BVSO™ Finishes The
39th Season With Country
Legends Asleep At The Wheel
Information courtesy of
The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra™
The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra™ concludes its 39th Season with a very special performance. The BVSO™ and Music Director Marcelo Bussiki will be joined on the Rudder Auditorium stage by the world-famous Western swing band, Asleep at the Wheel, on Sunday, June 20th starting at 5 pm. St. Joseph Health has graciously partnered with the BVSO™ to be the official sponsor of the 2020-2021 season. The evening has been made possible with the generous support of the Clearfield Family.
Asleep at the Wheel with the BVSO promises to be a night of live country swing music, and fun. The band, with founding member Ray Benson began sharing their unique brand of country music back in 1970 when they opened for Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna. Their style was a refreshing break from the music of the time expressing standpoints on the conflict in Vietnam. Benson said, “We wanted to break that mold. We were concerned more with this amazing roots music, which we felt was being lost amid the politics. We were too country for the rock folks and we were too long-haired for the country folks. But everybody got over it once the music started playing.” The band got their big break when Van Morrison said, “there’s some relatively unknown group around that I really dig. Asleep at the Wheel, they play great country music,” in a 1973 Rolling Stone Interview.
In the half-century following their inception, Asleep at the Wheel has produced over 20 albums, and garnered 20 hits on the Billboard Country charts. Through the years they have had 80+ members in the band bringing various talents and backgrounds to add their own flavor to the music. Asleep at the Wheel has also won an impressive, ten Grammy® Awards.
This concert was originally slated to take place March 20, 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. Arts organizations across the globe were forced to make the decisions as to whether to cancel or postpone concerts. The BVSO™ was able to reschedule the concert at a time when businesses and institutions across the state of Texas are able to commence activities at full capacity.
Music Director Marcelo Bussiki shared that, “the idea of performing with Asleep at the Wheel came out of a live performance in Brenham. I was so excited about the energy on the stage and in the audience that I thought a combination with the symphony would magnify that experience.” When asked about collaborating with Asleep at the Wheel, Bussiki stated, “I met them backstage after the concert and proposed a show. We are now making it happen! This concert will be a special treat for our audience.”
Executive Director of the BVSO, Dr. Mary Koeninger shared that “the collaboration between Asleep at the Wheel and the BVSO will be an electrifying marriage of orchestral music and country swing that we could not be more enthusiastic about. To share this with the public will be an absolute pleasure.”
What: “Asleep at the Wheel with the BVSO”
When: Sunday, June 20, 2021 at 5:00 PM
Where: Rudder Auditorium, Texas A&M Campus
Guest Artists Ten-Time Grammy ® Winners ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL
Concert Sponsor The Clearfield Family
This concert will have Reserved Seating, patrons can personally select and purchase their seats via the MSC Box Office website at boxoffice.tamu.edu or by calling 979-845-1234. Tickets for this performance run at $40 a ticket. All programs are subject to change. Please contact the Symphony Office with any further questions.
About the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra: The BVSO™ is a non-profit performing arts organization with the mission to maintain a symphony of high artistic standards, and to promote the musical arts for cultural and education purposes in the Brazos Valley. For more information about the Symphony, please visit the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra Website at www.bvso.org.
The Brazos Valley Symphony Society wishes to recognize and thank our programming sponsors, grant funding providers, and charitable trust contributors:
Nina Astin Winkler Charitable Trusts, the Clearfield Family, the Gilbert & Thyra Plass Charitable Trust, the Eugene Edge, III Charitable Trust, The Ham Family Trust, and the Gilbert & Thyra Plass Arts Foundation
