It's a Perot Christmas with TSO, chorale, Santa and more

Texarkana Symphony Orchestra Conductor Marc-Andre Bougie leads the orchestra during the 2013 Christmas at the Perot concert. This year's concert is Sunday, Dec. 11.
Texarkana Symphony Orchestra Conductor Marc-Andre Bougie leads the orchestra during the 2013 Christmas at the Perot concert. This year's concert is Sunday, Dec. 11.

The Perot Theatre will soon shine brightly with the sounds of Christmas, courtesy of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra.

The TSO presents its annual Christmas at the Perot concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, featuring the TSO's Celebrity Conductor Competition winner, Texas HighSteppers, Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra, Texarkana Regional Chorale and, true to the season, Santa Claus himself.

As the TSO has in the past, the Christmas extravaganza combines more classical, traditional music with pops fare. The conductor competition winner will lead the orchestra in a rendition of "Sleigh Ride" toward the end of the night.

The concert's first half includes compositions like "Dance of the Tumblers" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Trepak" and "Waltz of the Flowers" from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker," "Gloria" by Randol Alan Bass and, written by Texarkana's own Marc-André Bougie and Candace Taylor, "Ave Maria."

"The first half is a little more traditional," said Bougie, the TSO conductor, noting "Gloria" is religious orchestral music. According to Bougie's notes for the concert, the piece is based on the Roman Catholic mass setting's second prayer.

"Bethlehem Down," written by early 20th century English composer Peter Warlock, is a Christmas carol, while Bougie and his wife wrote the "Ave Maria." The TYSO joins the TSO on stage for the two "Nutcracker" selections. They did this last year, too.

"It was such a hit we decided to bring it back," Bougie said. It will make for a big sound on stage with nearly 100 musicians. The TYSO also joins the orchestra for "Dance of the Tumblers."

Then the second half focuses on numbers like "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Here Comes Santa Claus," music from the movie "Polar Express" and the John Williams' number "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" from the movie "Home Alone."

The Texas HighSteppers dance, Rockettes-style, for four numbers, starting with "Rocket Sleigh," written by contemporary composer Delvin Case. For the celebrity conductor competition, voting runs until intermission when votes are tallied.

"Whoever wins jumps on stage and does 'Sleigh Ride,'" Bougie said. They'll have a count done before the concert and then add to the totals from votes cast until intermission, explained the TSO executive director, Andrew Clark. Bougie coaches all the competitors before the Christmas concert.

This year's conductor competition competitors, who've raised money for the TSO through acquiring votes, are James W. Bramlett, Melanie Dowd, Scott Norton and Dr. Cindy Porter.

To close out the concert, the TSO leads a sing-along. The concert runs about 75 minutes altogether. Bougie says presenting the concert in two halves has successfully served the TSO.

"We've tried all sorts of recipes here, combinations. This particular segment is very popular," Bougie, noting the traditional pieces are ones the audience will recognize. They'll put people in the Christmas mood.

"It's fun from beginning to end," Bougie said. It's a formula that works, proving popular with the audience.

Added Clark, "We've really kind of grown up and refined Christmas at the Perot idea. We did a lot of experimenting at first. So now we've found what works best."

For the TSO, the conductor competition is a fundraiser that helps in a couple different ways. Generally, it raises between $30,000 and $40,000 annually. It's important for the TSO. Choosing candidates from different parts of the community also helps to raise TSO awareness in different circles, Clark said.

"It raises money to support all our different educational initiatives, our student concerts, the TYSO program, as well as some general funding of our concerts that we do throughout the year," Clark said.

While fun, it's also demanding to put together, the conductor said. "Because of all the moving elements and in a short time," Bougie said. But it's also a chance to perform great music and discover surprises in the Christmas repertoire.

"Some of the best orchestrated music of all time," Bougie said.

(Tickets: $52, $44 and $29; $12 for children 6 to 12; and $7 for children 5 and younger. More information and ticket purchase: texarkanasymphony.org or 903-792-4992.)

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