Christmas Spectacular 2015

David Charles Abell, Conductor

Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for Performing Arts

300 South Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

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Dec 4-22, 2015

Featuring

Lisa Vroman, vocalist

Peter Richard Conte, organist

The Philly POPS Festival Chorus

Philadelphia Boys Choir

African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir

Please note: this is a special event. This is not a subscription-series concert. Add Christmas Spectacular to your subscription to get the best seats and save!

Conductor’s Circle seating is not available for this event.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Experience the true magic of the season with Philadelphia’s most treasured holiday musical tradition. Join internationally celebrated conductor David Charles Abell, back by popular demand for the third year, as he leads you through an all-new program of Christmas classics. This spectacular lineup of exciting musical arrangements features guest vocalist Lisa Vroman, renowned for her role as Christine in Broadway’s Phantom, over 300 musicians, remarkable choirs, and the ever-popular audience sing-along — as well as some surprises your whole family will enjoy!

Program

Angels We Have Heard On High
Traditional, arr. Kern

Deck the Hall
Traditional, arr. Dragon

As Dew in Aprille
Benjamin Britten

This Little Babe
Benjamin Britten

Three Chanukah Songs
Traditional, arr. Healy

I Saw Three Ships
Traditional, arr. O'Neil

Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella
Traditional, arr. O'Neil

I'll Be Home for Christmas
Walter Kent, arr. Haynes

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Ralph Blane, arr. O'Neil

Let It Snow, Brothers
Jule Styne, arr. Baylock

Seasonal Sounds
arr. Bass

INTERMISSION

Unto Us (Isaiah 9)
Robbie Buchanan, Larry & Lesa Bryant, arr. Alderking and Cumberland

Sweet Little Jesus Boy
MacGimsey/Burt, arr. O'Neil

'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Ken Darby, arr. Simeone

A Merry Christmas Singalong
arr. Wendel

Joy to the World
Traditional, arr. Joubert

Go Tell It On the Mountain
Traditional, arr. Joubert

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
John Frederick Coots, arr. Walton

Mele Kalikimaka
Robert Alex Anderson, arr. Stephenson

Hellelujah!
George Frederic Handel, arr. Prout

Helpful Information

This program, including intermission, is approximately two and a half hours in length. Artists and program are subject to change without notice.

Discounted parking passes are available from select garages. For more information, please call 215.893.1999 or add a parking pass during checkout when purchasing your tickets.

Photography

We hope all of our guests will have a great time and make many memories at our concerts and events. Post your photos or videos on social media and include #phillypops for a chance to win a pair of tickets to any upcoming concert in the current or following season! Please refrain from flash photography in the concert hall.

Enjoy the show!

Guest Artists

David Charles Abell, conductor

More

David Charles Abell is widely considered Europe’s premier interpreter of Broadway scores and the music of Leonard Bernstein. David is most widely known for having conducted the two Les Misérables Anniversary Concerts (10th and 25th), both of which have become PBS fundraising perennials. He regularly appears on radio and television in the UK, most notably at the BBC Proms, London’s annual music festival at the Royal Albert Hall. These appearances have included the Richard Rodgers Centenary celebration (2002), a world premiere opera (2007), the Sondheim 80th birthday (2010) and the War Horse Prom (2014). With Abell’s passion for musical theater and his engaging personality, POPS audiences look forward to reconnecting with Abell during the holiday season.

Lisa Vroman, vocalist

More

From Broadway to classics, on stage, and in concert, Lisa Vroman has established herself as one of America's most versatile voices. Lisa starred for several years on Broadway as Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera, garnering Theatre Critic's awards for the role in a record-breaking run in San Francisco, with a return engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops, starred as Lili Vanessi in Kiss Me, Kate with Glimmerglass Opera, as well as with the MUNY Theater of St. Louis. Her Broadway debut was in Aspects of Love, and she was the first to play both Fantine and Cosette in Les Miserables. For PBS, she was featured with Colm Wilkinson and Michael Ball in Cameron Mackintosh's Hey, Mr. Producer! at the Lyceum Theatre in London, a royal gala attended by Queen Elizabeth II. With a repertoire that ranges from Stravinsky to Weill to Broadway, Lisa is a frequent guest soloist with theatre, opera companies, and orchestras, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, National, Florida, Santa Barbara, Hong Kong, Cleveland, Nashville, Pacific, Utah, Dallas, the Boston Pops, and The Philly POPS. Lisa has also sung for Queen Elizabeth, President Bill Clinton, and Vice President Al Gore.

Peter Richard Conte, Organist

More

Peter Richard Conte is highly regarded as a skillful performer and arranger of organ transcriptions. He has been featured several times on National Public Radio and on ABC television’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight. His monthly radio show, The Wanamaker Organ Hour, airs on the first Sunday of each month and can be accessed online via WRTI.org. He performs extensively throughout the United States and Canada under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, and was a featured artist at the American Guild of Organists’ National Convention in 2002, and at the International Organ Festival in Aosta, Italy, in September 2004. In 2013, the Philadelphia Music Alliance honored him with a bronze plaque on the Avenue of the Arts’ Walk of Fame. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Philly POPS, and with Delaware and Allentown Symphonies.

Slideshow | 7 Photos

Christmas Spectacular Slideshow