Culture
Mountain Stage Pianist Announces Three-Date WV Tour
< < Back toWest Virginia Music Hall of Fame pianist Bob Thompson and his band have announced a three-city tour of the 23rd season of Joy to the World, featuring special guest vocalist Lena Seikaly, in Charleston, Wheeling and Parkersburg.
Thompson will bring his widely acclaimed holiday jazz concert to Parkersburg for the first time on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the historic Smoot Theatre. The show beings at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students.
“We’re excited that this Mountain Stage-associated performance is coming to the area’s premier music and performance venue – our own historic Smoot Theatre,” said Mark Lewis, Greater Parkersburg CVB president. “West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage is nationally known and the foremost promoter of live music in West Virginia. This is a huge opportunity for folks in our area to experience a live performance by a West Virginia music icon, without having to drive to Charleston.”
Now in its 23rd year, Joy to the World is an annual live performance hosted by pianist Bob Thompson and produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. In addition to a distinguished solo career as the leader of the Charleston-based Bob Thompson Unit, Thompson has also been a member of the Mountain Stage band since 1991. Earlier this year he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Singer Lena Seikaly is a fresh voice on the national jazz scene from Washington, D.C. Most recently she was recognized as a 2015 semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition.
Named “one of Washington’s preeminent jazz singers” and “brightest voices in jazz” (The Washington Post), Lena has sold out performances at legendary D.C. institutions such as Blues Alley, the Strathmore Mansion, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Twins Jazz and various Smithsonian venues, among others.
The Joy to the World radio program, featuring music from all three concerts, will be broadcast in December 2016. The Dec. 10 show in Charleston will be filmed for broadcast on WVPB television Dec. 20 at 7 p.m.
This year’s show and future radio broadcasts are sponsored in part by The Dominion Foundation and the West Virginia Lottery.
For tickets to the Parkersburg performance on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the Smoot Theatre, call the Smoot box office at 304-422-7529 today! To learn more, visit www.wvpublic.org/jo.