Usher in the Holiday Season with the RPO!

It’s Rochester’s favorite family holiday tradition, and it's happening this week: Gala Holiday Pops with Jeff Tyzik and the RPO!

This year, the program will feature a wealth of festive selections, ranging from traditional favorites (O Holy Night, Ave Maria, and Angels We Have Heard on High) to popular contemporary works such as John Williams' "Merry Christmas" from the holiday movie classic Home Alone, as well as Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride. Click below for a video preview of this perennial favorite, performed by John Williams and the Boston Pops:

The concert also will include one of the RPO's favorite couples, violinist Juliana Athayde (The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair) and oboist Erik Behr (The Dr. Jacques M. Lipson Chair). Together they'll perform Vivaldi's Adagio and Allegro from Concerto in B-flat major for Oboe, Violin, and Orchestra.

The Festival High School Chorale is a fixture of this popular celebration, and has performed with the RPO every year since 1994. Founding director Harold McAulliffe and co-director Amy Story organize and direct this group of approximately 200 outstanding high school vocal students. Feel free to join in with the singers during the sing-along portion of the program!

All concerts will take place at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Showtimes are as follows:
Wednesday, December 14 at 7:30 pm*
Thursday, December 15 at 7:30 pm**
Friday, December 16 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm
Sunday, December 18 at 2:00 pm

Tickets start at $15, and kids’ matinee tickets start at $10. For tickets, call 454-2100 or click here!

* Proceeds of this special concert benefit the residents of Monroe Community Hospital.

** Proceeds of this special concert benefit the Rochester Rotary Charitable programs of the Rotary Sunshine Campus and the Rochester City Roberto Clemente School #8.

'Tis the Season for the RPO!

Come enjoy musical delights of the holiday season! This Thursday and Saturday at Kodak Hall, RPO virtuosos will gift-wrap exquisite classics, perfect for the holidays.

RPO principal flutist Rebecca Gilbert (The Charlotte Whitney Allen Chair) will perform Bach's sparkling Suite No. 2. Since joining the RPO in September 1996, Ms. Gilbert has illuminated the RPO’s classical and pops performances with her expressive and versatile playing.

In addition to the Bach, the RPO will perform several other wonderful works. Audiences will recognize Pachelbel’s adored Canon. Corelli’s tender "Christmas Concerto" will serve as a tender interlude. And although Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Dreams” Symphony has a cold-natured name, the music will surely warm your spirits.

The concert will be led by Maestro Kazem Abdullah, who is quickly becoming one of the most watched young American conductors on the scene today. Abdullah served as an Assistant and Cover Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera from 2006 to 2009, where he worked with prominent conductors such as Lorin Maazel and James Levine. Abdullah has appeared as guest conductor for numerous ensembles, including the Mexico City Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Berliner Kammerphilharmonie, and New World Symphony. Abdullah graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 2000. He originally trained as a clarinetist, and has appeared as a soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony, National Symphony, and the New World Symphony.

Experience these classical masterpieces on Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, December 10 at 8:00 pm at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre! Tickets start at $15. Order your tickets online today or call 454-2100 to order by phone.