WEST TEXAS SYMPHONY KICKS OFF 2026 WITH “DOUBLE TROUBLE”
 
(Midland/Odessa, Texas) West Texas Symphony kicks off 2026 performances with their concert titled DOUBLE TROUBLE. This event highlighting works for orchestra, cello, and violin will be held on Saturday, February 28 at 7:30pm inside the world-class Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center.
 
The evening begins with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Overture to The Impresario, which was composed in 1786. Mozart, widely considered one of the greatest classical composers of all time, took a last-minute commission from the Austro-Hungarian Emperor. He was tasked to create a piece to entertain the emperor’s noble friends in German and Italian. In just a few days, Mozart had written the overture, two arias, a trio, and the German grand finale. The opera in it’s entirety was not well received, but the overture is considered pure perfection, full of rich textures and melodic notes.
 
Strings will be celebrated with Johannes Brahms, Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor “Double Concerto”! Featured musicians include cellist George Work, and violinist John Gilbert. Accompanied by the West Texas Symphony Orchestra, they will shine in the three-movement piece, each with a varied theme, which is quite unusual for a composition in the late 1800s.
 
Cellist George Work holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he served as teaching assistant to Robert Sylvester. In 1981, he joined the Ames Piano Quartet, in residence at Iowa State University. The Quartet has released sixteen critically acclaimed CD recording and appeared in concert throughout the United States and Canada. Work’s international appearances include Kaliningrad, Russia, Salzburg, Austria, Paris and Marseilles, France, Taipei, Tainan, Kashiong and Taichung, Taiwan, Merida, Mexico and Cape Town, South Africa, and Cuba. Work has appeared as soloist with various orchestras in the U. S., as well as in Taiwan, R.O.C, Kaliningrad, Russia and Recife, Brazil. He was Visiting Professor of Cello at Drake University, and has taught and performed at numerous summer festivals. Work’s recorded the Ibert Concerto for Cello and Winds with the Baton Rouge Symphony Chamber Players and appears on the double album Youthful Passions.
 
Violinist John Haspel Gilbert, Professor of Violin at the Texas Tech University School of Music in Lubbock, TX. since 1995, is an active soloist, recitalist, and chamber music collaborator, he performs regularly throughout the United States, having appeared from coast to coast in prestigious venues from Weill Recital Hall in New York City to Abravanel Hall in Santa Barbara (CA). Recent international engagements have included performances in Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Gilbert has served as concertmaster of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony, and the Knoxville Symphony. He has appeared as soloist in the concerti of Bach, Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Bruch, Corigliano, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Vivaldi, and Kurt Weill. Gilbert has previously served as faculty at the SMU Meadows School of Music, University of Memphis, and Hope College. He is a member of the faculty of the Pienza(ITALY) Music Festival. He holds degrees from the University of Minnesota, the Yale University School of Music, and the Eastman School of Music, and has held fellowships at the Aspen Music School in both chamber music and orchestral performance. Mr. Gilbert may be heard on the Centaur, Naxos, Innova, Sono Luminus, Fleur de Son labels.
 
The evening’s finale will be Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D Major “Reformation”. The piece which was composed in 1887 consists of four movements ranging in tone from angry and forceful, to light and classical, with a dramatic and triumphant finish!
 
Adult tickets range from $12 - $60 and can be purchased at WTXS.ORG or 800-514-3849. Student tickets are offered at just $12 for any level, any seat, with a paying adult or valid college ID.
Patrons are also invited to experience Symphony SoundBites, a pre-concert supper held before the performance in the Rea-Greathouse Recital Hall at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center. By purchasing a ticket to this educational and tasty event, patrons will enjoy dining with friends as Maestro Gary Lewis provides an insider’s view of the evening’s program. Dinner provided by Exquisite Catering. Seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased for $30 each online or by calling the Wagner Noël Box Office at 432-552-4437. Deadline to purchase SoundBites tickets is Friday, February 20th.

DOUBLE TROUBLE is generously sponsored by Sharon & John Webb, Diann & John McKee, and Plains All American Pipeline.

For more information on this and other West Texas Symphony events, please visit WTXS.ORG.