HER | Celebrating the Season: Symphony's holiday show is at the Perot

At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Perot Theatre, the Texarkana Symphony and its chamber singers will celebrate the season with holiday music, including selections performed by special soloist soprano Nancy Curtis, a Texarkana native and Arkansas High School graduate.
At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Perot Theatre, the Texarkana Symphony and its chamber singers will celebrate the season with holiday music, including selections performed by special soloist soprano Nancy Curtis, a Texarkana native and Arkansas High School graduate.

The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra stands ready with Santa, soloists and sensational holiday music to again share its Christmas at the Perot concert.

At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Perot Theatre, the orchestra and its chamber singers will celebrate the season with holiday music, including selections performed by two special soloists, soprano Nancy Curtis and tenor David Gaschen. Also guaranteed to make an appearance will be Santa and the winner of the TSO's annual celebrity conductor competition.

The TSO's executive director, Andrew Clark, said this annual rendition will feature a variety of holiday standards sure to please everyone.

"We are for the second year using the TSO Chamber Singers, a small auditioned ensemble which we made even smaller since COVID, and so there will only be eight singers in the chamber group," Andrew said. "This year we've invited two guest soloists."

One of them, Nancy, has a longtime connection to Texarkana, while the other is new to TSO but a friend to TSO Conductor Philip Mann.

Nancy is a Texarkana native and Arkansas High School graduate who went on to win the Enrico Caruso international voice competition and sing with many of the major opera companies, including those in New York, Virginia and Houston - "and has been on NPR and been on Grammy Award-winning recordings," Andrew said.

The director said she's wanted to return and perform here for a number of years, but they didn't find the right spot until now.

"We're very excited to have her coming," Andrew said.

The other soloist has plenty of talent to share, too.

"David is a graduate of Texas Tech in Lubbock and had a huge career both on Broadway and in Canada, and in Europe as the phantom in 'Phantom of the Opera,'" Andrew said. He is a cancer survivor who retired to the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he served as artist-in-residence at Stonebriar Community Church.

Nancy and David will sing together and solo. Nancy's repertoire will include a Bach aria from his "Christmas Oratorio."

"We haven't done a Bach piece on our Christmas concert in a number of years, so that will be great," Andrew said. Together, they will sing a spin on the classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas" but with a COVID-19 theme.

What else is on tap musically? Music that kids, adults and everyone will love, the TSO director said.

"A great mix and variety of music. An opening overture called 'Rocket Sleigh,' which is just lots of fun. 'Winter Wonderland,' 'Festive Sounds of Hanukkah,'" Andrew said.

Expect to hear Vivaldi featuring concertmaster Kiril Laskarov, too. "Sleigh Ride" with the celebrity conductor will be performed, as will a medley of European carols.

Tickets: $50 to $33 with children's discounts available. Because of COVID-19 seating 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.

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