HOLIDAY POPS
December 13, 2019 | Hill Auditorium
Behind The Music
Join your Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in welcoming the holidays with some of the most beloved music of the season. Hill Auditorium will glow with the magical spirit of this cherished A2SO tradition. This year, we present Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite. Enjoy this unique and imaginative jazz interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s timeless ballet. Hill Auditorium will ring with the vibrant colors of Ellington’s arrangement as the A2SO celebrates the holiday season.
PROGRAM
STEPHENSON Holiday Overture
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on “Greensleeves”
TCHAIKOVSKY Nutcracker Suite No. 1 Excerpts
Choral Selections Performed by MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Festive Sounds of Hanukkah arr. BILL HOLCOMBE
ANDERSON Sleighride
ELLINGTON Nutcracker Suite (After Tchaikovsky)
Selections From “Frozen”
MILLER Let There Be Peace on Earth
Steven Jarvi, guest conductor
Featuring:
Measure for Measure
Huron High School Choir
Pioneer High School Choir
Skyline High School Choir
Duke Ellington & The Nutcracker
Fresh off a historic recording project for the Queen of England in 1959, the composing duo of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn embarked on a new project to reimagine the ballet score of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. The incredible imagination of Duke Ellington was no secret. With a background in the visual arts, Ellington’s compositions and arrangements are often praised for his vivid imagination resulting in unique orchestration and sonic colors. The Nutcracker Suite does not simply place jazz rhythms underneath the well-known themes from the Russian composer, it reimagines these themes. The result is a suite that can be heard as entirely Ellington’s while remaining firmly in the spirit of Tchaikovsky’s original work.
Further Listening