These days, if you want to see a big rock show in Charleston, you have to drive. The Coliseum doesn’t get rock acts, hasn’t had a rock show in a couple of years now — unless you count the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas show.

An illness of the conductor of Bugs Bunny at the Symphony forced the West Virginia Symphony to change its pops concerts Saturday at the Clay Center to Cirque de la Symphonie. The substituted program paired concert music with the artistry of circus performers.

The Boston Pops, the laid-back version of the Boston Symphony, had a go-to composer for all that lighter fare it played, Leroy Anderson. Remember “Sleigh Ride”?

The Argentinian Alberto Ginastera forged one of the great compositional styles of the mid-20th century. A Stravinskian grit of biting harmonies with cut-and-paste construction melded with Argentinian folk elements and an eclectic mix of tonal and atonal impulses.

Jennifer Higdon has built a reputation as one of today’s preeminent composers. Saturday night, the West Virginia Symphony finally programmed one of her pieces, “blue cathedral,” a work from 2000 that garnered her international notice, many performances and a string of commissions that has co…

Saturday night, the Friends of Old Time Music and Dance kicked off their 38th season with the joyful sounds of The Tannahill Weavers.

The composer Michael Torke made a big splash in the 1980s with a series of orchestral piece with colors as titles. Each was loaded with brash orchestral effects, exuberant rhythm and mirth. Those pieces launched a career that has seen him become a major figure in American music.

Playing popular music with an orchestra has become a standard fare for American orchestras. The West Virginia Symphony has had artists from Kathy Mattea to stars of Broadway to the Irish act Celtic Woman. And it has frequently had cover bands doing music by iconic rock bands like the Moody B…

Richard Strauss’ father Franz was one of the great horn players of the late 19th century. As a teenager, the son composed an excellent concerto for him. A long career as one of the more successful composers of orchestral and operatic scores ensued. That career featured copious examples of br…

John Williams’ career as a composer dates back to the 1950s, when he started as a pianist and arranger/orchestrator. He played piano for Henry Mancini. He arranged for the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. He scored television shows.