HUNTINGTON — After the tremendous success with the record breaking attendance of the first Picnic with the POPS in June, the Huntington Symphony Orchestra’s (HSO) announced today the Special Guest Artists and Pre-Concert entertainment for the July 25 Picnic with the Pops. Performing with the orchestra with be Randall Reid-Smith and Marina Jurica:

A native of Cabell County, Reid-Smith has served as the Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History since 2006. His responsibilities include oversight for the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and the state’s Archives and History Commission, Capitol Building Commission, and Records Management and Preservation Board, while administering the Arts Section, Archives Section, Historic Section, and the Museums Section for the State of West Virginia.

 Since the mid-1980s and continuing to the present, Reid-Smith has maintained an international career as an operatic tenor. Reid-Smith has also taught private voice lessons and master classes at the university level at colleges around the country. 

Before returning to his native West Virginia, he served as the Director of Education and Outreach and Production at the Toledo (Ohio) Opera Association. Reid-Smith is an accomplished opera singer who has won numerous competitions at the state and regional level and is written up in the International Who’s Who of Music and Musicians.  He received a Masters of Music from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Jurica is the morning meteorologist at WSAZ-TV, but has an extensive background in the performing arts.  She graduated from UCLA majoring in both music opera performance and journalism.  She also completed her Masters degree in Meteorology last summer from Mississippi State University. 

She is thrilled to be singing with the Huntington Symphony Orchestra again after the 2008 Christmas concert, Recently, Marina was Nellie Forbush in Charleston Light Opera Guild’s South Pacific.

 Other notable leads around the country in professional productions include Amalia in She Loves Me, Bianca in Kiss Me Kate, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Polly in Crazy for You, Maria in The Sound of Music, Julie in Carousel, Cinderella in Into the Woods, and Eliza in My Fair Lady.  Marina has also been a soloist for four years in UK Opera’s It’s A Grand Night for Singing. 

She has been a featured soloist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Lexington Philharmonic and has performed as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Weber’s Requiem, and Haydn’s Creation many times over the years.  She is currently studying voice with Dr. Everett McCorvey at the University of Kentucky.  She resides in Huntington, WV with her husband Todd.

As pre-concert entertainment, starting around 6:30 p.m. will be The Harmonica Club strolling the park playing train songs

The Harmonica Club is a group that meets once a week at a coffee shop called The Java Joint. The group started in the 2001, and has continued to grow and share the joy of playing the harmonica with as many people as they can. 

You may see them in a parade on a flat bed, or at a festival playing their tunes.

 During the warm months, you will find them on the second Tuesday of each month at Pullman Square in Huntington, WV playing outdoors for the public. 

On Saturday July 25, they will host the first West Virginia State Harmonica Championship. The event is open to all harmonica players from anywhere and any level of skill.  To learn more, see more and hear more about The Harmonica Club, go to theharmonicaclub.com.

Tickets for the Symphony are $10 to $30 and tables are still available to reserve.

To purchase tickets, call 304-781-8343, or stop by the new HSO administrative offices at 763 Third Avenue or www.huntingtonsymphony.org.
 

AP Video