TEXARKANA, Texas - The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra will bear musical gifts for Texarkana at the annual Christmas at the Perot show on Sunday, Dec. 13.
Starting at 4 p.m. on the Perot Theatre stage, TSO musicians present an eclectic array of holiday selections for this traditional concert, complete with Santa Claus, the TSO chamber singers and the winner of the TSO's celebrity conductor competition leading musicians on a Christmas classic.
"I cannot recall a holiday season at least in my lifetime where people yearned to be together more than right now. This is an opportunity to come together in a special place, the beloved Perot Theatre, and to share together one of our most special holiday traditions, our Christmas program," said TSO Conductor Philip Mann.
It will be a program appealing to all ages and all backgrounds, he said, noting they'll do it in a safe way, just as they did to start the season.
"Our recent season-opening program, the Beethoven birthday concert, came off flawlessly. It was a tour-de-force of planning and execution, and we has such a tremendously positive experience from everyone in the house," Mann said. "Not just those in attendance, but the people who were volunteers and ushers, our musicians."
People value the opportunity to come back together in music, the conductor said, and therefore they were shown that it was worth trying that much harder to make sure the holiday program happens, even with a show that has more moving parts than the Beethoven.
"This is a program that has multiple soloists. We have more than one singer, we have a chorus, we have an orchestral soloist and then we have all kinds of diverse and colorful music," Mann said.
There are beloved and familiar Christmas carols to newer works written for the holiday season, "to works that are from the classical background and those that are influenced by Broadway and jazz," Mann said. Humor and comedy, the sublime and the beautiful, they're all there, along with large personalities on stage.
"It's a quick-paced show for the whole family," Mann said.
Expect to hear renditions of songs like "Winter Wonderland," "Let it Snow" and a humorous spin on "The Twelve Days of Christmas." They have a surprise up their sleeve for that one, the conductor said. In the classical realm, the audience will hear Bach, Vivaldi, Rimsky-Korsakov and more. There's also a Hanukkah selection performed by a chorus.
"We also have a traditional European carol selection, with soprano solo and chorus and orchestra, of three different older European carols," Mann said, adding, "It's small, quickly-paced, colorful and contrasting bits."
For this Christmas show, the TSO features two special guests: soprano Nancy Curtis, a Texarkana native with a Houston home base after making her name in opera, and tenor David Gaschen, who is now based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area after many performances in "Phantom of the Opera."
About Gaschen, the conductor said, "He is a singer, a performer, and actor of tremendous gravity and magnetism. He was the Phantom of the Opera for something like 300 performances." Expect a performer who can command the stage.
And in Curtis, Mann said it's a particular pleasure being involved in a hometown debut.
"For an artist to return home to make his or her debut with the local orchestra, it's a very meaningful thing for artists. It's one of these things we all hope will happen and we look forward to it. It's an indelible moment in our careers," Mann said.
Then there are the four celebrity conductor candidates: Cassy Meisenheimer, Jane Portis, Randy Roeser and Brandon Washington. They've raised money by finding votes. It's one of the biggest initiatives of the year for fundraising, Mann said.
"We have four fantastic celebrity conductors this year, who are each individually bringing something unique to the table. They've all shown an incredible desire to share with the community the importance of what the symphony brings to our city and the region," Mann said.
In addition to a seating arrangement with social distancing in the audience and a mask requirement, the look of the musicians on stage will be different. Musicians who don't use their mouths to perform will wear masks. Chorus members will be positioned differently, said the conductor.
(Tickets: $50 to $33 with children's discounts available. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, online ticket purchase is not available. Call the Perot Theatre Box Office to purchase tickets at 903-792-4992. For more information, visit TexarkanaSymphony.org.)