North Carolina Symphony Presents Twas the Night Before Christmas
By: Gabrielle Sierra Nov. 30, 2011
The North Carolina Symphony will offer Triangle audiences a joyous musical celebration of the holidays just in time for Christmas. Maestro William Henry Curry leads the orchestra in “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” at Meymandi Concert Hall, in downtown Raleigh’s Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
The Capital City Girls Choir, along with North Carolina singers Brandi Q. Hancock and Jason McKinney, bring vocal power to a program of holiday favorites including “The Little Drummer Boy,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” choral selections from The Nutcracker, Handel’s Messiah and Prokofiev’s Winter Bonfire and much more.
Headlining the program is WRAL anchor David Crabtree’s reading, accompanied by the orchestra, of the winter classic “The Night Before Christmas.”
Also on display are the versatile music skills of two of the Symphony’s own members, Curry and bass trombone Terry Mizesko, as the orchestra offers a fitting tribute to two other December holidays. The Symphony performs a selection from Mizesko’s A Chanukah Celebration, followed by the movement “Kwanzaa: ‘Karamu’” from Curry’s composition for soprano and orchestra, Holiday Songs.
Audience members will get their chance to shine in a singalong to popular holiday melodies including “Frosty the Snowman” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Concertgoers need not fret; lyric sheets have been graciously provided by Chapel Hill specialty store A Southern Season, including a special offer for concert attendees.
The evening closes with a visit from Santa.
The Symphony is honored to partner with area artists and organizations to make “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” a Christmas-week event for everyone in the Triangle.
David Crabtree has been an anchor and reporter at WRAL-TV since 1994, while the Capital City Girls Choir, a community outreach program of the Meredith College School of Music, is an achievement-based vocal training program for girls from Raleigh and surrounding communities.
Soprano Brandi Q. Hancock is one of the most versatile voices in the Triangle, classically trained in opera and renowned for her performances in gospel, R&B and soul music. An alumna of Shaw University in Raleigh, she has numerous solo and theater performances to her credit, including an appearance alongside Danny Glover and Loretta Devine in the made-for-television movie Freedom Song.
Baritone Jason McKinney, a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, was a standout soloist from the Symphony’s December 2010 production of Amadeus. In opera, he has performed to critical acclaim on three continents, including Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte, Colline in La Bohème, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and the title role in Don Giovanni.
Additionally, in partnership with Interfaith Food Shuttle BackPack Buddies Program, the Symphony is collecting donated food items at “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The BackPack Buddies Program provides children from food-insecure homes with weekend meals during the school year.
For complete information on what to bring, visit www.foodshuttle.org/backpack-buddies.
Tickets to this special event holiday concert on Tuesday, Dec. 22 range from $33 to $63, with $30 tickets for seniors and $10 tickets students. Family Four-Packs are also available for $100.
For tickets, visit the North Carolina Symphony website at www.ncsymphony.org or call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 67 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks.
Based in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington, as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year, and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
Concert/Event Listing:
North Carolina Symphony
’Twas the Night Before Christmas
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
David Crabtree, narrator
Brandi Q. Hancock, soprano
Jason McKinney, baritone
Capital City Girls Choir
Thurs, Dec 22, 7:30pm
Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh, NC
Program Listing:
North Carolina Symphony
’Twas the Night Before Christmas
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
December 22, 2011
Hark the Herald Trumpets Sing
John Wasson
Gesu Bambino
Pietro Allesandro Yon/arr. Ryden
Brandi Q. Hancock, soprano
Capital City Girls Choir
Star Carol
John Rutter
Capital City Girls Choir
The Trumpet Shall Sound from Messiah
George Frideric Handel
Jason McKinney, baritone
Carol of the Bells: Ukrainian Christmas Carol
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych/arr. Hayman
Pioneer Gathering from Winter Bonfire (Children’s Suite), Op. 122
Capital City Girls Choir
The Little Drummer Boy
Capital City Girls Choir
Waltz of the Snowflakes (Finale to Act I) from The Nutcracker
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Capital City Girls Choir
Angels We Have Heard On High
arr. Arthur Harris
Hatikvah from A Chanukah Celebration
Terry Mizesko
Kwanzaa: “Karamu” from Holiday Songs
William Henry Curry
Brandi Q. Hancock, soprano
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Traditional/arr. Ryden
Jason McKinney, baritone
“The Night Before Christmas”
Randol Bass
David Crabtree, narrator
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Brandi Q. Hancock, soprano
Jason McKinney, baritone
Brazilian Sleigh Bells
Christmas Memories Singalong
arr. Bruce Chase
Frosty the Snowman
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
Here Comes Santa Claus
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
A Christmas Festival
We Wish You a Merry Christmas from Christmas: A Medley of Well-Known Carols
arr. Arthur Harris
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