The Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus (YOGC) will feature Irish folk band Wolf & Clover during the Spring Pops Concert. This year’s Maestro for a Moment candidates will also be revealed. The concert, hosted in the St. Luke Ministry Center, begins at 7:00p on Thursday, February 28, and includes dinner prior to the performance.

Wolf & Clover is an award-winning Irish/Celtic folk band comprised of Columbus-area natives. Justin Belew sings vocals and plays guitar and accordion, with Julian Chalan also on guitar. Jessica Bennett contributes her voice and fiddle to the mix. Matthew McCabe adds bouzouki and tenor banjo, while Stephanie Payne weaves flutes and whistles into the melodies. What started as a side project amongst friends has become an opportunity to create and perform music together in new ways. In this performance, YOGC’s String Orchestra and Youth Symphonic Orchestra will each have the opportunity to play with Wolf & Clover fully integrated into several pieces of music.

“This concert is a real celebration of Columbus with youth orchestra musicians, professional musicians from Wolf & Clover, and our Maestro for a Moment candidates all highlighted in 90 minutes.

Personally, my worlds are colliding in the best way possible here as a founding member of Wolf & Clover and Executive Director of YOGC. Mr. Palmer has been wonderful (and always is), and this collaboration shows YOGC's commitment to exposing our students to a wide variety of music as well as Wolf & Clover's commitment to our community. Thank you to our Maestro candidates for stepping up and putting yourselves out there as supporters of YOGC in such a public way. We have such a strong community here, and I cannot wait to see everyone Thursday. " – Stephanie Payne, YOGC Executive Director