro’s Fantasia,” will include a combination of pieces throughout his 15 years with the Symphony.

“I think we’re going to do a representative sample of the sorts of repertoire that we have used over the years to communicate with our audiences in a very profound, very celebratory and very spiritual way,” Cooper told MetroNews.

Six finalists have been chosen to visit the Capital City and conduct one of the concerts for the upcoming 2016-2017 season that kicks off in September and runs through May. The performance will be part of their audition to become the next conductor.

The search committee has been interviewing candidates from around the world this past year. There were 167 applicants.

When Cooper announced his retirement, he vowed to finish out the 2015-2016 symphonic season, make for a smooth transition and continue the ZMM Architects and Engineers Pops Series that runs from this October to May 2017.

“I do not want to say goodbye and I’m done. I’m out of here,” he said. “I wanted the transition to be able to be smooth for the public to be able to get used to a new director even as I phase out my involvement.”

Cooper said he’s ready to pass the torch on to a new leader who “the community will embrace.”

“The old saying in England — ‘the King is dead! Long live the King!’ is certainly true. One spins on a dime and there’s a new leader,” he said. “Sometimes difference is good. It’s exciting and change can be really, really healthy.”

The community will have the opportunity to weigh in on what they think of each candidate following their performances.

Tickets to Saturday’s show can be found at the Clay Center’s website.





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