TOLEDO, OH – Today, the Toledo Symphony and Oliver Hazard announced that they will come together to orchestrate and perform Oliver Hazard’s recently released self-titled album on Friday, October 27 at the Valentine Theatre. This is the first collaboration between Oliver Hazard and TSO. Pre-sale tickets will be available to fans at Oliver Hazard Day this Saturday, August 12. Public sales will begin on Tuesday, August 15. For more information visit: artstoledo.com/events

The story of Oliver Hazard - ​​Michael Belazis (vocals, guitar) and Devin East (vocals, guitar) and joined by Nate Miner (keys, vocals) - is the digital age’s version of classic band mythmaking. One member of the band returned home to (Waterville) Ohio after leading camping trips in California and decided to make an album with two of his childhood friends, a door-to-door salesman and a construction worker. They won a Facebook raffle to record a single song at a recording studio. Instead, they pitched playing their whole album straight through once, and so came their debut album 34 N River in 2018. They sent it to a friend who sent it to a friend, who sent it to The Fader, who called it a “folk-pop masterpiece.” The band was booked at Bonnaroo and Mountain Jam shortly thereafter.

A year later, in 2019, the band released their 6 track EP The Flood, in which Billboard called it a “souvenir.” A souvenir from the band’s self-launched “Living Room Tour,” where they toured the country, performing in over 60 of their fans' living rooms, all in the same year. “We wanted to figure out a way a band our size could really put ourselves in the right context and be heard and create these magical, intimate moments.”

This brings the band to their December 2022 EP, Northern Lights, and sophomore self-titled album, out July 2023, which includes music from the Northern Lights EP. “Not only is this our sophomore record, but also our self-titled album. This album continues to define our identity as a band but also individual songwriters existing symbiotically as Oliver Hazard. It is the story of shared experiences, a shared sense of place, and a shared sense of community,” the band explains.

The sound of their upcoming LP, produced by Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Of Monsters and Men, Kings of Leon), blends delicate arrangements with sturdy melodies -- whether it’s the buoyant build of “Two x Four," the pensive foreboding of "Use Me Up," the sweet ring of "Saratoga," the smooth sophistication of "Summertime Whiskey" or the austere ambience of “Northern Lights.” The band clearly knows that less can be more, but its impact is the product of careful consideration.

Like its predecessors, this 10-track set is the work of three individual singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, who share an organic connection in the craft -- sensibilities that, when fused together, yield music that's harmonic, haunting and at once ambitious and surprising. The charm is that the songs never sound mannered or constructed; they simply are as natural as something played on a front porch or the side of a river, around a campfire after a strenuous canoe trip. 

Toledo Symphony bassist Bill McDevitt is working closely with the band to orchestra the album to suit the instrumentation and sounds of the Toledo Symphony while keeping the natural feel of the band’s original intent. The result will be an intimate one-night-only performance with Oliver Hazard and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Alain Trudel at the Valentine Theatre.

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WHAT: Oliver Hazard with the Toledo Symphony
WHEN: Friday, October 27, 2023 at 8:00PM
WHERE: The Valentine Theatre
TICKETS: artstoledo.com/events or call 419.246.8000

Pre-sale tickets go on sale to fans at Oliver Hazard Day on Saturday, August 12. Tickets go on sale to the General Public at 9am on Tuesday, August 15.

Special thanks to media sponsor:

ABOUT OLIVER HAZARD

Few people have heard of Waterville, Ohio. A rust-belt city of a few thousand, comfortably settled against the Maumee River, it’s the kind of Americana often romanticized as a place of unvarnished love, bitter outcomes, and hometown grit. The entire place feels like a dream—a sense found in the music of Waterville’s ascendant indie-folk trio, Oliver Hazard.

ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all.

Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs sixty-nine professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer, as well as numerous extra players annually as repertoire demands.

The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber, and Family Series) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.

ABOUT TOLEDO ALLIANCE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Ballet and Toledo Symphony officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a new non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. Stemming from an 81-year partnership and annual presentation of The Nutcracker in Toledo, this merger is one of only a few in the nation and promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.