WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra is preparing for its Opening Night Concert this week, with special guests Even Meier, American composer, and Grammy-nominated Hip-Hop artist Cristylez Bacon. 

The duo visited Wheeling Park High School to speak with music students about their journeys from the time they were sitting in their shoes to now. 

They are performing Meier’s Migrations in Rhythm: A Concerto for Beatbox and Rhyme, to give students a preview of their work and inspiring them with stories of their own. 

”The great thing about collaboration is we can take two people from different spaces and find a common ground to create something that is so unique.”

Christylez Bacon – Grammy-Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop Artist

”What we decided the piece was going to do was it was going to be telling the story of American Music and we are going to touch on a bunch of different musical styles that we thought were important to the fabric of American Music.”

Evan Meier – American Composer

Some examples of these musical styles are West-Africa, Irish, Funk, New Orleans, and Bosa Nova. 

They will be putting on this world-premiere performance at the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Night Concert at the Capitol Theatre on Thursday, September 29.