North Carolina Symphony Takes Holiday Music Across State

Beginning in two weeks, the North Carolina Symphony will travel across the state, from New Bern to Lincolnton and more, for an annual family tradition, the orchestra's Holiday Pops celebrations.

Included below is a complete listing of the Symphony's 2011/12 holiday-themed concerts and locations. Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry lead concerts of treasured holiday favorites like "Angels We Have Heard On High," "O Tannenbaum" or The Nutcracker, plus classical masterpieces, musical celebrations of Hanukkah and modern selections by Leroy Anderson, the Symphony's own Terry Mizesko and more. Audiences will also harmonize with the orchestra during a singalong to popular Christmas carols.

This year's Raleigh showcase, A Carolina Christmas, also features the world premiere of Laurelyn Dossett's "The Gathering, A Winter's Tale in Six Songs." And, new for the 2011/12 season, the orchestra performs an old-fashioned Christmas-week holiday concert for the whole family. Held at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh on Thursday, Dec. 22, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas features the Symphony, Capital City Girls Choir and talented professional vocalists in a heart-warming holiday music showcase. The evening also features WRAL anchor David Crabtree reading "The Night Before Christmas" and a visit from Santa.

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.

For tickets, program notes, podcasts, musician profiles, the Symphony blog and more, visit the North Carolina Symphony website at www.ncsymphony.org. Call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.