Fairmont State welcomes Morgantown-based orchestra to campus
Nov. 5—FAIRMONT — Wheeling has a symphony, Charleston has one too, but in between, in North Central West Virginia, there was a gap in that caliber of music.
Filling that gap was the goal behind the creation of the Black Diamond Philharmonic Orchestra, the self-proclaimed professional orchestra of NCWV.
Thursday night, the orchestra composed of eight wind instruments filled Fairmont State University's Wallman Hall Theater with selections of English composers, including a world premier by West Virginia University Professor Matthew Heap, who's originally from the United Kingdom.
Joining the eight winds on stage was Fairmont State's director of bands, Alyssa Schwartz, who is an accomplished flutist in her own right and also acts as the development coordinator for the Black Diamond Philharmonic Orchestra.
Schwartz was attracted to the idea of bringing a professional orchestra to the area since coming to Fairmont State in 2019 and jumped at the opportunity when approached by the group.
"At Fairmont State, we have a lot of students who are intelligent and interested in music, but money can be a real issue for some of them," Schwartz said. "That's how I ended up getting involved in this group because I knew an area that needed this. It's hard to provide high-level music but that's why I love this, because I get to bring that to these areas."
Schwartz's involvement is two-fold. She is an educator and understands the value a performance like this can bring to students, but also as a musician herself, she gets to be one of the musicians providing that high-level entertainment to the public.
Thursday, she performed as a featured soloist in "Concerto for Flute and Eight Winds" by William Alwyn, a piece that lives up to its name being four-part concerto written for a nine-piece ensemble.
Of the performance, she said that being on stage with such talented musicians is always an experience she cherishes.
"It's deeply gratifying. Sometimes I'll have students who have never seen a bassoon before and to be part of their introduction to that is so exciting for me," Schwartz said. "I teach music appreciation, and sometimes that class gets a bad rap. ... But what I love about it is that there are always some students who come out loving it. I think that's my mission."
Joining Schwartz on stage was also Mark Wallace, one of the Black Diamond Philharmonic Orchestra's co-founders and the group's director of wind activities. Thursday he conducted the group throughout their performance.
He spoke about what a pleasure it was to perform onstage with such talented musicians, namely Schwartz.
"The piece we did with her was an incredibly hard piece. It is not a standard concerto, it's very nuanced with a lot of time changes and the flute part isn't easy," Wallace said. "[Schwartz] pulled it off so well and we're just so incredibly happy to collaborate with (and) for her to have us on campus to perform this wonderful program."
Wallace founded the Black Diamond Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021 along with Robert Heath. The two noticed the lack of a professional orchestra in the area but also noticed the remarkable talent pool of young musicians and artists in North Central West Virginia.
One of the most surprising things about the group when they walk on stage is that almost all of the members are in either their twenties or thirties.
"A lot of us are fresh out of college or still searching for that full-time gig and we love to employ musicians and give concerts. There's a wealth of local talent of young people we feel we can tap into," Wallace said. "We just love making music and sharing that with people."
The Black Diamond Philharmonic Orchestra is a nonprofit and functions because of the generosity of donors. For information about future events or ways to support the group, visit its website at www.blackdiamondphil.com.
Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
