Photo by Emma Delk Wheeling Symphony Community Choir members perform “Sing You Home” during the WSO’s flood relief concert at Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church.

WHEELING — Tears, laughter and song carried throughout the Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church on Thursday as the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra united the community to raise proceeds for victims of the June flash flooding.

All proceeds from Community in Concert: A Night of Music for Flood Relief were donated to the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley Flood Relief Fund.

The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra partnered with several local musicians for the concert, including the Wheeling Symphony Youth Orchestra, local string teachers, the WSO Community Choir and local band Company Caravan. Maestro John Devlin conducted alongside Wheeling Symphony Youth Orchestra director Shaun Hancher.

The night kicked off with a performance by Wheeling-based rock band Company Caravan. The group performed an original piece, “Renaissance Song,” followed by a cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Singer Kaydon Board invited the audience to join in for their last song, “Lean on Me,” with the crowd clapping and singing along to the final chorus.

The WSO Community Choir then took to the stage to perform three songs. Director Joyce Jingle became emotional while introducing the second song of their performance, “Sing You Home.”

Jingle shared the note written by one of the arrangers at the beginning of the song, a sentiment she said the choir feels while singing the piece, “May you breathe, remember, honor your loved ones and find comfort and hope.”

The WSO Youth Orchestra performed “You Raise Me Up.” The concert then took a somber turn as the WSO and Ohio Valley strings teachers performed “Adagio for Strings,” Devlin described as a “mournful piece” often played when someone passes away.

Before the musicians played the song, Devlin read the names of the nine flood victims. He asked the crowd not to clap at the end of the piece, instead asking them to continue holding the silence as a moment of remembrance.

The WSYO then joined the WSO and string teachers for performances of “Simple Gifts” and “Amazing Grace.” The choir added to the ensemble for a performance of “My Home Among the Hills.” The entire ensemble concluded the concert with a rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Devlin admitted he had “never been more emotional” than when he conducted the rehearsal performance of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” earlier in the evening on Thursday. He added that the timeframe of preparation and rehearsal for the concert, under a month, was much shorter than their average concert preparation.

“We already planned most of the concerts that will happen through May of 2027, and it’s July of 2025,” Devlin said. “To put something together with six different ensembles coming together in such a short time was very special. We all worked really hard while we had the July 4th tour happening with four concerts in four days in four different cities.”

Devlin lent special thanks to the out-of-town WSO professional musicians, who donated their time to their “adopted community” of the Friendly City.

“A lot of WSO musicians do not live in Wheeling, they’re in Pittsburgh or Columbus or Morgantown,” Devlin said. “The fact that they made this a priority and spent the afternoon researching and evening performing with us says a lot to me about the relationship that those players have built with our community over the years. I’m especially thankful to them.”

Devlin said creating the programming for the concert was “difficult,” as he had to consider the “impact the music would have.” He thought the performance struck a balance of “mourning and remembrance all the way through to hope and joy.”

Victims of the flooding were invited to the concert free of charge to enjoy an evening of music and reprieve. Devlin hoped they would find a “safe space where they can experience any emotion.”

“If people cried here, that’s okay. If they laughed and cheered, that’s okay too, but all are welcome,” Devlin said. “Today exists for everyone to see the community in concert in its most beautiful form.”

Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church Senior Pastor Erica Harley estimated that more than 450 community members filled the pews for the concert. She said the church “jumped at the opportunity” to serve the community and partner with the symphony to support the survivors of the flood.

“We try to be the church for the community, so we try to open our doors up as often as we can to anybody that’s in need,” Harley said. “That’s the heart of our mission.”

Harley added that the WSO’s motto, “‘your community in concert,” rang especially true to her tonight.

“I like the fact that the symphony has caught on to being our community symphony orchestra because it makes it personal for us,” Harley said. “We have an ownership in this symphony as a community that’s really important. They’re not a burden. They’re our joyful obligation. And so we can support them through our appreciation, love, money and attendance.

“It is a remarkable thing for a city of our size to have a symphony of this quality,” Harley continued.