West Virginia Miscellaneous Topics

The state has a rich, lush beauty reflecting its temperate topography. Tourist sites include the New River Gorge Bridge,[10] Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and many state parks. The Greenbrier hotel and resort, originally built in 1778, has long been considered a premier hotel frequented by numerous world leaders and U.S. Presidents over the years. West Virginia is also home to the Green Bank Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The Night of the Hunter (1955): filmed in Moundsville and Hollywood.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004): set in Fraziers Bottom, West Virginia.

Live Free or Die Hard (2007): One scene is set in Middleton, West Virginia.

Walk the Line (2005): Actors Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon played Johnny Cash and June Cater in a scene featuring Wheeling, West Virginia in which they talk to locals and perform a concert.

Silent Hill (2006): adapted from the Konami video game series of the same name, this film is set in the fictional Toluca County, West Virginia.

" Paradise Park" (1990): set and filmed in West Virginia.

We Are Marshall (2006): set at Marshall University in Huntington. Filmed in Huntington and Atlanta, Georgia.

Wrong Turn (2003): set in West Virginia, although the movie was filmed in Ontario, Canada.

Bubble (2005): set and filmed in Belpre, Ohio and Parkersburg.

The Mothman Prophecies (2002): set in Point Pleasant, but filmed in Pennsylvania.

October Sky (1999): set in Coalwood in McDowell County, but filmed in Tennessee.

Matewan (1987): set in Matewan, filmed in Thurmond.

Reckless (1984): partially filmed in Weirton.

The Deer Hunter (1978): partially filmed in Weirton, but is set in Western Pennsylvania.

Fool's Parade (1971): set in 1930s West Virginia, filmed in Moundsville.

Holy Ghost People (1967): documentary on a congregation in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Partly filmed in Weirton, West Virginia.

West Virginia's folk heritage is a part of the Appalachian folk music tradition, and includes styles of fiddling, ballad singing, and other styles that draw on Scots-Irish music. Camp Washington-Carver, a Mountain Cultural Arts Center located at Clifftop in Fayette County, hosts an annual Appalachian String Band Festival [9]. The Capitol Complex in Charleston hosts The Vandalia Gathering, where traditional Appalachian musicians compete in contests and play in impromptu jam sessions and evening concerts over the course of the weekend [10].

The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1939, as the Charleston Civic Orchestra, before becoming the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in 1943. The first conductor was William R. Wiant, followed by the prominent conductor Antonio Modarelli, who was written about in the November 7, 1949 Time Magazine for his composition of the River Saga, a six-section program piece about the Kanawha River according to the Charleston Gazette's November 6, 1999 photo essay, "Snapshots of the 20th Century".[11]. Prior to coming to Charleston, Modarelli had conducted the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, according to the orchestra's website. [12]

The West Virginia Cultural Center in Charleston[11] is home to the West Virginia Division of Culture and History[12] which helps underwrite and coordinate a large number of musical activities. The Center is also home to Mountain Stage, the internationally broadcast live-performance music radio program established in 1983.[13] The program also travels to other venues in the state such as the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center in Morgantown.[14]

The Center hosts concerts sponsored by the Friends of Old Time Music and Dance, which brings an assortment of acoustic roots music to West Virginians.[15] The Center also hosts the West Virginia Dance Festival, which features classical and modern dance.[16]

The town of Glenville has long been home to the annual West Virginia State Folk Festival. [13]

The Mountaineer Opera House in Milton hosts a variety of musical acts.

Released in 2005