Jennifer Sacher Wiley
Jennifer Sacher Wiley recalls the lump in her throat that she felt at age 3 while sitting beneath a piano bench and listening to her mother sing “Red River Valley,” a folk tune about heartfelt goodbyes.
Maybe it was hearing her mother’s voice or perhaps the sad lyrics that impacted the toddler, but several years later, Wiley started learning piano and then violin at a nearby public music program.
The music thing seems to have stuck. More years later, after graduating from the Oberlin and New England conservatories and then earning her doctorate in musical arts from the University of Minnesota, she is an associate professor of violin at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove and was recently hired as the West Shore Symphony Orchestra’s new music director and conductor.
“I’d just started working with the orchestra this summer,” Wiley said. “I stepped in to conduct one of the ‘Summer Pops’ programs, and it was so much fun. I enjoy the whole vibe of the group and audience. I was elated to be chosen for this position.”
The hiring process was a serious and careful one, starting with the formation of a search committee then whittling down interviewees to three finalists. Each finalist conducted a rehearsal session and answered questions from musicians, who then gave feedback to the board.
“She has been an enthusiastic delight thus far,” says Lori Elliott, flutist and orchestra board member. “We look forward to sharing our first concert with her on Nov. 18 at the Carlisle Theatre.”
That concert titled, “Composer Encounter,” is a free, original, scripted family concert written and produced by Wiley, especially geared to ages 5 to 11. It will feature the orchestra along with student actors and guest artists.
“I’m excited about all of our programs, family concerts included,” Wiley said of the orchestra’s 31st anniversary season. “I choose repertoire that I love to play and study, themes that interest me, and soloists/collaborators I’m excited to work with.”
The orchestra’s “Masterworks Series” also begins in November, featuring five eras of music to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Soprano soloist Corrine Byrne will perform, and audiences will hear the works of Mozart, Mahler, Mendelssohn and others.
In February, audiences will go on a musical tour of Italy, France, Spain and Finland (without leaving their Carlisle Theatre seats) with violin soloist Gregory Fulkerson, who will perform the works of Rossini, Chausson, Sarasate, and Sibelius.
The spring performance in May at the Pollock Center in Camp Hill is titled “Sounds of Our World: Past, Present and Future” and features the compositions of Britten, Beethoven, Respighi and Tan Dun. While this will be Wiley’s first time conducting the Respighi work, “Pines of Rome,” she is also excited about Tan Dun’s “Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds.”
“It’s a fairly adventurous work by this Chinese-American composer,” she said. “It includes a downloadable mp3 that audience members can play during the piece.”
The May concert also will have performances by Hammond Middle School from Virginia under the direction of award-winning teacher, Veronica Jackson, and by Mechanicsburg Middle School under the direction of Margeaux Katz-Sgrignoli, a former student of Wiley’s at Susquehanna University. Additionally, the winner of the orchestra’s January “Concerto Competition” for high school instrumentalists will perform as a featured soloist.
“This kind of endeavor, which combines education, artistic innovation and creating connections, is at the heart of what I try to do in all areas of my professional life,” Wiley said.
It’s that endeavor that she also has duplicated at her university day job, where she founded the Susquehanna University Orchestra and served as its director for 17 years, and privately through her violin studio.
As Wiley begins her new professional leadership with the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, her goal surely will be to hit all the right notes.
“For the musicians, I hope to maintain their sense of pride in the group,” she said. “For the community, I hope to serve the right niche for classical music, partnering with area schools and universities, and serving as a resource for relevant and current topics related to the arts and society.”
For more information on the West Shore Symphony, including a full season schedule, visit www.westshoresymphony.org.
