Past Event :"Home for the Holidays" Concert 2024
Tickets available by mail, online or at the door.
General Admission: $25.00
SMAC Members: $20.00
Performance Night Photos (by Charlie Walker)


This event is partially sponsored by Domino’s Pizza
Westlake & Rocky Mount Locations


David Stewart Wiley, Maestro

The RSO board just extended David Stewart Wiley’s contract through 2027 which will make him the longest-tenured Music Director & Conductor in its storied 72-year history. Our Maestro has conducted such distinguished symphonies as Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Saint Louis, Oregon, Hawaii, and Utah, as well as in dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Wiley enjoys a multi-faceted and in-demand career as guest conductor, pianist, arranger, educator, and chamber music collaborator. Wiley made his triple debut with the Boston Pops as conductor, composer, and piano soloist in Boston’s historic Symphony Hall, and returned to conduct Boston again earlier this year.
Wiley continues to serve in New York with an additional post as Music Director & Conductor of Orchestra Long Island (OLI) — continuing his commitment to education and outreach throughout Long Island since 2001. Wiley also enjoys a special relationship with Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival as Artistic Director, and previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Wiley’s tenure with the RSO is a remarkable success story, with consistently stellar reviews, a diverse and impressive list of guest artists and composers, and innovative commissions of new music. Wiley is an engaged and active community partner and recognized celebrity, having been named Roanoke’s “Citizen of the Year” for his outstanding service and outreach. Wiley actively partners with schools and numerous arts and civic organizations, and the RSO & Wiley received a prestigious Distinguished Music Educator Award from Yale University for its partnership with city schools. Wiley was honored by the NAACP as Citizen of the Year in the Arts for his service. He and his wife Leah were honored at the MS Society’s “Dinner of Champions” for their leadership, and Maestro Wiley was honored during his 25th season by the governor and a joint bipartisan resolution in the Virginia house and senate.
David Stewart Wiley won the Aspen Conducting Prize, was Assistant Conductor for the Aspen Music Festival, and was awarded a Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood. Wiley holds both a Doctor and Master of Music in Conducting from Indiana University, a degree in Piano Performance with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a degree in Religion, summa cum laude, from Tufts University. He is a recipient of the Perry F. Kendig Prize for service to the arts and is a Paul Harris Fellow from Rotary International. David and Leah have two sons both currently in college here in the Commonwealth. www.davidstewartwiley.com.
Akemi Takayama, Violinist

Praised by the legendary violinist Isaac Stern as a true musician who will always bring credit to any group that she works with,” Akemi Takayama grew up surrounded by music. Born to a professional violinist mother and cellist father, the melodies and harmonies of string quartets frequently echoed in her home during her parents’ rehearsals and performances. A native of Japan and mother to four boys, Ms. Takayama embarked on her professional violin career at the young age of fifteen in Japan.
She pursued her bachelor’s degree in music performance at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, under the guidance of Toshiya Eto and Ryosaku Kubota. Her drive to delve deeper into music led her to the University of Wyoming, achieving a professional studies degree with Brian Hanly.
Ms. Takayama continued her journey at the Cleveland Institute of Music where she not only earned both her Artist Diploma and Master of Music degree but also had the honor of serving as a teaching assistant to the renowned violinist and pedagogue, Donald Weilerstein. The year 1997 saw her grace the Marlboro Music Festival, and subsequently, she played an integral role in the Audubon Quartet for fourteen years, a group that achieved international acclaim. Completing her formal education, Ms. Takayama obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York. Presently, she enlightens young minds at Shenandoah Conservatory, holding the prestigious Victor Brown Endowed Chair in Violin.
Demonstrating her passion, Ms. Takayama has been the concertmaster for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra since 2008. Her captivating melodies have resonated in concert halls across Japan, France, China, and the U.S. Many protégés under her guidance have carved out multifaceted musical careers, from chamber music and orchestras to country tunes and record production. Akemi’s love for music transcends teaching and performing, further deepened by her cherished association with The New Orchestra of Washington at the Kennedy Center. She plays on a Gennaro Gagliano violin made in 1755, kindly loaned by Japanese-American collector and philanthropist Dr. Ryuji Ueno.
Philip Anthony Bouknight, Baritone

PHILIP BOUKNIGHT has performed Oratorio extensively throughout the United States and abroad. He has sung the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Jesus in Bach’s St. John Passion, Manoah in Handel’s Sampson and Simon in his Judas Maccabaeus. Rev. Bouknight has also performed Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ, Brahms’ Requiem, Carissimi’s Jepthe and Vaughan William’s Hodie to name a few. His credits include the world premieres of Aaron Garber’s Job and Jesus, Son of Our Father as well as the United States premiere of Amaral Vieira’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. He has been seen on international televised broadcasts of Mozart’s Mass in C Major, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Mr. Bouknight made his Lynchburg Symphony debut singing the baritone solos in the Dvorak Te Deum and he made his Roanoke Symphony debut singing the bass solos in Handel’s Messiah.
Rev. Bouknight holds the following degrees; a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of South Carolina, a Master of Music from Rice University, a Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Luther Seminary. Philip is an ordained Lutheran pastor serving Trinity Ecumenical Parish in Moneta, VA.
