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Tickets
- ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUNDS on any tickets. Tickets will not be refunded under any circumstances, including Covid-19 related illness.
- Symphony by Chetola Lake is held RAIN or Shine.
General Admission Tickets
- $85 for adults
- Buy online >> HERE<<.
Audiophile Section Tickets
If you are a true audiophile – you just love the symphony music and don’t want to participate in the social atmosphere – this is the section for you! A small section located just in front of the symphony tent will be fenced off with reserved seats and shared side tables, a charcuterie box (meats, cheeses, fruit and olives) with two beverage tickets, water and a parking pass. This section is the quiet section, so please keep talking to a minimum. Limited to 100 seats. Tickets available online or in person at the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce. Sorry, ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUNDS on any tickets.
- Audiophile Ticket: $180
- Buy online here.
Audiophile ticket sales end July 15.
Parking Pass
Parking Passes – This pass provides parking at Snyder field inside Chetola’s front gate starting at 5:00 pm. This lot is not suitable for mobility challenged, elderly patrons or very low sports cars. It is a short walk to the concert area, but the ground is uneven.
- Parking Pass: $25
- Buy online here.
Ticket & Parking Pass Delivery
Tickets and parking passes purchased online may be:
Mailed USPS Priority Flat Rate: $11.00 (Last day to order delivery is 07/14/2025)
Pick-up at the Chamber office – 132 Park Ave. Blowing Rock NC 28605
Saturday, July 19th will be the last day for ticket pick-up.
If you cannot make it into our office by this date, we suggest that you select the mail option.
There will be NO will call pick-up at the gates.
The day of the performance there will be no entry to Chetola Resort without a ticket.
All cars entering Chetola Resort mush have a parking pass.
Additional Parking and Shuttle Bus
Shuttle – Free and available from Food Lion parking lot (7533 Valley Blvd, Blowing Rock, NC 28605). Please note that the shuttle is not wheelchair accessible. The shuttle will run from 5PM to 10:30PM and pick up every 10-15 minutes. This is the safest, easiest, and most accommodating means of getting to the concert area and delivers riders directly to the West Gate. This is the safest, easiest, and most accommodating means of getting to the concert area.
Accessible Parking – there is no accessible parking close to the concert area. Guests must purchase Snyder parking passes to enter Chetola Resort and either drop off handicap passengers with disabilities at the West Gate and return to Snyder parking lot or proceed to accessible parking area at the top of hill behind Chetola Lodge. From there, golf carts are available to shuttle guests down to the concert area. Please note, there is a very limited number of accessible parking spaces available inside the resort. The best option is utilizing the shuttle from Food Lion parking lot. Please note that the shuttle is not wheelchair accessible.
Free Parking – available at Shoppes on the Parkway and at all public parking lots in downtown Blowing Rock. Concert attendees may walk in through the Chetola front gate from downtown or enter the back gate from Shoppes on the Parkway. Please do not park in the spaces directly in front of the stores as they are for their customers. Golf cart shuttles are available to assist guests entering from Shoppes on the Parkway who are unable to walk the distance.
Symphony Program 2025
“Celtic Celebration”
An electrifying fusion of Celtic Tradition and Symphonic Power! Experience the thunder of bagpipes, the thrill of fiddles, and the majesty of Symphony of the Mountains!
Favorites like O Danny Boy, Lord of the Dance, and Highland Cathedral will take you on a musical journey through Ireland and Scotland.
With Patriotic selections like American Frontier, and God Bless America we will honor the Armed Forces and remember the sacrifices made that lead to the end of WWII, 80 years ago.
After intermission, five-time Grammy nominee cellist Dave Eggar and his award-winning trio Bristol Lightning will join forces with musicians from Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Gaelic Storm, and Celtic Women as they join Symphony of the Mountains for a powerful and energetic evening.
The finale concludes with the “Symphony by the Lake” tradition: a magnificent Firework Show accompanied by John Philip Sousa’s famous march, The Stars and Stripes Forever.
Symphony of the Mountains is thrilled, proud, and thankful to be a part of this outstanding event!
Sincerely,
Cornelia Laemmli Orth, music director Symphony of the Mountains
Volunteer Info
Our volunteers are the foundation and heart of our ability to do events in Blowing Rock. The Symphony by Chetola Lake will bring approximately 3,000 guests to the area who will need assistance with ticketing, parking, directions and more. We’d love to have your happy face and kind words to welcome guests and assist us with this event.
