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Press Releases
Concertmaster Vahn Armstrong will transition into a new role in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra
HAMPTON ROADS, VA [May 14, 2024] Today the Virginia Symphony Orchestra announced that Vahn Armstrong is stepping down after 31 years leading the ensemble as Concertmaster. He will remain in the VSO as Concertmaster Emeritus in the third chair of the First Violin...
Norfolk Native Thomas Wilkins Extended as Virginia Symphony Orchestra Principal Guest Conductor
HAMPTON ROADS, VA [November 6, 2023] The Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) has announced the extension of Principal Guest Conductor Thomas Wilkins's contract through the 2026-27 season. From a student at Norfolk’s Booker T. Washington High School to the principal...
Noted Composer Adolphus Hailstork Honored as 2023 Arts Supporter of the Year Alongside 2021 Honoree Paula Bonds
HAMPTON ROADS, VA [October 30, 2023] Renowned composer, educator, and friend to the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) Dr. Adolphus Hailstork has been announced as the 2023 Arts Supporter of the Year by Local No. 125 of the American Federation of Musicians. Dr....
Eric Jacobsen Extended as Virginia Symphony Orchestra Music Director
HAMPTON ROADS, VA [October 26, 2023] The Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) has announced the extension of Music Director Eric Jacobsen’s contract through the 2026-27 season. From his first concert as Music Director with superstar saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Eric...
06.20.23 / Fellows Announced for the Second Class of VSO African American Fellowship
HAMPTON ROADS, VA [June 20, 2023] The Virginia Symphony Orchestra has selected its second class of fellows for the African American Fellowship Program in partnership with Old Dominion University. The Fellows will join the VSO this fall, performing across the region as...
News & Reviews
A Symphony Concert of Profound and Positive Hope
By Montague Gammon IIIVeer Magazine Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms and Dvořák with Thomas Wilkins November concert features “music that is going to make you feel better about yourself at the end of the evening,” says the VSO’s Principal Guest Conductor Wilkins,...
Rocking Rachmaninoff
By Jeff Maisey Veer Magazine Earlier this year, the Virginia Arts Festival celebrated in grand style the 150th birthday of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff with a series of chamber music concerts featuring the internationally acclaimed Dali Quartet and violinist...
Feast Festively on Beethoven’s Bounty
By Montague Gammon III Veer Magazine The Virginia Symphony opens its 2023-24 Season with a Beethoven Festival whose bounties Music Director and concert conductor Eric Jacobsen twice likened to a “steak dinner with dessert,” a two course musical feast of “pieces that...
Change Agents: A new class of leaders in equity, diversity, and inclusion is transforming American orchestras.
If commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion has grown more apparent at orchestras around the country, that’s likely because it has increasingly become a full-time job. The number of leadership positions specifically focused on some permutation of EDI have...
VIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PARTICIPATES IN CARNEGIE HALL’S LINK UP PROGRAM
HAMPTON ROADS, VIRGINIA [January 18, 2023] – In collaboration with Carnegie Hall, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra is participating in Link Up: The Orchestra Sings, a music education program provided by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI), during the 2022-2023...
VIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MAKES HISTORY, NAMES DR. ANDREA F. WARREN AS CEO
HAMPTON ROADS, VIRGINIA [November 28, 2022] – The Virginia Symphony Orchestra has named Dr. Andrea F. Warren as the organization’s president and chief executive officer following an executive search process guided by Arts Consulting Group. Dr. Warren succeeds Karen...
Virginia Symphony Orchestra – Shenandoah
Members of the VSO violin section perform a beautiful arrangement of Shenandoah as a tribute to Hampton Roads and our beautiful state of Virginia!
VSO Music Director Announcement
On June 2, 2021, the Virginia Symphony announced Eric Jacobsen as the newest Music Director!