Your RPO for the Holidays

For Immediate Release:  November 7, 2012
Media Contact:  Sally Cohen, 585-749-1795, sally@sallycohenpr.com, @PR4Arts
RPO Info:  rpo.org, facebook.com/SuperRPO, twitter.com/SuperRPO

Rochester, NY – The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) rings in the 2012 holiday season with The Nutcracker, Rochester’s only full-length, live music production of this enchanting classic. Conducted by Michael Butterman (the Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair), the RPO will partner with Rochester City Ballet (Jamey Leverett, artistic director) for the 14th year of this spectacular seasonal event that also features Rochester’s Bach Children’s Chorus (Karla Krogstad, director) and 175 community children. Performances are in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, November 23, 24 and 25 at 2 and 7 p.m. each day. Tickets start at $22, $10 for children ages 12 and under.

The Rochester Oratorio Society (ROS), which presented Handel’s Messiah in its very first concert in 1945 and almost every year since, joins the RPO for a one-night-only performance of this moving masterwork on Saturday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Since its premiere in 1741, Messiah has touched audiences worldwide through its uniquely appealing combination of solemnity, grandeur and joy. ROS Director Eric Townell is guest conductor, with soloists Sarah Hibbard (soprano), Stephanie Lauricella (mezzo-soprano), Jeffrey Halili (tenor) and Lawrence Craig (bass). Tickets start at $18.

On Sunday, December 9 at 2 p.m., OrKIDStra for the Holidays will inspire imaginations in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Music director of Michigan’s Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, Brett Mitchell, returns to conduct the RPO and the Genesee Valley Children’s Chorus (Amy Cochrane, director) in a program that features Leroy Anderson’s popular Sleigh Ride; excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker, including “Waltz of the Flowers” and “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy;” “March of the Toys” from Victor Herbert’s operetta, Babes in Toyland; Mykola Leontovych’s beautiful “Carol of the Bells” (arr. Hayman); Émile Waldteufel’s familiar waltz, “The Ice Skaters” (“Les Patineurs”); Erich Korngold’s overture to his ballet, The Snowman (Der Schneemann); and last but not least, Howard Blake’s score for the 1982 animated short film, The Snowman (based on Raymond Briggs’ children’s book), which will accompany Dianne Jackson’s acclaimed film. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 12 and under.

The Four Seasons, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Thursday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 15 at 8 p.m., features RPO Concertmaster Juliana Athayde (The Caroline W. Gannett and Claya Ward Chair) performing Antonio Vivaldi’s timeless set of four violin concertos. Guest conducting is JoAnn Falletta, acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation.” Falletta serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center. The program will also include Giacomoa Puccini’s Capriccio sinfonico and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” Tickets start at $22.

Closing out the holiday season is the RPO’s Gala Holiday Pops in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Friday, December 21 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, December 22 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, December 23 at 2 p.m.  Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik directs this annual Rochester favorite that he began in his first year with the orchestra 19 years ago. It features the Festival High School Chorale (Harold McAulliffe and Amy Story, co-directors) made up of 200 students from 35 high schools in our seven-county area. Familiar holiday selections, many arranged by Tyzik, such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rag,” and “Gospel Hallelujah,” will entertain the entire family. And, in a Holiday Pops tradition that features RPO members and their families, Assistant Principal Bass Michael Griffin will perform a piece with his daughter and Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO) member, Paige Griffin, on violin. In addition, the concert will feature Rochester singer, Doris White-Singletary. Tickets start at $22, $10 for children ages 12 and under. 

Tickets for all concerts are available in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office (433 East Main Street) or at area Wegmans; by phone at (585) 454-2100; or online at rpo.org. NEW:  $10 student tickets are now available to all Philharmonics Series concerts and selected Pops concerts:  rpo.org/students

About the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO):  Now celebrating its 90th season, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music since its founding in 1923.  The RPO presents nearly 200 concerts a year, serving 250,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Music Director Arild Remmereit continues the traditions of such notable former music directors as Eugene Goossens, José Iturbi, Erich Leinsdorf, David Zinman, and Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman. Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik has earned a national reputation for excellence in pops programming during his 19-year tenure with the RPO.  With Michael Butterman as Principal Conductor for Education and Outreach (The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair)—the first position of its kind in the country—the RPO reaches 15,000 children through its specific programs for school-aged children.

Media please note:  high-resolution photographs are available, and interviews as well as photo and footage opportunities can be arranged.  Please visit rpo.org for more information.

Additional media contacts for The Nutcracker:  Deborah Tretter, RCB:  585-461-5850; Katie Redmond, Dixon Schwabl:  585- 899-3271; rochestercityballet.com