Andrews Symphony Orchestra Christmas Concert

Andrews University Symphony Orchestra’s “Christmas Concert” conducted by Chris Wild, with special guests the Andrews University Singers and Baritone vocal soloist Professor Stephen Zork.

This concert will feature extended musical selections from Peter Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker as well as a sampling of English Christmas Carols following intermission.

The second half of the concert will include two compositions by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) for which he took familiar English Christmas tunes and enriched them with his Romantic harmonic language and a variety of instrumental combinations. For Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols, the Symphony Orchestra will be joined by the University Singers and vocal soloist Professor Stephen Zork. In it, Vaughan Williams’ selected Christmas Carols include The Truth Sent From Above, Come All You Worthy Gentlemen, On Christmas Night, There Is A Fountain, and God Bless the Ruler of this House. The Symphony Orchestra will also perform a second “Fantasia” by Vaughan Williams, one based upon the English folk tune Greensleeves that features the orchestra’s string section, flutes, and guest harpist for the evening. We’ll bring the evening to a close with American composer Leroy Anderson’s stirring medley of Christmas Carols titled A Christmas Festival, which includes excerpts from Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, The First Noel, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and O Come, All Ye Faithful.

Anytime The Nutcracker is performed, it usually involves some sort of curatorial interpretation, whether it be a dance production or instrumental selections. For example, the Joffrey Ballet company has a new production of the work that reinterprets it as occurring during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair rather than in the German village imagined by author E.T.A. Hoffmann. By the time of our concert, Walt Disney Studios will have contributed a completely new adaptation with its film titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. To enable orchestras to perform the ballet without dance, Tchaikovsky completed an instrumental Suite in 1892 that features eight orchestral excerpts from the ballet. For AUSO conductor Chris Wild, the Suite doesn’t suffice since it leaves out some of the ballet’s most memorable musical moments. Therefore, the Symphony Orchestra’s December 1 performance will feature approximately half of the ballet’s music, enabling the listener to perceive the full arc of the ballet’s story.

Program

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) – Selections from The Nutcracker

I – Overture

II – Scene 1

III – March of the Nutcracker

IV – Scene 6

V – Battle

VI – Scene 8

VII – Arabian Coffee

VIII – Chinese Tea

IX – Trepak

X – Dance of the Reed Flutes

XI – Waltz of the Flowers

XII – Pas de Deux

- Intermission -

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) – Fantasia on Christmas Carols
   Featuring Stephen Zork (Baritone) and the Andrews University Singers

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) – Fantasia on Greensleeves

Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) – A Christmas Festival

Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Chris Wild

The Andrews University Symphony Orchestra is the core ensemble of the orchestral program at Andrews University. In addition to their current series at the Howard Performing Arts Center, the Symphony Orchestra travels within the Great Lakes region as well as internationally. Since 2006, the orchestra has performed in Italy, Austria, Germany, France, the Philippines and Costa Rica.