The New River Youth Symphony and Chorus summer season will culminate with a summer concert followed by an ice cream social at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, at the Mountain View Church of God in Hilltop.

The NRYSC summer season is always much more relaxed, and the music is geared towards lively, fun pieces that the students can fit into their busy summer schedules. Judith Arnold, NRYSC Chorus director, will use the summer concert to highlight individual performances. Her program will include pieces performed by the Beginner Chorus, directed by Kathie Kiser, along with pieces from the older Chorus and four individual students who will perform pieces from “Lion King,” “Phantom of the Opera,” and “Mulan.”

The Symphony portion of the concert will feature classical music from two operas, as well as two folk dance arrangements and “The William Tell Overture.”

In April NRYSC students and parents were thrilled to be able to participate in workshops and performances provided by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Clay Center in Charleston. The spring concerts included a fundraiser to benefit the Historic Fayette Theatre in Fayette County and a concert at Faith Baptist Church in Raleigh County.

The interim between the NRYSC’s summer and fall seasons includes an exciting opportunity for 10 NRYSC students to perform with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra at their annual Labor Day Concert, which will take place at the Woodrow Wilson High School Auditorium in Beckley at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 6.

“The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra has come alongside NRYSC to support and encourage our endeavors here in Southern West Virginia, and this is an example of their commitment to reaching out to West Virginia’s young people and exposing them to the arts in such a way that their lives will be forever changed,” said Kathie Kiser, NRYSC president.

“The Clay Center also has been a tremendous resource to NRYSC, by providing our students free tickets to WVSO concerts, discounts for our parents to purchase tickets, master classes that expose students to world-renowned soloists, workshops, and a voice in their commitment to arts education programs.

“We would also like to thank Larry Ford, the Labor Day Concert chair for the Beckley Area Foundation. His commitment to the arts and young people in Southern West Virginia helped make it possible for these 10 NRYSC students to be on stage with the WVSO.”

NRYSC students have been recipients of the BAF’s generosity in the recent past with funding received  to purchase a viola for the symphony in 2009. Christa Neal will play that viola on stage for the Labor Day concert. This year’s gift of music to the community from the BAF will have a personal and profound impact on these 10 Southern West Virginia students in addition to the audience that will fill the WWHS auditorium on Labor Day.

Students who are interested in joining the New River Youth Symphony and Chorus can check out the group’s website, www.newrivermusic.org. The website will have audition music for the upcoming fall season, audition dates, and general information about the mission and goals, director’s bios, and past concerts. Fall auditions and rehearsals will begin on Monday, Sept. 13, at Oak Hill High School band and choir rooms. Auditions will continue through the month of September.

The group will meet at Oak Hill High School on Monday evenings through November and finish the year with two concerts. The first concert is on Dec. 4 at the Beckley Presbyterian Church. NRYSC will  perform along with other groups that afternoon, following the Beckley Christmas parade. NRYSC will finish the year with the annual concert at the Historic Fayette Theatre on Dec. 11 after the Christmas parade in Fayetteville.