If you are interested in being a volunteer, please fill out our information sheet.
About the Orchestra
Symphony of the Mountains has a strong and proud heritage. What began as a community orchestra in 1946 has grown to a fully-professional, regional orchestra serving Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina. The three pillars on which we stand are Entertaining, Educating, and Enriching.
Entertaining
Today, Symphony of the Mountains consists of more than 70 professionally paid musicians led by Conductor Cornelia Laemmli Orth. The Symphony performs throughout the Mountain Empire region and strives to reach even the most rural areas. In addition to playing symphonic orchestral music, we collaborate with world-renowned soloists such as Bela Fleck, The McLain Family Band, Emmet Cahill, Edgar Meyer, and The Kruger Brothers with whom in addition to U.S. performances, we presented a concert tour in Switzerland as the first Tennessee based orchestra to perform abroad.
Educating
To further our endeavor to change as many lives as possible through the power of music, we present annual Family and School Concerts that bring music to school children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to hear a live symphony orchestra, provide free musical instruction to high-risk children at their most vulnerable time in the learning process and offer a Free Student Ticket Program as a natural outgrowth of our commitment to bring top-quality classical music education to our region. The Symphony also operates a Primo Orchestra for younger, up-and-coming musicians.
Enriching
In keeping with its mandate to be enriching the community, Symphony of the Mountains has initiated an outreach program to raise awareness regarding concerns for people who are homeless. As part of this effort, the Symphony co-commissioned a Violin Concerto called “Paths to Dignity” by Lucas Richman. It addresses the “Paths to Dignity” for people who are unsheltered. In the weeks leading up to the concert, extensive outreach helped educate our communities about the issues of people who are homeless and provided music in places where individuals and families who are unsheltered can enjoy it.
Cornelia Laemmli Orth, Director
Cornelia Laemmli Orth is in her seventeenth season as Music Director of Symphony of the Mountains.
In addition to Masterworks Series, she has developed new series of Summer Outdoor, Family, Young People, Pops, Patriotic and Cross-Over concerts. World renowned soloists are regular guests with Symphony of the Mountains. As an advocate for Contemporary Music, Cornelia brings a variety of new music to the region. Her concert lectures, involvement with area schools, colleges and universities, speeches for civic organizations, regular TV and radio appearances and collaborations with regional art organizations have made her a vital part of the community.
From 2016-2022 Cornelia served as Music Director of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in Ithaca, NY.
In September 2019 she had her debut with Opera Ithaca in Ithaca, NY in several performances of La Bohème, and in February 2020 she appeared as guest conductor of the Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra at the Wesleyan University in Salina, KS.
In October 2017, she appeared as guest conductor with the Brevard Philharmonic in Brevard, NC.
From 2010-2012, she held the position of interim music director for the Appalachian Philharmonic and the Appalachian State University Opera Program in Boone, NC. She serves now on the advisory board for the Hayes School of Music.
During the 2014-2015 Season, Cornelia had her debut as guest conductor with the Asheville Lyric Opera in Asheville, NC. Prior to her engagement with Symphony of the Mountains, Cornelia held the position of music director and conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony and Choir. She served as Associate Conductor and later Principal Guest Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony from 2002-2008 and since then has had several appearances with this orchestra.
In Europe, she was music director of the Operetta Theatre in Moeriken, Switzerland, guest assistant conductor under Philippe Jordan at La Scala in Milano, Italy, worked with the Bohuslav Orchestra in the Czech Republic, and conducted many concerts with choirs and ad hoc orchestras with musicians from the Zurich Opera House and the Tonhalle Orchestra.
Cornelia received her Lehrdiplom in piano from the Conservatory at Winterhur and graduated from the Conservatory and University in Zurich with her Masters in Music Education and Choral Conducting.
She obtained her Masters in Orchestra Conducting from Northwestern University, where she studied under Victor Yampolsky. In a variety of workshop settings, she studied under Larry Rachleff, Marin Alsop, Joann Falletta, Robert Spano, Kirk Trevor, Tsung Yeh, Milen Nachev and Johannes Schlaefli.
Cornelia convincingly combines the classical-romantic tradition of her old-world origins with the unique American flavor that her international background and extensive work experience in her adopted country has provided and is a sought-after guest conductor in the USA and in Europe.